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I'm nearing 40 and in the past few years I've tried to focus more on "real world" activities (I've never lacked them, I just felt like gaming had less value). I

I'm nearing 40 and in the past few years I've tried to focus more on "real world" activities (I've never lacked them, I just felt like gaming had less value). I've done well with this by spending time with my interests/pastimes; however, my work lately has been less stimulating. As a result, something has been missing. Long story short, I realized I wasn't getting into a "flow-state" often enough and guess where you can get an easy fix of that? First-person shooters.. (for me anyway). I don't have 3+ hour-long sessions or anything, maybe just a round or two and it's like that first cup of coffee in the morning.

sacnoradhq 3y ago
Try writing or coding for fun. Caffeine, while increasing focus, ups anxiety and cardio load. Exercise (HIIT) I find is better at increasing focus and decreasing anxiety.
- codespin 3y ago
  Replacing even a small amount of your gaming time with consistent exercise goes so far. Once you realize that you can actually achieve anything you set your mind to just by making a routine you will find yourself wanting to shift the time and effort going into games into real world success.
  - galleywest200 3y ago
    Just remember the whole "all work and no play" thing though.
  - notfed 3y ago
    This and the parent comment come off as patronizing and missing the point. Grandparent was giving an anecdote about how video games work for them, not asking for alternative advice.
- 12345hn6789 3y ago
  Why are you assuming the parent comment does not exercise? Or want to consume caffeine? Certainly those are worse long term than a 15 minute video game session.
ladyattis 3y ago
It's funny you speak of flow state here since for me reading up on MMORPG meta or any meta changes to any game is where I mostly focus on such that even before I launch a game I've been reading up on its mechanics and trying to understand it in an abstract way (the opposite of this for me is when I just play Stardew Valley since I just wanna fish or chat with the NPCs rather than figure out how to min-max my farm). The act of figuring out how a game works mechanically is just as fun as trying to play the game itself for me.

sacnoradhq 3y ago

Try writing or coding for fun. Caffeine, while increasing focus, ups anxiety and cardio load. Exercise (HIIT) I find is better at increasing focus and decreasing anxiety.

codespin 3y ago
Replacing even a small amount of your gaming time with consistent exercise goes so far. Once you realize that you can actually achieve anything you set your mind to just by making a routine you will find yourself wanting to shift the time and effort going into games into real world success.
- galleywest200 3y ago
  Just remember the whole "all work and no play" thing though.
- notfed 3y ago
  This and the parent comment come off as patronizing and missing the point. Grandparent was giving an anecdote about how video games work for them, not asking for alternative advice.
12345hn6789 3y ago
Why are you assuming the parent comment does not exercise? Or want to consume caffeine? Certainly those are worse long term than a 15 minute video game session.

ladyattis 3y ago

It's funny you speak of flow state here since for me reading up on MMORPG meta or any meta changes to any game is where I mostly focus on such that even before I launch a game I've been reading up on its mechanics and trying to understand it in an abstract way (the opposite of this for me is when I just play Stardew Valley since I just wanna fish or chat with the NPCs rather than figure out how to min-max my farm). The act of figuring out how a game works mechanically is just as fun as trying to play the game itself for me.