Finding Balance: Setting Realistic Goals for Balancing Video Game Use
Do you adore playing video games, but find it hard to balance them with the rest of your life? Don't worry, you're not alone. Video games have become a ubiquitous part of our daily lives, bringing us joy, excitement, competition, story, and much needed break from the business of the world. It’s great to love video games, and at the same time, if your play has gone out of balance it can be tricky to get things back in line. If this progresses, it can cross the point into an addiction that can be both mentally and physically devastating. If you’ve identified that you may have a hard time finding balance, this blog is for you.
Why Realistic Goals are Important
When it comes to setting goals for video game play, it's easy to fall into the trap of setting all-or-nothing or unrealistic goals. Often times, in a moment of realizing that you have been playing too much and neglecting other areas of your life, there is a rush of motivation to change everything all at once. You may want to stop playing all games, go to the gym, re-enroll in school, spend more time with your partner, and start eating healthier. While these are all good things to work toward and the urge makes sense, approaching it in this way can actually be counterproductive and difficult to stick to.
All-or-nothing goals, where you completely stop playing video games, can lead to feelings of deprivation and a sense of restriction. Video games are so fun and enjoyable, and swapping that out with the effortful and less-engaging tasks that are needed to live a more balanced and fulfilling life all at once is a hard sell. This can make it difficult to stick to your goal, as you may feel like you're missing out on something you enjoy. Additionally, all-or-nothing goals can lead to feelings of guilt and shame if you do slip up and play for longer than you intended.
The key to setting effective goals for video game play is to start with small, realistic steps. You can actually think about it like video game progression; when you start a new game, the game is designed to give you manageable challenges at the beginning. As you progress, the game gives you harder and harder challenges. Gradually reducing your playtime by a small amount, such as cutting back from 8 hours a day to 6 hours a day, is a more achievable goal that will be easier to stick to. Additionally, it's important to be kind and patient with yourself, and to recognize that progress is a journey, not a destination.
By setting realistic and achievable goals, and being patient with yourself as you work towards finding balance, you can avoid the pitfalls of all-or-nothing and unrealistic goals and find a healthy balance between video games and other important aspects of your life. Let’s talk more about how you can do that.
Knowing Your Priorities
Before setting your goals for video game play, it's important to understand what's truly important to you. Take a moment to reflect on what you value most in life, what you want to achieve, and what brings you happiness. Whether it's spending quality time with loved ones, pursuing your education or career, or simply taking care of your well-being, these priorities should guide your goals for video game play. This itself can be a source of setting realistic goals that I call the “Work Before Play” method, and it’s probably my favorite approach to balancing your video game use. We’ll talk more about that below.
Creating Realistic Goals
Once you've identified your priorities, it's time to set some realistic goals for your video game play. As mentioned above, you can use the “Work Before Play” method. The way this works is that you set your priorities based on your values at the beginning of the day and commit to getting those done first. If you’re a student, that may involve doing your self-care, attending all of your classes, then getting your homework done. After you get them done, you allow yourself to play as many video games as you want. This way, you’re always prioritizing your IRL (in real life) fulfillment, but also have room to play games alongside that. In addition, you’re actually rewiring your brain to use video game time as a reward, which many people have reported makes it MORE enjoyable to play games! With that being said, some people really don’t like how rigid this approach is, and may be especially hesitant if their parents tried to get them to use this method. Here are a few steps if you want a more structured approach with some more flexibility:
Make your goals specific and measurable. Instead of just saying that you want to play video games less, set a specific goal such as playing for no more than two hours a day.
Make your goals achievable. If you're currently playing video games for eight hours a day, it might not be realistic to suddenly cut that down to two hours. Gradually reducing your play time is a more achievable goal.
Write down your goals. Putting your goals in writing will help you to keep them at the forefront of your mind and hold yourself accountable.
Keep track of your progress. Regularly checking your progress will help you stay on track and make any necessary adjustments to your goals.
Staying the Course and Maintaining Balance
Finding the perfect balance is a journey, not a destination. Your goals may change over time, and that's okay. It's important to be flexible and adaptable, regularly revisiting and adjusting your goals to ensure that video game play remains a healthy and enjoyable part of your life. During some parts of your life, you may be okay with playing more video games, and during others, you may want to dial it down. For instance, it can be very enjoyable to spend a large chunk of time playing a game on the day it’s released, but may be necessary to spend more time attending to IRL in moments of big life transitions. At this point in my life, I haven’t played video games in ~1.5 years because I’ve simply been enjoying spending time with people and making content like this. With that being said, I plan to spend some time gaming when the next Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild comes out. Using these skills, you can reflect and adjust regularly.
Conclusion
Video games can provide us with endless hours of entertainment, but it is important to take action in a realistic way so that they do not consume all of our time and energy. By setting realistic goals for our video game play, we can ensure that it remains a healthy and enjoyable part of our lives. Whether you are looking to spend more time with loved ones, pursue your education or career, or simply take care of your physical and mental health, setting realistic goals for video game play is the key to finding balance. Are you a parent trying to help your kid find a balance? Enjoy the free resources below.
