How to Balance School and Video Games

Not a lot of things can stop a passionate gamer from doing what he (or she) tends to do best. But someone who owns in a video game might not be owning IRL (in real life) due to dedicating too much time to gaming. And yes, believe it or not, real life does exist, and we kind of have to do well in it sometimes (*cough* school). But there’s good news! There are several ways to balance school and video games so that you can win both the virtual and the real world.

The first and easiest way to win at life is to understand a simple fact about human nature and priorities. No matter how epically awesome you performed virtually, if you came to class unprepared and noobed it up by either failing or embarrassing yourself, a year later you won’t remember how your team went 10-0 that week, moving you up to the rank you needed to get that title of gladiator. Instead, you’ll have four units left to graduate, forcing you to take another semester of school and trying to remember what game you were even playing back when you were supposed to be studying.

If you are having trouble being responsible yourself, get someone more responsible to help you (although it may not seem like the best option, Mom is there for you). It doesn’t seem so bad to wake up on Saturday and play video games for eight hours stopping only for essentials; that is, until you get a call from your friend (or mother) asking what you’ve been up to. Then you realize that although you’ve gained ten levels and earned a thousand gold in game, you still haven’t actually done anything that you needed to do.

If you don’t want someone calling, get in the habit of doing your homework while (or even after) you eat. Everyone has to eat and a lot of gamers do it while they play. So if you can chow down and play at the same time, you can definitely eat and study at the same time. And even better, instead of bringing Super Mario Advance to the toilet with you, use that time for reading. Even if you just visit the throne once a day, five minutes at a time, that’s thirty-five extra minutes a week you could be studying or reading your assignments. It may not seem like the most appealing option, but it doesn’t really take away from your gaming time.

Always remember that the most important way to balance school and video games is to feel okay with incompleteness or failure in the game you are passionate about. The problem with most obsessed gamers who are struggling IRL is that they are okay with incompleteness or failure—as long as it isn’t related to their virtual life. They don’t finish readings or studying in order to see the FFX perfect ending by completing 100% of the game (which takes over 70 hours of game play). In other words, you have to realize the horrible irony when you play The Sims and your character has wealth, money, a perfect family, and a great job that he arrives to on time and clean, when you yourself are struggling in school, never call your friends or family, and stink like rancid ham and cheese Hot Pockets.

If none of these things have helped, go here, take a good look at it. Ask yourself if it’s really worth it next time you stay up all night leveling your mage instead of sleeping when you have class the next day.