Playing video games is a common hobby for many college students. The different types of genres provide a large selection of choices for students with varying interests. With the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, students have also experienced the time they spend in front of the computer and at home. They have more time in their days to spend playing video games.

However, despite the entertainment value of gaming, it can cause a student to ignore their academic responsibilities. They may opt to spend most of their time playing instead of working on their essay assignments and projects. In some cases, a student can even develop an addiction to gaming that can lead to poor decisions that harm their adult life. If you are a college student that likes to play video games, consider reading the tips in this article to help you balance gaming and college.

Tip 1. Set a Time for Gaming

One of the main issues you can develop when gaming is the desire to play all the time. This is especially true today since the pandemic promotes online education. You may feel the urge to play your favorite video game right after waking up or even while in the middle of a class.

To manage this problem, you should consider establishing a specific time in your day that you will dedicate to video games. This time can be the hours right after school or a whole day during the weekend. The time and duration of your gaming sessions will depend on you, but you must also consider your academic responsibilities. Make sure that you have enough time to do your essay assignments and other projects before setting a schedule.

Additionally, you must consider the current tasks you have. Some college projects may require you to set aside your gaming time so you can submit your work before a deadline.

Tip 2. Use Academic Assistance Services

While doing your academic assignments is a priority over your gaming sessions, there are situations that you may need to use an academic assistance service. You may experience a semester where you have a heavy workload that does not allow you to have any downtime. This can be detrimental to your overall health and lead you to feel burnt out.

To avoid this, you can use any online academic assistance services that can help you with your academic tasks. You can utilize these services to cope with English professors bombarding you with compare and contrast essays. You can hire a professional compare and contrast essay writer to write papers for you while you take a rest and play your favorite video game. You can also hire professional proofreaders and editors for your research papers to take some of the work and allow you to focus on other tasks.

Tip 3. Develop the Discipline to Stop

Expanding on the first tip, you will need to develop the discipline to stop playing to balance gaming and college. If you establish a gaming schedule, it will tell you when you can start playing.

However, the next challenge is having the discipline to stop playing. It is easy for video games to catch a player’s attention, which can lead to extremely long gaming sessions. You may start playing a game around 5 P.M. and still be playing until 2 A.M. the next day. With most schools promoting online education due to the pandemic, students have more opportunities to play. This can cause serious problems to your health since you may not get enough sleep and may even skip meals.

To address this type of issue, it is important that you include the time to stop playing in your schedule. You should follow the schedule and avoid extending your game sessions. This will allow you to develop the discipline to stop and avoid unhealthy behaviors.

Tip 4. Avoid Addictive and Heavily Time-Consuming Games

There are many titles and genres that offer different experiences to their players. Most single-player titles provide a relaxing experience that you can easily leave and get back to on another gaming session. Other genres, such as competitive multiplayer games, tend to promote long playtime and prioritization.

If you decide to play these types of genres, you may find yourself spending too much time playing. You can also develop unhealthy behaviors like thinking about the game all the time and playing during inappropriate hours. This can lead you to prioritize gaming over your academic responsibilities, which can result in skipping classes and failing examinations.

Consider avoiding these types of genres to prevent yourself from developing addictive behaviors that can harm your academic life. Try to play titles that you can enjoy and do not need constant attention or focus. This will help you develop the discipline to stop as well as prevent gaming addiction.

Tip 5. Use Video Games as a Reward Tool

While some may argue that gaming is a distraction for students, you can utilize them as a reward tool to boost your academic productivity. A psychologist B.F. Skinner introduced the concept of positive reinforcement as a behavior management technique where a subject receives a reward for performing correct behavior. You can apply this concept to your studying by rewarding yourself with new video games or additional playtime when you accomplish an academic task.

For example, you can do your essay assignment right when you get home. Once you finish the task, you play for a couple of hours as a reward for the accomplishment. This can instill the behavior of doing academic tasks first before playing video games. This will help you prioritize your academic responsibilities over gaming.

Additionally, you can reward yourself with a new video game when you get high grades on your tests. This will promote acquiring high scores on your academic works which will positively affect your productivity and academic status.

Tip 6. Remember That It Is Just a Game

Gaming can be an important aspect of a student’s life. You may utilize gaming as a way to cope with poor mental health or express yourself through your in-game characters. This can lead you to prioritize gaming over social relationships and academic responsibilities. You may begin to dedicate most of your time to game-related activities and avoid real-life interactions. You may focus on improving your skills in competitive titles rather than doing an essay assignment or project.

If you notice that you are developing these types of behaviors, you should remember that it is just a game. You do not need to spend eight hours a day practicing to be good at a game. It is integral for students that love gaming to understand that video games are just mediums of entertainment and must not become a priority over other aspects of their lives. Video game developers will continue to create and publish games, but failing college is a matter that can affect your future career and personal life.

Conclusion

Students must learn to balance gaming and college to avoid harming their academic status and personal life. The tips in this article should help any student struggling with their interest in gaming and academic responsibilities. They should learn to understand the things they need to prioritize and set aside. Gaming is not a bad thing nor is it something that a student should avoid. However, they must manage their time, develop positive behaviors, and remember that video games are just mediums of entertainment.