Gaming the System: Gaming Addiction & Screen Time

When you quit gaming it often means leaving a lot of your old friends behind. Whether it's because you can't cope with them talking about video games all the time, inviting you to play, or because you're trying to shed your old identity as a gamer, it's never an easy process to go through.

So what can you do? Ultimately it comes down to one thing.

You have to become someone that can attract new friends.

If you're living a boring life with no hobbies and spend your free time on YouTube, it's not going to go well. Regardless of whether or not you're playing video games anymore.

If, however, you decide to get yourself out of your comfort zone and learn new skills, meet new people, and live an interesting life you'll soon find yourself at the centre of an awesome friendship group.

It's not easy, though. It can take a long time and a lot of effort to build new relationships. But I can assure you it's 100% worth it.

If you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to review and subscribe, it really helps us out!

Until next time.

Music by Nordgroove from Fugue.

You might think the biggest problem with Twitch is that you're spending too much time on the website, but you'd be wrong.

In reality, the Twitch community with their crabs-in-a-bucket attitude is holding you back in more ways than you think. When you spend your free time listening to people talk about how poorly their life is going and being proud of that fact, it's going to wear down your mindset to the point where eventually you're going to join in.

If you're trying to quit gaming and you're still watching Twitch, you might want to reconsider your relationship with the platform.

Listen to the full episode to find out more, and learn how to avoid Twitch forever.

Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe if you haven't already! It really means a lot.

Until next time.

Music by Nordgroove from Fugue.

To say Pauline's story is inspiring would be doing it a disservice. 

Having started her first 'side hustle' at 8 years old by learning how to turn HTML into websites, it seems like she was destined to be a part of the tech world.

However, when school came around she found herself at one of the lowest points of her life. 

Constant bullying, poor grades, excessive gaming and bad eating habits led her to the realisation that something needed to be done.

It was at this point that Pauline quit video games, and started turning her life around for good.

Since then she has been listed as one of the most influential women in tech, done a number of public speaking gigs, influenced 100's of people to get into coding through numerous programs, and that's just scratching the surface.

Pauline's an inspiration to thousands of people on social media every single day, and I hope you find some of that inspiration from watching this podcast.

LINKS:

Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to rate and review if you haven't already! It really means a lot.

Until next time.

Music by Nordgroove from Fugue.

I've relapsed far more times over the last 5 years than I'd like to admit. However, what was once a painful barrier accompanied by months of pain is now an opportunity for me to build self-awareness and overcome my problems much faster than I did in the past.

When I relapsed in the past, I always assumed that it was because I was a failure. I wasn't meant to quit gaming, and I should just stop trying to succeed in what I want to do and go back to playing video games.

But, over time, my mindset towards relapsing started to shift. Now, 5 years after I first stopped playing, I no longer have the same resentment of myself as I once did if I start to let gaming creep back into my life.

What did I change? Listen to the episode to find out!

If you haven't already I'd love for you to leave us a rating. It'll help us get the podcast in front of more people, and we can provide as much value as possible!

Until next time.

Music by Nordgroove from Fugue.

We're back! Hope you didn't miss the podcast too much over the new year's break, but after getting severe food poisoning and having to travel across the country, I thought I'd use the opportunity to take a bit of a break.

In this episode I'm going to go through my exact process for reflecting on 2019, why you need to do it, and what questions you should ask yourself.

I'd recommend taking some time to reflect on these questions and answer them as honestly as possible. Reflection is an incredibly powerful process, and it can really make the difference between success and failure at the start of 2020.

The questions I go through in the episode are:

- What went well in 2019?

Chances are you haven't considered the answers to any of these questions. When you go through this exercise, I guarantee you'll remember things that you had completely forgotten about. It's amazing what pops up when you really think about it.

Hopefully, you find this episode helpful. There's going to be some amazing content coming to the podcast in the next few months, and I can't wait to show you everything we've got planned at Game Quitters!

If you haven't already I'd love for you to leave us a rating. It'll help us get the podcast in front of more people, and we can provide as much value as possible!

Until next time.

Music by Nordgroove from Fugue.

So many people struggle to find new things to do after they quit playing video games that it even has its own name - The Void. You're so used to getting a certain level of stimulation from gaming, anything else you do just feels boring in comparison.

In this episode, I go over a few of my favourite hobbies that I think you should try if you want to quit gaming. They focus on the major needs that video games fulfil, and they all have a low barrier to entry.

You might think they're common choices or you just don't want to do them, and that's fine, but if you are still stuck in the void and are still saying you don't want to do them, then the problem isn't the hobby... It's you.

Activities featured in this episode:

- coding

Also, merry Christmas!

If you haven't already I'd love for you to leave us a rating. It'll help us get the podcast in front of more people, and we can provide as much value as possible!

Until next time.

Music by Nordgroove from Fugue.

Take a few moments to think about the people who see you gaming every day. Your parents, carers, friends. Whoever it might be.

Now imagine you've swapped places.

What would you say to this person? Would it be an encouragement? Reflection? A simple "okay no problem"?

So, why aren't you saying it to yourself?

In this episode of Gaming the System, James explores what life is like for the people outside of your virtual bubble. Oftentimes it's easy to think we're the only ones affected by a gaming addiction, but in reality, that isn't the case.

Your loved ones see you every day, and they're powerless to help you overcome your problem. No matter how much it hurts them...

If you haven't already I'd love for you to leave us a rating. It'll help us get the podcast in front of more people, and we can provide as much value as possible!

Until next time.

Music by Nordgroove from Fugue.

In all of my friendship groups, I was always known as the gamer. I never stood out in any way, and whenever someone talked to me it'd usually be about video games.

At the time I didn't see anything wrong with it. But, when I look back on how different my life could have been if I just took it upon myself to be more, to do more, to aim higher and really achieve the things that I was capable of... I really wish I'd have known about it sooner.

It's a short episode today, but it's in reply to a message I was asked recently about whether I can talk in more detail on the topic of identifying as a gamer.

It might not seem like much, but it was actually the defining moment in my journey to overcome video game addiction and finally start turning my life around for the better.

Hopefully, it can do the same for you.

If you haven't already I'd love for you to leave us a rating. It'll help us get the podcast in front of more people, and we can provide as much value as possible!

Until next time.

Music by Nordgroove from Fugue.

Growing up, Christmas was always a time for three things; no school, food, and gaming. I'd always ask for gaming-related presents from my family and eagerly look for the game-shaped present in the pile of gifts under the tree. But, after battling against a gaming addiction for the last 5 years, I've come to place a lot more value on how important family is over Christmas. 

I think about all the holidays I spent playing games and not engaging in activities. How must that have made my parents feel?

As it's almost Christmas, and no doubt a lot of you will be struggling with managing your gaming over the holiday, I thought I'd do an episode for those of you who want to see what life can be like without gaming. 

Maybe you're a gamer that has wasted enough time in the virtual world, or you might be a non-gamer struggling with urges. Whoever you are, hopefully, you get some value from this episode.

If you haven't already I'd love for you to leave us a rating. It'll help us get the podcast in front of more people, and we can provide as much value as possible!

Until next time.

Music by Nordgroove from Fugue.

When it comes to talking to your friends about your gaming problem, it's really freaking difficult. It's easy to convince yourself that you'll be laughed at and stigmatized, that your friends will kick you out of their life, or even abuse you.

So, how do you go about opening up this communication?

In this episode, I discuss some of the mistakes I made during my time in university and how you can avoid doing the same thing, as well as whether or not you should think about replacing your friendships groups if it's really becoming a problem.

If you haven't already I'd love for you to leave us a rating. It'll help us get the podcast in front of more people, and we can provide as much value as possible!

Until next time.

Music by Nordgroove from Fugue.