Should You Watch Gaming Streams?
Should you watch gaming streams? Press play and find out:
After you quit gaming what you realize is that you also spend a lot of time watching gaming streams, which happens because you want to kill time and learn about new games, but also because you enjoy following the different personalities of the streamers.
I used to watch streams as well. I remember following along when Day9 first started streaming and I really enjoyed it… but the truth is, after you quit gaming you need to stop watching streams.
The reason is because streams are one of the top reasons why people relapse. When you watch streams it makes you want to play. It’s easy to think it’s not going to, but the more you watch streams, the more you’ll want to play.
Read: What Triggers Should You Watch Out For?
When you quit gaming you will experience cravings to play. Cravings are inevitable, and because of this you want to not only learn how to deal with them, but you also want to mitigate them.
By not watching streams you’re taking a positive step to mitigate your cravings and set your recovery up for success.
Now one of the reasons why you will justify watching gaming streams is because it’s no worse than watching TV, which is true… but you’re not quitting games to just sit around and watch TV all day. This is the same justification you can use to spend way too much time on Discord – because you think well you’re just hanging out with your friends.
You’re quitting games because you want to start living your life to the fullest.
To do that you need to start creating bigger goals for yourself. The more time you sit around mindlessly browsing the internet, watching gaming streams or watching TV, the less time you are spending on your goals.
Remember to always come back to what you really want to do. Why do you want to quit gaming? What’s your purpose? What are you trying to accomplish?
When you were gaming you were thinking of your life from a place of how you can be entertained all day and numb yourself from your life.
Now that you’ve quit, you want to start thinking about how you can set your life up for success, what you can do on a daily basis that will lead you to reach your goals.
When you start thinking of your life on that level… spending your time watching gaming streams just doesn’t really fit anymore. This also goes for websites like Reddit that you waste time on.
3 tips to avoid watching gaming streams:
1. Find replacement activities.
When do you watch gaming streams? I bet it’s when you’re at home and you’re tired and bored. So what can you do instead when you’re feeling this way that will lead you towards your goals?
Things like watching TED talks, watching documentaries, learning a new language, reading (Read: 5 books I recommend) or listening to podcasts are all good replacement activities for gaming streams.
If you need other ideas, look at our guides on screen-free activities and summer hobbies.
2. Find new role models and mentors.
One of the reasons why you watch streams is because of the different personalities you get to hang out with> Many of these streamers you have been watching for years and this will create nostalgia. (Watch: How to deal with gaming nostalgia.)
To combat this you need to find new role models and mentors to watch instead. Here are a few people I would recommend for you:
Instead of watching streams and encouraging you to play video games, these people will help you live your life to the fullest.
3. Be busier and be out of the house.
The more you can be outside of your house the better. You’ll have less time to watch streams, you’ll be less tempted to game (you won’t be bored at home) and you can invest your time in more productive activities.
Watch: How to get out of the house more often
So I hope that helps you out and if it does I’d love to hear what your new activities are going to be instead of watching streams. Share your answer in the comments below.
If you are still playing games but you want to quit right now, check out Respawn.