How to Stop Using Gaming as a Way to Procrastinate

I’m back in Canada and wanted to answer another question I received from my #AMA thread happening right now. The question is about how to stop using gaming as a way to procrastinate, especially when it comes to studying or working.

To find out my answer, press play:

So this is a great question and this is definitely one of the cornerstone issues of this gaming problem, which has to do with the way we use gaming to escape from our problems.

It’s important to remember that gaming is just an activity and when it becomes a problem it’s because we have underlying issues going on, so we want to start learning more about why we are trying to escape from whatever we’re trying to escape from.

Is it anxiety? Is it stress? Another emotion?

This is a problem I personally relate to and after I quit gaming I needed to learn how to deal with these emotions and still have to work on every day. Part of it is learning about how to focus better.

An example is from today, I spent the entire day doing my taxes, and that sucks, that is an activity that is incredibly boring, it’s not inspiring, so it’s easy to procrastinate. So what I did was focus on smaller blocks, 10-15 minutes at a time, take a quick break (without technology) and then sit back down and do another 10-15 minutes, rinse and repeat.

These short breaks help me release the anxious energy that can build up where you get a bit antsy and you want to move around but by taking a quick break over time (in my case today, 7 hours), I was able to release that energy during my break instead of going on Reddit or Facebook and then running into a ton of other distractions.

Another thing you want to do is learn how to focus for longer periods of time, and this is a skill like anything else. I’m a big advocate of learning meditation, because the science behind meditation is so clear that it’s a great way to improve your focus.

Lastly, when it comes to motivation, you need to remember why you are doing the things you want to do. So when you find you’re getting distracted, make sure you take a minute to remind yourself why pursuing what you’re trying to pursue is important to you.

Needing a temporary escape is natural, so it’s just about learning how to fulfill this need in a way that you don’t need gaming. Meditation, taking a short break (without technology), going for a walk, etc are all good ways to do that.

Hope that helps and if it does, make sure you share it with someone it can help!