This upcoming Thanksgiving will mark the one year anniversary of my working for “the bank” and with this anniversary I took a moment to reflect on what this year has done for me as an individual in the work place and as a gamer. One of the greatest things about the setting I’m in at work is that I am given the freedom to contribute to multiple projects; such as the remodeling of the bank website, designing of bank icons for a new mobile app, and leading the implementation of a paperless program used for documentation of loans. Unfortunately while I have this awesome job that affords these opportunities I am traveling almost 60 miles round trip per day and this puts a strain on my life outside of work.
For one, I spend 2 hours of my day stuck in a car. I recently got a 2013 Ford Escape and I love it, but 10 hours a week in a car is more than any sane person should be stuck inside such a confining space. This also means that my work day is extended to 10 hours instead of 8 with the addition of my drive. While I know that a lot of people work longer than 8 hour days, sometimes they are able to choose to come in earlier and still be able to leave on or around 5pm. I am unfortunately confined to the 9am-5pm time slot because of the nature of my work; I have to be available to work when other companies are open. As a result of this I usually get home around 6pm (depending on traffic), dinner is ready around 6:45pm, and I ideally go to bed between 10pm-11pm.
I know what you’re thinking, “Oh boo hoo, welcome to the real world” and “Just wait until you have kids.” I get it, this is the way life is and I need to take a deep breath and suck it up. The only thing that really gets to me about all of this is that it has severely limited the amount of time I am able to spend playing video games. I am the kind of person who enjoys immersing hours at a time into a game, but on the weekdays I only have about 2-3 hours to commit to anything and it usually goes to laundry, playing with my dog, or running errands that I need to catch up on. This absence of game playing time has also limited my knowledge on new video games, what games are coming out, and other gaming news which saddens me because of how passionate I am about games and gaming. I also no longer work for Gamestop which has contributed to that greatly; sometimes blogs and news sites just aren’t as informational as being surrounded by video games and gamers on a daily basis.
While I struggle to find a balance between the “real world” and the gaming world, I am also constantly working to find a job in the video game industry and every day that I am not completely immersed in video games is another day that I am “losing” that knowledge. Gaining real world skills in the corporate/office setting has definitely significantly buffed my resume, but I miss my insane amount of gaming knowledge; it’s something that makes my heart and my mind soar because of my passion for the industry.
So, while you’ve been sitting here reading my whining comments I implore you to suggest ways that I can organize my time enough that video games can come back to the forefront of my life. What do you do during your busy days to play more video games and spend more time doing the things you love? My goal is to spend at least one post a month describing my efforts to play more video games while also juggling the “real world” and with your suggestions I may be able to achieve just that!
Send me an email at nymgamer@gmail.com or leave a comment here on the site! I want to hear your strategies and your struggles, how do you make time for gaming when so many other things get in the way?
