How do you work?

Hi everybody, got a question here.

How do you guys work when you're using Unity (or the computer for that matter)?
Do you work outside or inside, do you listen to music or have some background noise for yourself, or do you work in utter silence? Do you take breaks or do you work around the clock? If you do take breaks, what do you do during them? When you work, do you commit to the work completely, or do you do something like read the forums or watch a movie on the side? Do you work on a laptop or a desktop computer? For how long do you usually work during a day?

Just curious to know how differently people in the community work and what the environment of you guys' is like

I personally work inside, in front of a large open window with soothing sunlight coming in while having music playing from my speakers playing nonstop. I take a break every now and then, usually when I feel like I've hit a block or finished something important. On breaks, I usually go outside (I have two dogs, so they give me a good reason to go outside and walk them), listen to music or play some games. Usually when I work, I try to only focus on actually working, altough sometimes I might get an e-mail and later notice that somehow I've gotten myself to a website that I never even knew existed I personally work on a desktop computer with two 21" monitors, and usually I work from 2-6 hours a day.

Looking forward to seeing your replies

 

• Inside. Phone off. No web browsing. No distractions.
  
• Baroque instrumental music when programming; thematic music (fantasy/sci-fi soundtracks) when designing levels. I love vocal music, but it's too distracting for background stuff.
  
• Trail run breaks enforced by my two dogs.
• Desktop PC with two monitors.
• Recently replaced my keyboard (love the new Cherry MX Blue mechanical keys!) when a friend remarked that the letters were worn off most of them. (Not surprisingly, WASD were the first to go.) A poor man's Das Keyboard I guess. ;-)
  
• I almost forgot to mention a standing desk. I guess I just think of it as a "desk" nowadays.

 

I've been thinking about getting a standing desk for a while simply because they're more ergonomic than "regular" desks. Does a standing desk affect the way you work negatively or positively? The only reason I haven't gotten one is because I fear that continuous standing may get my back numb making it harder for me to concentrate on anything

 

Absolutely true, at least for the first several weeks. A foam pad underfoot really helps. I also have a regular drafting table and chair that I sit at to write anything on paper. I do all my planning on paper before writing any code. If you have the budget, get a real standing desk rig that lets you easily switch between standing and sitting. That way you can ease into it. It's much more hassle for me to break down the jury-rigged Target shoe rack that I've propped my monitors on. One of these days I should shell out for the real deal.

 

Thanks for the tips, I will definitely look into some standing desks My current table is about 9 years old and has tons of scratches and bumps on it, making it nearly impossible to draw or write without a notepad.

 

I just finished dinner about 10 minutes ago am about to start working in Unity in oh probably 15 minutes. Starting earlier today because I am now in holiday mode (3-day weekend!!).

So... let's see...

• Gonna do a 15-minute fast walk to get the blood flowing
  
• I have my list of objectives handy (adding 1 new "standard" enemy and starting work on adding the first mini-boss)
  
• Then I will sit on the (very comfortable) couch in living room with my 17" laptop sitting on top of a lap desk
• My bottle of Bud will be sitting on the table next to me (only applies if you are 21 or older otherwise water, coffee or soda may suit you fine as they normally do me but hey I am in holiday mode)
• Headphones will be on even if I am not listening to any music just because it will block out at least some of the sounds such as the dogs wrestling and my girlfriend playing Diablo 3 next to me. If I do play some music it will be something by Disturbed, Ozzy, 3 Doors Down and other kind of thunderous energetic tunes. Cell phone will be in silent mode

That is pretty much it. Then the magic begins.

... okay, I had to run to the store... so yeah... now the magic begins.

 

At this point I sit in a very hard wooden chair at a kitchen table while children climb on me and babies scream, while the air conditioner intake provides soothing white noise and two television programs play, one for the kid the other for my wife. Also ants are literally waging war against my apartment. I have to stop frequently to kill them and seal off the cracks they're entering through.

 

The magic show has concluded. A new enemy was born. Thanks for attending. Now it's time to watch some wrestling while playing D3. But since there is no work tomorrow (except grilling which is a great thing) I might just do another 45 minute session later tonight to work on the mini-boss. I only have the basic skeleton code stubbed out and a prefab set up at this point.

@anselmo.fresquez that sounds like a chaotic work environment. I used to hear the dogs wrestling and BOOM! CLANG! NEED MORE SPIRIT! THAT'S NOT READY YET! KABOOM! BASH! BANG! A good pair of headphones helps a lot. I actually did play some tunes. Couldn't hear a thing except the tunes pounding in my head.

 

I work with my awesome desktop PC, mechanical keyboard, and very good office chair that keeps me sitting straight.

I have a pair of KRK Studio Monitors blasting trance or techno into my ears (at conversation level) to help keep me in the zone while I tap away in Visual Studio with Resharper installed for maximum productivity.

I used to have two monitors, hell I even had 2 x 27"s once, but they made my eyes hurt so I now run a single 23" monitor and only really miss the second monitor when I'm doing a video course or learning something. I'll probably invest in a 30" Ultra HD monitor and new GFX card once my game is released and making some cash.

I work about 12-14 hours a day, and usually a full day on the weekend. I can only find peace once my game is released, so if I'm not working on it, I don't find peace, and so the cycle continues...

 

Wow, 12 hours? That's quite a lot I usually can't work for more than 6 or so hours without hitting a block and having the need to clear my head for thr rest of the day.

I usually have it quite the same. Sometimes if I'm not working on a project, I feel like I'm wasting time.

 

I've set up a good cadence for myself which is basically there are core work hours from 10am-4pm.

Before 10am, I take it slow, taking care of business stuff, web stuff, life stuff, whatever.

Then from 10-4 it's work on actually creating art. This is a focused 6 hours where there are no phone calls, no interruptions, nobody is allowed to ask me to do anything, etc.

After 4pm, it's dinner/TV/relaxing. This lets my mind rest and get ready for the next day.

This has been incredibly productive for me. If you sit in front of your computer endlessly 12-15 hours a day, it becomes a lifestyle and you're basically always on. I need that downtime to be at my best.

 

I can only work on my game during my days off, it usually goes like this!

Wake up at 8h30, start a pot of coffee I actually got one of those capsules coffee makers which I must say I really like. You can just make one cup at a time so I tend to drink less during the day.

Around 9 I get on the computer, check my emails and personal stuff while Unity loads up. Then I'll start working, sometimes I'll play test, or prototype a mechanic. Other times I'll create a new building model, or a new UI panel. Fix bugs or implement a new feature. I very rarely take breaks, or eat for that matter. I'm not like that in other parts of my life but for some reason when working on my game I don't see time go by.

For example yesterday I made 6 wall pieces as well a stone gate. Fixed my algorithm for placing walls and implemented it in my building menu. All in all with the modeling, unrwapping, an testing it took me the whole day from 9 to 5, I'll have some screenshots tomorrow to show.

Then at that time I usually go for a run between 8-10 km, come back, take a shower then in the evening I'll watch some movie or go for a beer with my girlfriend.
.
Still using a single screen setup, I'd love to get a second screen but I need to upgrade my computer soon.

 

Inside (because I don't have a laptop and even if I had, there would be virtually no place I could go with it), usually have either opened Spotify or Winamp to provide musical background (unless I do audio-related stuff such as recording that speech that will be played on every TV and radio station when I finally take over the world) and that's mostly it.

 

My working conditions:

* Home office
* 3-screen workstation
And a slightly shameful amount of peripherals...

* HM Embody chair.

There's no way to overstate the importance of a properly comfortable computer chair

I also don't put music on, it's too distracting. I usually leave the TV on in the living room though, so the house isn't completely silent.

Just recently I installed a silent water cooler on my CPU, to improve the noise coming from the PC itself though. Sitting for hours on end next to a jet turbine is not nice... It may just end up driving you crazy... I heartily recommend doing anything in your power to make your workstation as silent as possible.

There's also a 1kVA UPS unit powering the whole system, which gives it about 45 minutes of runtime if the power goes out. That does happen here quite a bit, so one of those is a very worthwhile investment, if power outages are a thing where you live.

As for my choice in HIDs, I've got a G19s keyboard, which I'm liking very much, even though it's not mechanical. I set up RSS feeds and other utilities on its LCD screen, so I get notified when someone pushes a commit to the repo, or runs a build. It uses a modified US-standard layout. I had the ' key tweaked to not be a dead key, and set up AltGr combos for the '+letter combos (most already exist anyway). I also moved some keys around. I've been using LatinAmerican layouts for way too long, and I got used to them too much. The modified layout I think gives me the best of both worlds.

For the mouse, I have a Cyborg RAT7, which is nice and adjustable, so consequently very comfortable. The desk itself is L-shaped, so I can rest my elbow on the desktop at my side when using the mouse.

I hardly ever use the speakers you see on the picture these days, I've never been big on headsets, but I have a Logitech G35 now which made me realize it was just because I had never had a proper headset before. Now it's my main audio output, and head-tracking headpiece too.

That's about it I guess.

Cheers

 

Amazing.

 

I actually had a similar chair when I worked at a computer desk using a desktop pc. Mine was called The Commander's Chair IIRC. lol Anyway... that's a fancy set up you have there. Looks nice. Just reminds me of an office too much.

 

Twice a day for 50 min on the commuter train on the way to my real job, got to be very organised and focused to build a game in 50min sessions...

 

The future is the "lean chair" Just give it some wheels and you would never have to leave.

 

My spine is already aching just looking at that.

 

I just kind of do. I always have something in the background, like a brainless tv show, and just do it.
Sometimes I'll get up and pace around the room explaining how I'll do it

 

My best breakthroughs have some when pacing around frantically, literally sweating, waving my arms around like a madman, and talking in short gibberish bursts. It's almost like a compulsorily dance whenever my brain finally decides to really kick into overdrive.

I tell my girlfriend that it's due to my brain having no more capacity for useless fallacies like acting like I'm somewhat normal.

Oh well.... Just another day at work.

Here's my post last year about my workstation, only difference now is that I replaced my monitor with two bigger new ones.

 

(bookmarked)

 

How do I work? I am battery operated ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)