I've recently learned first hand how difficult it is to try and work full time and have that side hustle, at least for my particular circumstances. I've been teaching at a tech summer camp for the past month at UCLA/UCSD. It's fun, challenging, and I'm learning how to use new and different development software. I even got to do some 3D printing. Early on, I figured I can just work on my Launch Pad project in the mornings or evenings around work.
If only it were that easy! I'm finding that a number of factors are making this difficult. The two hour daily commute (1 hr each way), having to learn/review the materials for the upcoming lesson whenever I'm not teaching, having kids that I teach with different (some special) needs that requires a lot of quick thinking, and also the fact that I'm a sociable introvert. All this adds up to consume me physically, mentally, and emotionally. I can see now how easily people can get stuck in jobs, their health can deteriorate, or worst: their lives quickly zoom by.
Needless to say, I'm excited to finish up teaching this week and get back to having that indie dev life (with a little financial cushion to pay down debt, too!). I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious, considering I'm not as far on my project as I'd like to be at this point. I'm confident in my abilities to put together a decent demo in time. But I wish I had more pre-production time to experiment more. I'll still get that time in since it's one of the most important aspects for my game dev practice, I just have to be focused about it and very deliberate with the rest of production.
About 1 month to go until we present. I can do this!
