Top 9 Tips To Balance Gaming With Other Hobbies
Whether you’re into 4x strategy games or casual mobile titles, gaming can be a great way to pass the time, unwind, and even socialize with friends. For many, gaming is convenient because it can be done primarily from home, and modern games use a variety of methods to stimulate dopamine production in the brain. This gives us a feeling of enjoyment, as well as a feeling of accomplishment, but because the dopamine hit is addictive, we must find ways to balance gaming with other hobbies and pastimes.
1. Control Your Spending
Gaming spending can quickly mount up. Even freemium games, with their in-app purchases and monthly subscriptions, come with potentially high costs. Fortunately, you can track spending on gaming platforms, while services like Gamstop can be used to self-exclude from online casino games, and casinos not on self exclusion programs typically offer their own spending tools. According to online gambling expert Viola D’Elia points to the fact that these websites often offer access to a wider range of games than UK-licensed alternatives.
2. Set Time Limits
There isn’t a single amount of time people should spend gaming per day. It will depend on personal circumstances, but gaming, or any other hobby, shouldn’t get in the way of work or other important personal activities. For some people, an hour of gaming a day is enough, while for others, a good gaming session might last two or three hours and have no negative impact on the individual. Work out how much time you need to spend on other activities, including your other hobbies, and how much time you have spare. Don’t forget to factor in time for work, eating, and adequate sleep, and then set time limits for your gaming sessions.
3. Have Screen-Free Time
Some studies suggest that too much screen time can inhibit sleep and may even lead to depression and anxiety. In children, the problem can be even more pronounced, but even adults suffer from spending too much time in front of a mobile screen or TV screen, especially at night, just before bedtime. Try and ensure you stop gaming an hour before you try to get to sleep, and when it is time to take a break from DOTA, consider picking up a book, heading outside, or doing something away from the screens and monitors in your home.
4. Gamify Other Tasks
If you’re an avid gamer, you obviously love certain elements of gaming. These same elements can be applied to other areas of life in order to make them more enjoyable and to make you more productive. Gamification has long been used as a tool to facilitate improved work performance, and it can also be used to help in other areas. If you’re trying to read more, introduce gamification elements so that when you’ve read 50 pages, you can have a quarter of an hour playing Clash of Clans on your mobile. Or, when you learn 50 new Portuguese words, you can have an hour on Battlefield.
5. Ensure Regular Exercise
Regular exercise is important for everybody, and it can be easy to forget to make time if you’re wrapped up in an online poker tournament. As well as making time for other hobbies, ensure you leave time for exercise.
Whether your chosen exercise is hiking, cycling, or hitting the gym a few times a week, this shouldn’t suffer as a result of your gaming sessions.
6. Get Good Sleep
Similarly, you need good sleep. Sleep lets the body and brain rest and repair. It also helps the brain make and retain memories. It is an important part of learning, which is something we all do every day, even after we’ve left school and gone on to work. For your gaming sessions, sleep is important because it will help you master some of the most difficult sections of games and learn the strategies that you need to be able to beat the latest titles. While most people recommend eight hours of sleep a night, some people can perform well on less, while others need more – you must get the right amount of sleep for you.
7. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness means living in the moment. It means being aware of how you feel and what is happening around you, and mindfulness practice can improve your spirit, reduce anxiety and stress, and it can leave you feeling sharper and better equipped to take on new and also repetitive tasks. Mindfulness can be combined with exercise, as mindful walking is one of the most popular and effective forms of mindful practice.
8. Socialize
Many of us have online friends that we might game with every night, but our online friends don’t usually make up our entire social circle. Make sure you leave time to socialize with your IRL friends. Arrange to meet up for a drink or something to eat. Organize a friendly game of padel tennis, or grab a selection of board games and get your friends round to try some analog gaming, instead of your usual digital alternative.
9. Develop Other Hobbies
Gaming can become all-consuming. It’s very easy to lose track of time during a single gaming session, and it is just as easy to let other commitments slide. When this starts to happen, it’s a sign you might be spending too much time at the screen. Look for other hobbies and enjoy them. Not only will this help keep you rounded and ensure you enjoy a good variety of activities, but the skills you learn from other hobbies might even help in your gaming sessions. Accept invitations from friends, even if they are for activities you’re not familiar with, or try something you’ve always fancied but have never tried.
Conclusion
According to estimates, over 3.3 billion people consider themselves gamers. The hobby is no longer underground, thanks at least partially to the proliferation of smartphones, as well as the affordability of console gaming and the appeal of PC gaming. While it is an enjoyable and even rewarding hobby, however, it is important not to let gaming take over your life and to ensure you enjoy other pastimes and activities.
