Day in the Life of a Game Programmer/ Team Lead (in Crunch)

Well, the day still starts at 7:00 AM, but the timeline is a bit different in a crunch. See my original post for comparison: http://gameprogrammertechnicalartist.blogspot.com/2010/10/day-in-life-of-game-programmer-team.html

07:00-07:14 (00:14) Wake up to an alarm, keep hitting snooze.
07:14-07:32 (00:18) Shower, (skip breakfast) and leave.
07:32-07:51 (00:19) Leave apartment walk to bus stop.
07:51-08:30 (00:39) Get on bus, rest my eyes, but do not sleep.
08:30-08:33 (00:03) Walk to office, drop stuff off at my desk.
08:33-08:37 (00:04) Grab one of the many coffees of the day.
08:37-08:44 (00:07) Update code, check email, some admin stuff.
08:44-08:54 (00:10) Talk with one of the dev, answer questions.
08:54-09:15 (00:21) Update and print out bug list from QA.
09:15-09:30 (00:15) Stand up meeting for half the dev team.
09:30-09:45 (00:15) Stand up meeting for the other half of team.
09:45-10:00 (00:15) Meeting with server leads, about bug list.
10:00-10:06 (00:06) Grab another coffee, talk about a bug.
10:06-10:36 (00:30) Code.
10:36-10:42 (00:06) Clarify some code standard.
10:42-10:50 (00:08) Give current status.
10:50-10:54 (00:04) Answer some questions about specific feature.
10:54-11:38 (00:44) Code.
11:38-12:18 (00:40) Test and submit some bug fixes.
12:18-12:24 (00:06) Walk to get some lunch, call girlfriend.
12:24-12:36 (00:12) Buy some lunch (Subway), take it to my desk.
12:36-01:07 (00:31) Update repository, eat, and continue to code.
01:07-01:10 (00:03) Give status.
01:10-01:14 (00:04) Code.
01:14-01:21 (00:07) Answer important emails for clarification.
01:21-01:26 (00:05) Code.
01:26-01:29 (00:03) Help answer a developer question.
01:29-01:35 (00:06) Code.
01:35-01:43 (00:08) Grab another coffee, and coffee related break.
01:43-01:48 (00:05) Answer some questions in email.
01:48-01:51 (00:03) Code.
01:51-02:33 (00:42) Help developer debug an issue.
02:33-02:35 (00:02) Grab another coffee.
02:35-02:57 (00:22) Code.
02:57-03:01 (00:04) Answer email.
03:01-03:36 (00:35) Merge code and look over changes.
03:36-03:46 (00:10) Answer questions.
03:46-04:11 (00:25) Code.
04:11-04:20 (00:09) Give status.
04:20-04:24 (00:04) Code.
04:24-04:47 (00:23) Grab coffee with another dev.
04:47-05:59 (01:12) Code.
05:59-06:14 (00:15) Discuss implementation issue with other dev.
06:14-06:27 (00:13) Pizza arrives, grab a few slices and a pop.
06:27-07:17 (00:50) Code.
07:17-07:36 (00:19) Talk with developer, write email for tomorrow.
07:36-09:58 (02:22) Code.
09:58-10:09 (00:11) Add notes and tasks for tomorrow.
10:09-10:43 (00:34) Talk with other devs about tasks, status.
10:43-10:58 (00:15) Leave and walk/wait for bus.
10:58-11:36 (00:38) Rest on bus, phone and reading.
11:36-11:46 (00:10) Walk home.
11:46-12:02 (00:16) Talk with girlfriend, get ready for bed.
12:02-12:36 (00:34) Personal email, brief web surf.
12:36-07:00 (06:24) Sleep, so the whole thing can start again.


Breakdown:

Work:
Administration (email, delegating tasks, status): 2 hour 8 minutes.
Breaks (lunch, dinner, coffee): 1 hour and 14 minutes.
Coding: 8 hours and 33 minutes.
Helping Others: 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Meetings: 45 minutes.

Home:
Computing (web surfing, project coding): 34 minutes.
Exercise: 0 minutes.
Personal Maintenance (food, shower, etc.): 48 minutes.
Reading (including bus travel time): 38 minutes.
Sleep: 6 hours 24 minutes.
Travel (not including bus reading time): 1 hour 26 minutes.

Other Facts:
Read 48 emails.
Sent 13 emails.
No code review.

If you compare this with the previous day in the life entry there are a few substantial differences. Even though I am spending approximately 16 hours and 14 minutes away from home, the coding time still only amounts to half of my day. All the other aspects including meetings, admin and help have gone up, and nothing has gone down (on the work side).

The home side is where all the time goes. Sleep takes a hit (about half and hour less), exercise is non-existent, and coupled with fast food for lunch and dinner is going to make me gain weight and have less energy overall. This plays into attempting to sleep on the bus, but really turns into wasted time, since I want to sleep in the morning (and am too tired to read), but can't really get to sleep on the bus with all the noise and crowded seats in the morning. I also tend to miss making breakfast, but will try and grab something like a banana, apple or bagel on my way out the door to eat on the way to the bus.

There are still a lot of interruptions, a lot more status updates and emails. Organizing the crunch is tricky since there are always "fires" that have to be put out, and as things move faster, more coordination is needed to make everything work smoothly.

With so much time at work, there is very little personal time for any time with loved ones, projects, additional reading, or relaxation. I try and phone when I have free time (lunch and on the bus), but this is not the same as being around. If you are at this pace (or worse) for a prolonged period of time, that means you are on a death march. If this lasts longer than a few weeks (longer than three weeks maximum) it will start to take a toll. This is not the worse pace I have been on (I slept under my desk multiple consecutive nights earlier in my career), but it is a difficult one to maintain.

With so many tired devs, so much extra coordination, many interruptions, minimal code reviews, extra status updates, it becomes a tricky situation to balance. Throw in low energy, running on coffee and a lot of other tired developers and co-workers, it can quickly turn ugly if spirits are not high. Everyone wants to see the project out, but there is still a lot of work to do. I should probably take my vitamins.

Wish me luck,
Michael Hubbard
http://michaelhubbard.ca

Day in the Life of a Game Programmer/ Team Lead

In order to improve my time (and hack my life) I have to know what it has in it. Here is my breakdown of an average (quiet) day, although it is still 9:00-6:30. We have been pretty good about doing 9:00-5:00 hours and that is what most of our guys do, and I would prefer to keep it that way. For me, every day is slightly different, some days I have five hours worth of meetings. Other days I do not leave the office till 8:00pm or come in the next day at 7:00am. It is still better than the hours I have spent at other companies, and have been a member of the 100 hours a week club more times than I would like. But this is a pretty good indication of what I would consider average for now, and with the hope I can get back to more 9:00-5:00 days once the major deadlines have passed.

The day starts for me (usually) at 7:00 AM, and I also included the time it takes for each task in parenthesis.

07:00-07:09 (00:09) Wake up, and then really wake up.
07:09-07:32 (00:23) Morning routine, get dressed.
07:32-07:53 (00:21) Make and eat breakfast while checking email.
07:53-07:59 (00:06) Cleanup, brush teeth, put shoes on.
07:59-08:17 (00:18) Leave apartment start walking to bus stop.
08:17-08:54 (00:37) Get on bus to work, start reading a book.
08:54-08:58 (00:04) Get off bus walk to office and my desk.
08:58-09:29 (00:31) Update code, check email, handle admin duties.
09:29-09:45 (00:16) Stand up meeting for half the dev team.
09:45-10:00 (00:15) Stand up meeting for other half of the devs.
10:00-10:30 (00:30) Assist devs requiring clarification on tasks.
10:30-10:36 (00:06) Write emails to other departments on tasks.
10:36-10:39 (00:03) Grab a glass of water.
10:39-10:45 (00:06) Help a developer find a bug they are fixing.
10:45-11:01 (00:16) Read source code and documentation.
11:01-11:35 (00:34) Code.
11:35-11:38 (00:03) Answer a few questions on a feature.
11:38-12:05 (00:27) Code.
12:05-01:00 (00:55) Lunch.
01:00-01:57 (00:57) Code and test, submit some updated APIs.
01:57-02:10 (00:13) Discuss bug fixes and design strategy.
02:10-02:23 (00:13) Code.
02:23-02:33 (00:10) Work with developer finding bugs.
02:33-02:40 (00:07) Code.
02:40-03:01 (00:21) Work with developer solving issue.
03:01-03:09 (00:08) Code.
03:09-03:21 (00:12) Help developer fix bugs.
03:21-03:27 (00:06) Get some tea.
03:27-03:37 (00:10) Code.
03:37-03:41 (00:04) Answer questions about code base.
03:41-04:00 (00:19) Reply to email and write additional email.
04:00-04:12 (00:12) Work on bug fixes with developer.
04:12-04:28 (00:16) Code.
04:28-05:01 (00:33) Read code review from large feature drop.
05:01-05:06 (00:05) Discuss some updates to a part of the code.
05:06-05:31 (00:25) Finish code review and add comments.
05:31-05:55 (00:24) Read updates to code base from other devs.
05:55-06:24 (00:29) Code and submit.
06:24-06:33 (00:09) Shut down, start walking to bus stop.
06:33-07:15 (00:42) Get on bus, read book.
07:15-07:24 (00:09) Get off bus, start walking home.
07:24-07:31 (00:07) Freshen up.
07:31-07:53 (00:22) Check mail and email.
07:53-08:36 (00:43) Make dinner, eat and cleanup.
08:36-09:56 (01:20) Personal code, while listening to music or tv.
09:56-10:41 (00:45) Get changed for gym, pump iron and shower.
10:41-11:45 (01:04) Play around on computer, code, art or games.
11:45-11:51 (00:06) Get ready for bed.
11:51-12:05 (00:14) Read a bit in bed.
12:05-06:59 (06:55) Sleep (perchance to dream).


Breakdown:

Work:
Administration (email, delegating tasks): 1 hour 53 minutes.
Breaks (lunch, coffee): 1 hour and 4 minutes.
Coding: 4 hours and 2 minutes.
Helping Others: 1 hour and 56 minutes.
Meetings: 31 minutes.

Home:
Computing (web surfing, project coding): 3 hours 7 minutes.
Exercise: 45 minutes.
Personal Maintenance (food, shower, etc.): 1 hour 34 minutes.
Reading (including bus travel time): 1 hour 33 minutes.
Sleep: 6 hours 55 minutes.
Travel (not including bus reading time): 40 minutes.

Other Facts:
Read 39 emails.
Sent 5 emails.
Added 37 comments to code review.

A few noteworthy points to consider about the data. The travel time is actually 1 hour and 59 minutes total for me every day, but I only counted the parts I do not do anything else (i.e. not the reading time). Looking over the numbers, it is interesting to see how much time is spent on helping others and administrative tasks. When I first joined the company as a game programmer, I was able to spend almost my full-time on coding and sent very few emails. However as time went on and more people were hired, I spent more time helping the other programmers too. Still, it is interesting to see how the day breaks down like this, and on further investigation where I can improve my use of time (like maybe try exercising in the morning as part of the regular morning routine)? Or take 30 minute lunches instead of the full hour and leave at 6:00 PM? Or try and come in earlier instead of leaving later?

Another thing to consider is how long it takes a game developer to get "in the zone". Some people at work estimate it can take up to ten minutes to get in the zone, but only one second to get out of it. While it would be great to minimize interruptions, it is far better for me to help remove the other developers roadblocks whenever possible.

Anyway, I will think over the data and may update any changes I made to my day, in a future post.

Until then,
Michael Hubbard
http://michaelhubbard.ca