CMON Feature Friday: Time for Games
As a new year begins, we make grand plans on how things are going to be different. We’ll eat better, read more, go to the gym, etc. But those promises we make to ourselves can be tough to keep. Last week, we asked you what your New Years Gaming Resolutions were, and overwhelmingly people said that they wanted to make more time for their gaming hobby. Whether it was to get more miniature painting done, get more games to the table, or to start a regular gaming group, dedicating time for games is a goal for a lot of people in 2017.
Creating time and space for a hobby can be difficult, especially when the demands of work and family eat up a lot of your day. Here are some tips to help you carve out some time for games in your life.
Take Your Hobby to Work
Last year, we wrote about starting a gaming group at your work. Lunch breaks are a perfect time to get in some rolls of the dice. Focusing on something other than work for even a brief while can be incredibly rejuvenating and make you a more productive employee. Remember recess in grade school when you would go out in the schoolyard and run around for a bit? Reintroduce that same concept into your work life. Even if your goal is to get more painting done, you can have a travel set of brushes and paints and a few minis to work on at the office. You may find that your coworkers will be really interested in your hobby, and it might just lead to a whole new outlet for gaming. Even 10-15 minutes of working on a hobby or creative project is going to have a beneficial impact on your output.
Make a Date and Stick to it
We often find ourselves without time to do the things we love and don’t realize we’re missing them until it’s too late to make plans. Think ahead, set a date, and mark it on the calendar. That is time you’ve dedicated to gaming. We find it possible to make time to go to work and meet social and family obligations. Why not approaching making time for a hobby with the same sense of professionalism? It’s even better if you can make it a regular day of the week, or month. Starting with one day, far enough in advance that you know there won’t be any conflicts, is the first step to carving out time for your hobby again. Don’t be afraid to demand time for the things you love. Having that mental space will make you better with the time you give to other people.
Include Your Family
Sometimes we see family as an obstacle to getting time to focus on our hobbies, but it can be the exact opposite. Finding games that you can enjoy with your family can not only bring you closer together, it can make it a lot easier to get some gaming in on a regular basis. If your hobby is painting minis, find some figures that your kids can work on and help them out with the basics. It’ll be surprising how quickly they pick it up and the sense of pride it’ll give to you both to see their first finished work. Making your hobby a family affair is a great way to enjoy it on a more regular basis.
Negotiate and Barter
There are people in our life that we share our time with that may not care as much about the hobbies that we’re interested in. However, they can still be allies in helping us practice them. Whether it’s a boss, coworker, family member, or friend, you may need to make a deal to ensure you have the time you need. This can mean working overtime so you can leave early one day, or ensuring a spouse has time to pursue their hobby in exchange for them doing the same for you, or even actively taking part in someone else’s hobby occasionally, so they’ll indulge you every once in a while. Give and take is a part of every relationship, professional or personal. Look at those people as your allies, help them get the time they need, and they should return the favor to you too.
These are just a few ideas that may help everyone get more time to do the things they love this year. Not all of them will work for everyone, but hopefully some will help you get more gaming in. Remember, hobbies are incredibly important to our mental wellbeing. They revitalize us and make us better at handling whatever life throws our way. Not all resolutions are worth following through on, but making sure you carve out time for your hobbies is definitely one of them.
