I have a bit of a weird thing with playing video games, in that when I’m playing them, I often feel like I can — nay, should — be doing something more productive with my time.
That may not seem unusual on the surface of it, Ok, so you’re someone who likes getting stuff done and want to use your time wisely, but the weird part is that I don’t feel that nearly as much, if at all, with other pastimes. I can watch a movie with little or any consideration for what I could be writing. I can watch TV or sit and read without thinking I should be working on a skill or making/finishing/doing something useful with my time. No other pastime stirs up that Be Busy notion as much, if at all.
Yet I sit down and play games on the Switch or on my phone, and sure enough, the feeling probably hits that I maybe kinda shouldn’t be doing that when I could be making something or getting better at something instead.
It hits me hard enough that this unique feeling often curbs me from playing video games as much as I otherwise would. But I usually just watch something or read something instead, things that make me feel less… guilty? If that’s what this is?
Further, thanks to recent, completely independent conversations I’ve had with people where video game consoles come up, I’ve been hankering to get another PlayStation — I’ve had two generations in the past but nothing since the PS2 — because I do love me some video gaming, and the PlayStation platform in particular. Yet one wonders why I would spend *muttermutter* dollars to get a new gaming console that I then feel… bad?… about using.
But man, I’d like one.
Any thoughts on what may be happening? Why this particular pastime stands out in my brain as a bridge too far?