School/work versus gaming = problem?

[Mr_Freaker]

This is a topic that most of us will relate to.

The point where you realize that you are gaming too much and your results at school and/or work might be suffering because of it.

And if you didn't realize it yourself, most parents were worried enough to share their concerns.

 

This topic is about the -potential crazy/stupid- stuff you went through so that you were ensured (by yourself or others) that gaming wouldn't be a negative influence.

 

So what kind of rules that your parents or yourself enforce?

 

In high school I used to give the cables of my consoles to my girlfriend for safe keeping during my exams, sometimes I stored my television on my parents room.

 

In 2013 I decided that I wouldn't buy a single game (with exception of what PS+ gave me) and I would never play on mondays. Two rules I made up as a bet for myself which I regretted. In january 14 I enjoyed buying 20 games and gaming on mondays

 

My parents did never invent or enforce any type of rules.

 

What rules did you have?

[STRANGEgenius]

I didn't have rules, but i did fail my HSC. Basically cause I never studied and always gamed.

 

Still got into Uni, so its a win/win

 

But since im in Uni now, i don't usually game until i'm done with assignments.

[amebapiko]

I probably do too much gaming, I need to get revising since exams start in a week or two... 

[DrBloodmoney]

Im not in education anymore (finished my Masters degree in 2008) but back then I never let school or university interfere with my gaming.

if you pass you pass, if you fail you fail - studying never really helps - if you weren't smart enought to learn it in class or during lectures you probably arnt smart enough to learn it alone, so why worry? Just enjoy yourself and shit will work out

[Satoshi Ookami]

I never got into problems because I gamed instead of working on assignment or studying.

I study from the morning to afternoon so I can game a bit on evening.

[LeeMcD-]

Im not in education anymore (finished my Masters degree in 2008) but back then I never let school or university interfere with my gaming.

if you pass you pass, if you fail you fail - studying never really helps - if you weren't smart enought to learn it in class or during lectures you probably arnt smart enough to learn it alone, so why worry? Just enjoy yourself and shit will work out

 

I think that's a pretty bad attitude to have when it comes to your education. If you weren't smart enough to learn it in class then work harder. Life isn't easy and not everything is going to be handed to you. You won't understand everything the first time you encounter it but that's okay; one of the joys of life is comprehending something that previous eluded you. Being able to better yourself by putting in that bit more effort, and actually doing it, is something everybody should take pride in.

 

To leave things alone and hope they work out is silly. There will be many times when you can royally fuck things up for yourself by doing this. Life is long and if you don't put in the effort life can be very hard. You shouldn't waste the opportunities that you have while you still have them because soon enough they'll be gone and you'll be wondering why you didn't do more while you could.

[madbuk]

Rayman Legends requires you to play it daily for challenge cups to get the platinum.

However, I can't afford to worry about playing Rayman daily when my GCSEs are just a few weeks away. Because of this, I spent hours each day trying to get Diamond cups in Rayman (be in top 1% of players - pretty insane highscores) so I could get it done and not have to worry about it.

With Rayman out the way, I'm free to revise without anything on my mind

[Sonny_FIRESTORM]

Balance Slays the Demon...

 

But balance sometimes isn't something fit for everyone, sometimes you gotta take some alternative outside just trying to balance gaming and studies.

 

For game improvement, it's plain out getting better at it, learning how to do stuff faster so you'll have more time left, saving those games you're still enjoying (fresh stuff) for when you don't have less time then usual and (as much as i hate saying this) learning when to stop.

 

Studies on the other hand have plenty of stuff you can learn to improve them, i won't say everything here but stuff like learning how to do tests (by this i mean knowing how to improve your odds at multi-choice questions and things like that) or learning the habits your teachers have always helps. (Don't forget that your school operates based on a systems, those have patterns and usually flaws too)

PS i'm not refering to cheating, that shit is dangerous if you don't know how to do it right.

[Mcbeanstr]

While I was still in Uni I used to neglect my studies a lot and at the end of the year paid for it. So I changed my attitude and packed it away for most of the year. I only used to play during the holidays. 2 years later I am now a graduate but still looking for work so I would say the sacrifice I made was worth it in the end

[DrBloodmoney]

I think that's a pretty bad attitude to have when it comes to your education. If you weren't smart enough to learn it in class then work harder. Life isn't easy and not everything is going to be handed to you. You won't understand everything the first time you encounter it but that's okay; one of the joys of life is comprehending something that previous eluded you. Being able to better yourself by putting in that bit more effort, and actually doing it, is something everybody should take pride in.

To leave things alone and hope they work out is silly. There will be many times when you can royally fuck things up for yourself by doing this. Life is long and if you don't put in the effort life can be very hard. You shouldn't waste the opportunities that you have while you still have them because soon enough they'll be gone and you'll be wondering why you didn't do more while you could.

dude, I think my point was that not everyone is suited to education, and if you don't get it the first time simply re-reading and re-reading to try and make yourself something you are not is not gonna help.

Denying yourself the things you enjoy just to try and fit a square peg into a round hole is futile, the world needs ditch diggers just as much as rocket scientists, and being a happy ditch-digger is preferable to being an out-of-your-depth unhappy rocket scientist

Do what you enjoy

Edited April 28, 2014 by DrBloodmoney

[Parker]

My gaming has never got in the way of school or work. I have enough self control and respect for myself and others to never allow that to happen. Do I wish I had more time to game? Absolutely. Will I sacrifice time with my family or call into work to do so? Absolutely not. 

 

As far as college, I wanted to be a truck driver but I had a kid when I was 18 years old and didn't want to be away from my family so I went to a technical school. I got my bachelors degree and am certified on CNC machines (Machine Tool was the program I went through) but somehow I ended up in Law Enforcement. 

 

 

Parker

[Wdjat Prinny Doods]

I do game a lot but my school work has never suffered because of it. I've had a full ride academic scholarship while in college where I've had to maintain a 3.5 GPA and I haven't had any trouble maintaining that GPA. I love gaming but school has always been my #1 priority. I'm now on my way to graduating from college in a few weeks. So yeah gaming has never affected my school life.

[Arkthur]

I'm kind on that point right now, I have to present my thesis but I'm just too lazy, it does't help that I already have a job so there is no "urgency" feeling pushing me.

But even before that I had no need for that kind of rules, I played whenever I had some time and studied the rest.

[DEMON]

Not in school anymore.  My school work never suffered from gaming.. and I didn't have any rules (my parents were the kind, you screw your life up, you did that by yourself).  Pretty much followed my routine of getting work done the moment it's given to me.. so there would have been at times I didn't game for a whole week if I had a big assignment that needed done.  Get enough sleep etc.  Usually since I did my work fairly fast and correctly, I usually had the chance of gaming without worry of that stuff afterwards.  My assignments/homework always came first.. I was maybe a bit obsessive with getting it over and done with but it was better than what the rest of my classmates did where they left things til last minute and were all panicking and getting a lack of sleep because of it.  I did do Games Development in college though.. gaming effected me that way to go into that course and it did affect my work but in a good way, we had to give examples of games and so on that did some mechanic we explained.

 

For work, recently just started so its hard to say but it's just the whole have enough sleep/time keeping thing for that.. no homework which is awesome.   I'm also single so pretty much don't have to dedicate any time into a relationship.  I do make time for hanging about with my family though.. but we see each other all the time anyways so it's rare we have actual "hang out" days.

Edited April 28, 2014 by TakahashiDemon

[WuTangJase-]

I remember on the first week of my GCSEs, I stayed up till 4:00am in the morning trying to get some trophies. Don't remember what game I was playing though lol

[BlueFireReaper]

School related business for me is done in the morning and night. Can't focus unless it's dark, cool, and quiet. Gaming is done in the afternoon and evening or until things are calm enough for me to do work.

 

Though this will most likely change next year with more time for academics since I'll be taking some AP classes for senior year. (ooh, am I ready for that...)

[Beyondthegrave07]

Speaking as someone who is currently going through college, gaming and studying is a balancing act. If it's during the week, I refuse to play more than 2 hours of gaming a day (usually, most of the time, it's less than 2) to make sure my homework, papers, quizzes, etc are exceptional work

 

FYI: College work comes at you in waves. One week you'll have nothing to do and you can game as much as you please, the next week you'll have so much work you won't have time to game at all. Also, the less amount of classes you're taking = the more time to play. That being said, don't take 12 credit hours constantly just so you can have more gaming time. If you are capable of doing 15 credit hours do 15. If you are only capable of doing 13, do 13. Please, coming from someone who wants to see everyone succeed in life, let your education be your first priority, not games.

 

I'm not going to give advice for workers; it's pretty self explanatory.