this post was submitted on 13 May 2025
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I have a strange remedy (that worked for me of course. YRMV): take up reading of you currently don't.
I admit it was a long journey to call myself a "gamer" again, but hear me out.
I'm a 30 year old dude who works long hours. I got myself into the trap of, "oh I don't have time to play this game, maybe some other time." When I found I did have time, the games just weren't holding my attention. "This game isn't immediately fun, and when am I going to have this much time to play again? Playing this is a waste of time. Might as well watch TV or something." Sure, every now and then a game like vampire survivors would come up, I'd be addicted to it for a week or two, and then stop. But big games with stories or something? Forget about it.
I started reading books at bed time. A chapter or two at a time. Eventually I would find a few books I couldn't put down and I read them all the time. This started scratching itches I have completely forgotten about. Some sort of deep thinking itch that was also fueled with curiosity and wonder. Reading books also re-taught me to be more patient too. It's not like I can completly absorb a story while skimming pages, right?
At some point, my headspace around my leisure time changed. If I can be happy enough just sitting down a few hours reading, then what's stopping me from being happy playing video games?
I bought Baulders Gate 3 finally and now I can't stop playing it.
It's hard to explain, but it's almost as if I've re-learned how to enjoy my time again. If only I could sedate my anxiety about everything else going on in the world. ๐
But take up reading! Try to just read 15 or 30 minutes a day. One doesn't need to completely stop doom scrolling. Just taking a break from it. Don't go into it with the headspace of "if I read, I will enjoy gaming." Just focusing on enjoying the book.
Worst case scenario? You might not be into gaming, but hey, you're a reader now!
I had a somewhat similar experience. Two years ago, I stopped playing video games when I noticed, I only did it by habit not because I enjoyed it so much. I remembered reading a lot when I was younger, so I picked it up again to fill my evenings.
It was hard at first. I wasn't used to focus my attention like this anymore. But as you said, I learned to be patient over time. Now, I look forward to continuing my book every day! It is a great hobby to calm down and relax. As a side effect, my language skills (not english) improved a lot.
Yeah, my e-reader tells me about how many pages I read in an hour, or something like that, and it was kind of fun to see how fast my reading got over time. I think I've plateaued though ๐ .