Where do you 'learn' patience?

[EDIT] Grr, I hate when my browser crashes mid-post..., *ahem*, take two! (clacks scene board)


I've basically finished my first college term, and one thing that's been nagging me the entire time is that some of the things I'm required to do in the course to pass is just completely grating due to the nature of what the course itself is teaching (which is interior and exterior scenes).

Now, I can stand doing things that take form quickly that I can work with and actually polish so they look good, but these layouts I'm required to do just take so fricken' long, I have major trouble keeping focused and plugging away at it.

Is patience something that develops overtime by having yourself bite the bullet and just keep working at a required task until it's just done, or is there more to it? I have the same problem when it comes to coding stuff, I stop when it starts to become a chore, except the difference here is that I code for fun and can stop whenever, where-as with this course (like a job), it has to get done.


I just don't know how to deal with it basically to keep myself at it, I got my Mountain Dews, my 5.1 blasting music, all diversions out of the way (taking a break atm which is why I'm surfing BB), and it just gets degrading.

How do you guys in the loop deal with it? I take it that it's ten times rougher when you're doing it as a job to feed the family and have dead-lines to complete something professional...


I just felt I had to get this off my chest, hear what you guys may have to say, try to get the issue out of the way before it becomes a real problem....maybe I'm afraid of work itself? You tell me.

How old are you? Sounds like late teens if you are college? I never finished anything at that age too, but patience developed over time for me (by having a job and responsibility etc). However, I'm sure I could have learned it a lot sooner had I been taught what I now know.

Here's some simple techniques:

- read this: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/12/how-to-take-action-consistently/
- I like reminding myself of the end goal and then I know that, even if it's far off, every step I take is important. Then I can focus on each step properly.
- Break stuff into small steps and then get a step done and feel good about it.
- Take up a sport or martial art that teaches mental and physical endurance.
- Give up caffeine (and other substances) + eat healthy.
- Don't fart around getting "ready" to do some work, just start it. After a short while you'll probably get into it. Sometimes I have a boring task like filing paperwork to do, but once I start I get into it. I focus only on that and not "what else I could be doing". So basically "Take Action".
- Switch off email, Internet messaging, mobile phone and resist going on the Internet when you have something important to do.
- Make to do lists and do some planning. Enjoy crossing stuff off. But don't spend all your time planning and no time doing.
- If you have been working for a while and start going nowhere fast, take a break, do something else and then come back to it later. You can even do another task on your to do list, but getting up from the PC is best.
- Listen to motivational music (probably without lyrics) so like trance or classical or SID chip music - whatever floats your boat.
- Don't worry about it too much :-) You've got plenty of time to get better at focusing and at least you are aware you have a "problem", and so you can now fix it. The single biggest skill you can have in my opinion is "awareness", because then you can spot flaws (in you) and fix them.

Hope these help, I've got tons more...

Just passed the teens, 20½ old here, which it starting to look like the years of my life that'll be the hardest on me as I get a career and a (hopefully) stable job/income.

I have ever since Mountain Dew stopped shipping with it. -.-

This is what I've started to do, cause there's no bloody way I can just pull an all-nighter the day before it's due like I could in high school. Not sleeping until I finish this one thing I had planned, shame it's nearly midnight. ;/
(which isn't a problem actually, don't have class until 4PM tomorrow)

I'm a god at this for the most part, I'm a major pessimist, which is both a good and bad thing.....

Keeping that link handy, seems to be a good read for when I finish this damn task...

I used to analyse stuff a lot in a negative way too, but now I try to see it all from a positive perspective. It was a change that occured over many years but it's much better this way, trust me!

Yeah finish your task then read that article (and there are more on that site, tons more, but don't read too many!)

Oh and in case you've never read this:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/cultivating-burning-desire.htm

read it sometime. I read this 3 years ago and have built up my game developer career since then (I used to make business software (for 9 years). I just personally thanked Steve Pavlina for being a big influence in my current success actually :-)

You learn patience in two places: Walmart and the DMV.

Noel, you forgot, "using vista"

No, that would be OS X. Vista is similar enough to XP that most people can pick it up quickly. OS X is just evil.

Those of us old enough to have owned 8 bit computers learned patience from their tape drives.

In addition to what Jake wrote, also my advice.
1. Listen to the podcast serie http://manager-tools.com its got very very usefull practical advice. And indirectly related,
2. Read up on http://gunwitch.com. When u grasp and comprehend and act on those your life of self improvements is well underway.
3. Go buy Stephen R. Covey's 7 Habits of Effective people, and execute those 7 steps starting on the day you get that book.

My dad had a tape drive, and while we may have been using a 32-bit computer, the amount of time it took to back up everything onto tapes was incredible. Which is why I'm glad I have DVDs.

Some very good thoughts there Grey.

Patients...hm may not be just patients you need...

When I was a broadcast editor I had a lot of clients who just didn't know what they were doing, it happens a lot in TV.

The problem with that is that if you allow yourself to lose patients, you end up taking far more time than if you just settle into the job in hand and start making progress on it.

I think this is an attitude not just patients...

How you approach a job or project - what your attitude to it will define the result.

Grey is so right, plan well (but not too much) break big things into small steps and enjoy doing each step to the very best of your ability, treat your client/lecturer as though he/she were YOU, what do YOU want to get out of the project? What would you expect or want to see from your students. What would dissappoint you?

I had the enormous pleasure and privelage to work with Grey last year and I enjoyed working with someone who proved to be actually more focussed than even me (and I thought I was good!).

This is one of the ways to producing exceptional work and exceptional results - being prepared to take the time and break stuff into easily managable pieces, having a solid plan and understand thoroughly what you want to achieve and how, then ensure the work you embark on reaches that goal or exceeds it.

I am a great believer in the ethic "Work hard / Play hard" - where the amount and type of play is the reward for the amount of work you do. So ensure you give yourself enough time to take breaks and treat yourself a little - go do something you have earned.

Remember it's only hard work if you resent it, so find a way to change your attitude to it and enjoy it instead, you'll exceed your own expectations if you can manage it. This is also a way to greater rewards in satisfaction and possibly remuneration in the long run.

IPete2.

While true you can pick it up most of it almost instantly, I get really mad at the way its now less efficient than it was before. Any more than 2 hours of using vista (where lots of file navigating/switching) is concerned and i can feel my pulse rising, especially when i get a wireless drop out or a permenent blue spinning polo in the middle of what im doing. Also, what the hell are those unwanted 'diagnosis' screens that take ages when you know what the damn problem is, you just need to get to the controls, whos idea was it to create a collapseable start menu with a scrollbar? and im not even going to mention the new load/save windows! (pffsssshhh- rant over.)

Another thing that gets me mad is queues in general and people who seem to spend ages when using a cashpoint, i mean what the hell are they doing? End of year tax accounting?! Oh, and people walking 2 or 3 wide that stop dead to right in the center of the pavement look at something in a window on a crowded street, when you are in a real hurry.

For these things, i dont think anything could teach me patience.

However saying that, its weird how i can calmly get the bottom code / design problems no matter how long it takes, i can teach myself new software & systems without much frustration and enjoy the learning experience and im fairly tollerant with people, for example when teaching them something. I guess I prefer the problems that i need to learn the answers, rather then the ones where I know the solution but I just cant get to it because of other's stupidity (rather than my own :).

I guess it all depends on what pushes your ">:O -WRAAAAGGGHH!!!!" button

patience. Just work in any retail job for a few years in a small town in the UK, if you haven't killed someone youve learnt patience.

The human mind is a very flexible thing. If you have to do something you dislike all the time, the mind adjusts to keep you sane. It'll get easier. And the more and more boring stuff you do, the more you'll be able to find interesting bits in them. I'd call this kind of 'rooting' to the job. This helps your patience.

Don't think. Just do it.

I like that article. One fo the points mentions deciding how you want to be in a few years time. From an indie developer point of view, this could be something along the lines of: By the July 2008, I will have finished two new games. Or, by the end of next year, I will have a game published. these sort of statements can push you on to work harder in order to make them a reality.

When GreyAlien started, he may not have believed entirely that it was going to work out, it's a huge risk to take. Even if you don't quit your job to develop games, if you're hoping to write successful games, then the time you devote to them is a huge investment that would be crushing not to receive some success for.

That's the main thing holding me back. I spent some time a few years back working on a game, it got a publishing deal, but then due to a few reasons, it never came to be released (although it was 95% complete). And since then I've never been able to bring myself to be able to devote that much time on a project, through the fear that it will fail again, liks the first one did.

Genexi2, get yourself a dog, it'll change your life completely (for the better). I really mean this. People with animals are usually more relaxed than those without. You can learn a lot from a dog, and you will never be or feel alone.

Patience comes automatically when you grow older or experience traumatic situations (death of loved ones, for example). These things happen in everybody's life, and they change your focus and priorities.

Don't take things too seriously, most of the time they aren't worth it.

Spend more time with the people that love you and care for you.

As funny as it might sound, but this actually is one of the most important things in life and can make the difference between happiness and depression, and too many people do it wrong or undervalue it: Take the time to cook your own meals together with someone who is important for you. At least try never to eat your dinner alone (unless you really need time to be for yourself).

Always only take small steps at a time. Reaching small interim goals keeps you motivated when you work on a large project. It is important that you see something grow and experience success while you are working.

Create yourself an atomsphere in which you like to work --and-- live. You have to be comfortable with the place where you spend so much time.

Try to love what you do.

The post office

Creative applications you're going to use yourself are a disaster to plan. You can't plan those. During test-usage you keep discovering new ideas for implementations, and when this list of implementations grows you'll start to see common ideas that all those implementations share. This usually means you've realized you've started the wrong way. This usually means the urge to restart from scratch grows, and the whole procedure starts over again. I think this mostly happens with art tools tho, art is unlimited.. :P

Hey this thread is great. Genexi2, I hope that you got your work done.

Yep good book, I've still got a long way to go though.

IPete2: Wow thanks man, I'm flattered. Yeah working with you was great, you are a total professional in all respects and you worked really hard on that project. Hope you and your family have a great Christmas

IPete2: Patience -- you are not a doctor!

Martial Arts. If you can find a good Tai Chi Chuan instructor, that'll give you a good start.

I'd stay away from some of the more "hippie" suggestions if I were you.

You learn patience by waiting for it. If are willing to wait forever, you will achieve maximum results right now.

I've been waiting on Duke Nukem Forever, does that count?


If I were allowed pets in this college residence I'd have taken my cat with me. ><
(not much a dog person here since the breeds I like are not exactly house-dogs)


Glad it did, was thinking I may have come off a little whiny, didn't think there'd be this much wisdom! Anyways, still plugging away at it, about 60% done it, although I'm a bit miffed with this piece of furniture I'm rendering, as I have to use my 42" t-square to get the thing aligned in perspective. I really dislike having to get that thing out just because it means I have to clear my desk of obstacles it'd knock over. ;/

On a random note, removable tape is the best invention ever. Picked up 3 rolls last week and I'm loving them, no more fear of ripping my paper removing tape, and I can do it with ease. I guess having the right hardware at your disposal relieves a fair amount of stress.
(now if only drafting table's with a built-in lightbox existed..)

Will be back to this thread Friday (and probably order that book), will be spending all bloody day tomorrow on the thing, I seem to have gotten it down to the point where I can deal with it, just had to keep stabbing at it a few hours each day.

Actually it's a plasmid upgrade - but you will need to take out several Big Daddies first.

Plus your fursona is a cat. Creepy, creepy Genexi.

Btw, that book is qite "wordy". Just letting you know in case it puts you off. But it's good for sure. The important thing is too put it into practice, otherwise it's just another book. Lots of "self help junkies" read all this stuff but never do anything. Same with Internet Marketing junkies.