Time Out: Stepping out of the Dungeon

Written by Tyson J. Hayes on 2010/05/11 – 00:00 -

I’m an incredibly busy person. I run my own game company, work another full time job and have a podcast on the side (Getting drunk is hard work). I’ve seriously thought of getting a personal assistant to help remind me of all the stuff I need to do in one day. While taking my lunch today (no small feat mind you) I began to think that I need time to slow down, decompress, and relax.  Refocusing the mind on the tasks at hand and getting back to kicking ass.

Learn to Say No

One of the easiest things I have found as a GM is learning to say yes, and it’s a skill everyone should have. It makes you a better GM when you learn how to roll with the punches. That being said, you do need to respect your own limits. Just because your players want to play every day of the week (I’m looking at you Hillary) doesn’t mean you have to. Establishing your own boundaries will, in the end, make you a better GM. You firmly establish you’re playing field and develop it the best you can. One of the problems I have is taking on to many projects at once. I’d be free to do lots of things if I didn’t have that pesky full time job in my way, or sleep. I’m slowly learning to say no to things, even if I really want to do them.

Work a Little at a Time

My schedule may be jam packed with stuff, but I allocate a little time out of each day to the various tasks that need to be done. Many people have written on this topic so I won’t spend too much time on it. That being said I find for me working a little on each project every day has meant that I have gotten quite a bit done. It is a refining process, but consider this, if you worked a little every day on your games, or projects, how much more would you get done over the course of a week?

Take Frequent Sabbaticals

I know I’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again. Take frequent sabbaticals, really with anything, including work. If possible I’d highly recommend taking a week off work every couple of months. I’d suggest more but unless you subscribe to the 4 hour Workweek philosophy it’s rather hard to do. With that being said rest your batteries and recharge your brain. The brain needs exercise like any other muscle, which means it needs rest to. I typically take a week or two off between campaign arcs before starting to write up the next one, I feel the space between my games helps me come back to it with fresh eyes. Consider taking a week or two off and stepping away from your games.

What do you to keep yourself from going crazy? Or how do you create time to spend on your games?


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Categories: Game Masters, Session Management |
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Take on all Comers

Written by Tyson J. Hayes on 2010/03/05 – 00:00 -

While writing Don’t Break the Chain I got to thinking of challenges I set for myself as a GM and as a writer. I find myself when writing blog posts to have the uncanny ability to write just about anything and somehow relate it to gaming.  I decided it’s time to level up my writing and creative thinking skills. So I issue this challenge:

Give me a topic, any topic, and I will then relate it to gaming and give you a blog post.

Now to issue a further challenge to myself I will try to focus on GM/Player advice. I will not take any shortcuts on any ideas and the post will make sense. I will write them in the order they have been received and it will dictate my posting schedule until this is done. For my sanity please include references to what your referring to so I can make sure I’m meeting the challenge. Please note these posts will not interrupt Savage Mondays or any special posts we currently have on schedule. You my dear viewers now control this mouth piece. Please, don’t be gentle.

Below will be the List. Every time I write a new post I’ll link to it here. Check back periodically to see my progress.

The Big List

What challenge can you issue yourself? Call everyone out and throw down the gauntlet. It’s time to see what your made of.


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Categories: Behind the Bar |
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Don’t Break the Chain

Written by Tyson J. Hayes on 2010/03/04 – 00:00 -

Years ago I read an article at the amazing site Lifehacker called Jerry Seinfeld’s Productivity Secret. Simply put, when you start a project or goal you simply keep going at it as long and as hard as you can. His method involved getting a calendar and a red pen and marking an X every day he worked on his jokes. The goal, don’t break the chain. Do what you set out to do every day and don’t let anything stop you.

When we started the blog in November, I set out on a mission of not breaking the chain for any weekday. Monday through Friday of every week you’d heard from us. No matter how bad my grammar and spelling may be (and people have pointed it out to me), my words would be available to you. I think about gaming and what I can share with all of you every day (even the weekends) and work hard to get it out to you.

I’m not going to lie, blogging and game design is tough stuff. Personally I salute the fantastic Treasure Tables for having something up for every day of the week for two years. As we slowly march to our 100th post and our six months of filling your brain with our nonsense, I know I have enough in me to beat his record. Some days are just going to be harder than others. Just don’t break the chain.

So I ask you, what can you do to not break the chain? Could your game be improved by a little time each day? Is there something you’ve always wanted to do and just never have? Learn a new language perhaps? Start your own business? I spend every day on mine to a greater or lesser extent. I couldn’t be happier. Ask yourself, what goal do I need to set? Then go.

Whatever you do, don’t break that chain.


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Categories: Behind the Bar |
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