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by simplism 2127 days ago
Question: do you still play games? If so, how much? I absolutely love gaming, but I can really lose myself in it, and also sometimes think about what I could do if I would spend these hours on for example learning (I'm a web dev). Sometimes I think about quitting gaming entirely and spending that time on programming projects/learning entirely for fun. At the same time I like gaming, but I have a hard time not getting immersed in it.
3 comments
nullandvoid 2127 days ago
Similar experience for me, played all through my teens and early twenties. Something has clicked in the last year, that I want to spend my time more productively

What's worked for me has been using a blocker. For example "cold turkey" I'm using ATM. I normally set blocks of 1 month or so, then end up binging a gaming weekend when it becomes unblocked, then go again

Seems to be working pretty well. Considering just setting it away for 3 month blocks, but I'm still hanging on to there being a nice middle ground :)

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simplism 2127 days ago
That's awesome! I really like the idea of setting blocks, and still playing once in a while.

Tried playing less before, but never succeeded for long.

Just not playing at all will probably suit me better. Especially when I know I will be able to at the end of the block.

Starting with it from now! Thanks for sharing :)

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nullandvoid 2124 days ago
Glad it's helped, good luck on your journey to reclaiming some extra hours back!
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paledot 2127 days ago
I've been struggling with something similar. Where I've landed (for now at least) is to ask, "What does this game give me? Will I be happier/better when I'm done? Is there nothing I'd like to do instead?"

If I have good answers, I'll let myself play the game. "I've been programming all day and my brain needs a break," is fine. But if it comes out that I'm playing because I just want to fill time or am procrastinating taking the next step on a project, I put it down and do something else. Doesn't have to be the thing I was procrastinating, just something that won't automatically expand to fill all available time.

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openfuture 2125 days ago
Not really no, I am kind of fed up with electronics tbh.

I still LOVE games though and I think in terms of them all the time. However I prefer physical games with good design, there's something about having a small enough statespace that it fits in your head but a vast enough posibility space to encourage replay that tickles me.

Nowadays I want to design some games but I want to do a lot of things, so we'll see what happens...

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