I have a strange remedy (that worked for me of course. YRMV): take up reading of you currently don’t.
I admit it was a long journey to call myself a “gamer” again, but hear me out.
I’m a 30 year old dude who works long hours. I got myself into the trap of, “oh I don’t have time to play this game, maybe some other time.” When I found I did have time, the games just weren’t holding my attention. “This game isn’t immediately fun, and when am I going to have this much time to play again? Playing this is a waste of time. Might as well watch TV or something.” Sure, every now and then a game like vampire survivors would come up, I’d be addicted to it for a week or two, and then stop. But big games with stories or something? Forget about it.
I started reading books at bed time. A chapter or two at a time. Eventually I would find a few books I couldn’t put down and I read them all the time. This started scratching itches I have completely forgotten about. Some sort of deep thinking itch that was also fueled with curiosity and wonder. Reading books also re-taught me to be more patient too. It’s not like I can completly absorb a story while skimming pages, right?
At some point, my headspace around my leisure time changed. If I can be happy enough just sitting down a few hours reading, then what’s stopping me from being happy playing video games?
I bought Baulders Gate 3 finally and now I can’t stop playing it.
It’s hard to explain, but it’s almost as if I’ve re-learned how to enjoy my time again. If only I could sedate my anxiety about everything else going on in the world. 😅
But take up reading! Try to just read 15 or 30 minutes a day. One doesn’t need to completely stop doom scrolling. Just taking a break from it. Don’t go into it with the headspace of “if I read, I will enjoy gaming.” Just focusing on enjoying the book.
Worst case scenario? You might not be into gaming, but hey, you’re a reader now!
I had a somewhat similar experience. Two years ago, I stopped playing video games when I noticed, I only did it by habit not because I enjoyed it so much. I remembered reading a lot when I was younger, so I picked it up again to fill my evenings.
It was hard at first. I wasn’t used to focus my attention like this anymore. But as you said, I learned to be patient over time. Now, I look forward to continuing my book every day! It is a great hobby to calm down and relax. As a side effect, my language skills (not english) improved a lot.
Yeah, my e-reader tells me about how many pages I read in an hour, or something like that, and it was kind of fun to see how fast my reading got over time. I think I’ve plateaued though 😅.
I wish I could do this, I swear as a mom if my spouse or kids see me doing anything like having earbuds in, playing a game, reading they MUST interrupt me. I try to listen to books but I find that having ear buds in is by far the worse for interruptions. I don’t understand what it is about me being preoccupied that makes everyone in the house make a B line to me but being interrupted constantly while reading makes it impossible, at least gong I can easily put down every two minutes to attend to someone else’s cry for attention but book reading or listening is impossible
When they come to you to ask you for something, ask them to do something (chores, etc.). They’ll stop asking you as much for stuff or they’ll free up some of your time to be able to have leisure time later. Win-win for you.
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I have a strange remedy (that worked for me of course. YRMV): take up reading of you currently don’t.
I admit it was a long journey to call myself a “gamer” again, but hear me out.
I’m a 30 year old dude who works long hours. I got myself into the trap of, “oh I don’t have time to play this game, maybe some other time.” When I found I did have time, the games just weren’t holding my attention. “This game isn’t immediately fun, and when am I going to have this much time to play again? Playing this is a waste of time. Might as well watch TV or something.” Sure, every now and then a game like vampire survivors would come up, I’d be addicted to it for a week or two, and then stop. But big games with stories or something? Forget about it.
I started reading books at bed time. A chapter or two at a time. Eventually I would find a few books I couldn’t put down and I read them all the time. This started scratching itches I have completely forgotten about. Some sort of deep thinking itch that was also fueled with curiosity and wonder. Reading books also re-taught me to be more patient too. It’s not like I can completly absorb a story while skimming pages, right?
At some point, my headspace around my leisure time changed. If I can be happy enough just sitting down a few hours reading, then what’s stopping me from being happy playing video games?
I bought Baulders Gate 3 finally and now I can’t stop playing it.
It’s hard to explain, but it’s almost as if I’ve re-learned how to enjoy my time again. If only I could sedate my anxiety about everything else going on in the world. 😅
But take up reading! Try to just read 15 or 30 minutes a day. One doesn’t need to completely stop doom scrolling. Just taking a break from it. Don’t go into it with the headspace of “if I read, I will enjoy gaming.” Just focusing on enjoying the book.
Worst case scenario? You might not be into gaming, but hey, you’re a reader now!
I had a somewhat similar experience. Two years ago, I stopped playing video games when I noticed, I only did it by habit not because I enjoyed it so much. I remembered reading a lot when I was younger, so I picked it up again to fill my evenings.
It was hard at first. I wasn’t used to focus my attention like this anymore. But as you said, I learned to be patient over time. Now, I look forward to continuing my book every day! It is a great hobby to calm down and relax. As a side effect, my language skills (not english) improved a lot.
Yeah, my e-reader tells me about how many pages I read in an hour, or something like that, and it was kind of fun to see how fast my reading got over time. I think I’ve plateaued though 😅.
I wish I could do this, I swear as a mom if my spouse or kids see me doing anything like having earbuds in, playing a game, reading they MUST interrupt me. I try to listen to books but I find that having ear buds in is by far the worse for interruptions. I don’t understand what it is about me being preoccupied that makes everyone in the house make a B line to me but being interrupted constantly while reading makes it impossible, at least gong I can easily put down every two minutes to attend to someone else’s cry for attention but book reading or listening is impossible
When they come to you to ask you for something, ask them to do something (chores, etc.). They’ll stop asking you as much for stuff or they’ll free up some of your time to be able to have leisure time later. Win-win for you.