To begin with, I admit that I made a foolish deal with God this Lent: I gave up playing single player video games. Notice how I couched the term: single player, not all. I justified leaving that loophole because playing Starcraft II online with my brother is one of the main ways that he and I communicate these days, and because I already started making plans with my brother-in-law to visit and play games together. I did not allow myself the loophole of playing multi-player games with people I didn’t know. I am also not allowing myself the “Sundays don’t count” loophole.
It’s been only a few days, but I am certainly feeling the pains of withdrawal. I don’t know what to do with myself in my down time, and I have the next week off of my day job. In my mind, this wasn’t going to be a huge problem. I would be able to use the opportunity to get ahead on designing some stuff for my classes (I’ve barely been ahead of the kids this year), clean some neglected areas of the basement, and perhaps get some writing done. In practice, I have been a bit of a wreck. I find myself just sitting, staring into space or waiting for my brother to pop on line.
I think that part of the problem is that, other than video games, the only thing on my docket is more work. Without some sort of short-term reward, completing that work only means that I have other work to do. This is a vicious cycle that motivates me to get nothing done.
My father has often lamented that video games have held me back from doing great things. This short experience seems to be proving him right. My normal work week allows almost no time for games, but I spend a large amount of time during the weekends and vacations, such as the one I’m currently on, playing video games instead of getting other things accomplished. Granted, after years (decades) of this pattern, I almost don’t know what to do with myself now.
At least one thing is certain: I have not truly learned any lesson from this (at least, not yet). I will be tremendously happy to get back to my games come Easter. I can’t think of another year where I’ve looked forward to Easter this much.
It’s been only a few days, but I am certainly feeling the pains of withdrawal. I don’t know what to do with myself in my down time, and I have the next week off of my day job. In my mind, this wasn’t going to be a huge problem. I would be able to use the opportunity to get ahead on designing some stuff for my classes (I’ve barely been ahead of the kids this year), clean some neglected areas of the basement, and perhaps get some writing done. In practice, I have been a bit of a wreck. I find myself just sitting, staring into space or waiting for my brother to pop on line.
I think that part of the problem is that, other than video games, the only thing on my docket is more work. Without some sort of short-term reward, completing that work only means that I have other work to do. This is a vicious cycle that motivates me to get nothing done.
My father has often lamented that video games have held me back from doing great things. This short experience seems to be proving him right. My normal work week allows almost no time for games, but I spend a large amount of time during the weekends and vacations, such as the one I’m currently on, playing video games instead of getting other things accomplished. Granted, after years (decades) of this pattern, I almost don’t know what to do with myself now.
At least one thing is certain: I have not truly learned any lesson from this (at least, not yet). I will be tremendously happy to get back to my games come Easter. I can’t think of another year where I’ve looked forward to Easter this much.
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