How do you know when you have played a video game too long?
Skipped dinner to keep playing a game....check
Decided to stay up late to keep playing.....check
The sun comes up and birds start chirping....check
In my University years I loved to play video games. I was a card carrying member of the war gamers club as well as others. Civilization ate up way too many evenings making me feel like I wasn't very productive.
However, it wasn't until Warcraft and Warcraft 2 came out that I really lost track of time.
I fondly remember late night gaming sessions. Then when I could do late night gaming sessions with friends...ohhh, that was so awesome.
Of course in modern days that's nothing. Every game out there has multi player support but dial things back to 1995 and multiplayer support in games was slim at best.
Now the Hive Learners community has asked its members to tell about poor time management. What were the consequences. What did I learn.
Did I have some poor time management skills? Of course.
What was the culprit?
- Video games (usually) or
- Binge watching TV (less frequently).
Ahh... But what were the consequences?
Nothing
Now you might say:
..... Seriously?
..... ..... No consequences?
..... ..... ..... You must be joking.
Honestly
..... No consequences.
B U T
That is all because of one of my professors in my first year of University.
There was one class in my first year which was entirely about time management. My professor said that when working in Pharmacy time management was absolutely essential because there would be tasks coming at the Pharmacist all day long. People would be asking questions. Doctors would be asking questions. Prescriptions would be lining up. Phones would be ringing. Compounds would need to be made up.....
...... and the list goes on and on.
His advice.
Do the Important Things First
Every day there will be dozens of things that should be done. At the end of the day there might not be enough time to get them ALL done. However, if you do the important things first you would be amazed at how smoothly things go.
*Example:
Right now
- I have laundry to do.
- Dinner to prepare
- A HIVE post to get done
- The bed to make
- My daily quest to complete on Splinterlands
Only the Hive Learners post has a deadline (4:00PM). Dinner's deadline is 5:00PM and laundry/bed.. before my wife gets home at 6:00PM. Splinterlands--it will always be there.
Now I could not do this post as its not super important but I have time so you are reading it. Then everything gets done in order of importance.
Here's the huge benefit of doing things in order of importance. I showed terrible time management in wasting 18 hours playing Warcraft II. I could have been exercising, studying, preparing nutritious food, cleaning my room, spending time with friends....almost anything would have been more productive.
However, I was smart enough to Do the important things first. My essays were written. My homework was done. My bills were paid etc. When I played my games even if I wasted many many hours I wasn't in trouble because everything important was covered.
As I get older my priorities change.
My wife hates video games so I play much fewer games.
My faith and family take #1 priority in my life so they always get top billing. Everything else comes second. I've never regretted the class on doing the most important things first. It seemed like such a weak lesson for the day but its has had the biggest overall impact on my life.
Thanks for reading.