Hard deadlines. 48 hour game jams are great. Take Friday off from work, make a game on the weekend. If you miss the deadline on Sunday, you failed the game jam.

Hard deadlines. 48 hour game jams are great. Take Friday off from work, make a game on the weekend. If you miss the deadline on Sunday, you failed the game jam. For me there is usually a point about 24 hours in where it seems like a hopeless amount of work, that I’ll never finish. However, I push through, and keep working, ruthlessly prioritize, cut every feature I don’t absolutely need, and finish making the game. The game itself is not a side project that I stuck with, but the experience helps. Having the experience of “pushing through” and finishing a project with a specific goal is the real takeaway. Next time I’m stuck on a personal project, I can remember pushing through the game jam project and getting it done. And finally… I only finish something like 5% of my projects, maybe. Don’t try to finish a project just because you started it.