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As a lawyer, my days are pretty boring, long and filled with work. Some of it fun, some of it enjoyable, but most of it is tiresome, repetitive, and unimaginative work that one might expect from lawyers.
I wanted to share this post that I read recently:
http://thepeoplestherapist.com/2011/06/08/a-little-“me-time”/
"My client wasn’t getting enough sleep. I assumed it was insomnia, but that didn’t fit the bill. It wasn’t that she couldn’t sleep – it was that she wouldn’t sleep. She was staying up from 11 pm to 2 am, lying in bed – mostly, playing Angry Birds.
Those few hours were the only time she was left alone all day – no one from the firm called to assign her something awful to do or yell at her for something awful she’d done. To relinquish this sliver of “me time” – even for sleep – was out of the question.
Morning to night, she spent at the firm. Weekends didn’t exist, in any meaningful sense – they were workdays. Laundry went undone, as did other stuff, like getting her driver’s license renewed or her taxes filed. The only hours devoted to anything for herself were stolen from her sleep schedule, and spent slingshotting daredevil birds at sneering pigs (that’s an Angry Birds reference.)
She needed to vegetate. You need to vegetate, too. There’s only so much work anyone can do. That’s why you find yourself playing video games at 2 am instead of sleeping. You need to play and you need to sleep. You need both."
That's the first four paragraphs.
It resonated with me immensely - I live with my fiancee, who really isn't into gaming, and I work somewhere between 60 to 80 hours a week. When I'm not at work, I go home to spend time with my fiancee, my family, and fulfill my social responsibilities. I try to find time to exercise and do laundry and all the other normal human things (although I admit that a lot of that shit doesn't really happen).
And then I game. I play Starcraft 2. I watch SC2 vids. I listen to SC2 podcasts at home and on my commute.
Starcraft 2 is my anti-drug. It keeps me sane. It lets me release stress. It allows me to replenish that mental fortitude that keeps me going every day.
And if it wasn't Starcraft 2, before it, it was SF4, CoD, Civ, ME, DA:O, etc. I've been gaming since I first got an Atari 2600 back when I was 7 and it keeps me sane.
 
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First off I read off the website as the peoples the rapist.
On a serious note, seriously Starcraft 2 and many other games has been a HUUUUGE factor in how I spend my time, and looking back when I consider the alternatives this is a decision I'm proud of.
Glad to see some people out there have the same experience 
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10/10 Would read again.
totally agree with you mate. I'm in a similar position to you, although I don't work as many hours as you. I can relate to the article too because when I come home from work and go upstairs to change that 10 minutes on my own before coming downstairs to the kids and wife are great - I usually end up laying on the bed browsing TL on my phone haha.
Godspeed to you fellow gamer.
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Blazinghand
United States25552 Posts
This is totally true... I really liked this article. you earn a 5/5
I think a lot of people who work very hard don't set aside time for themselves, and ultimately that hurts their ability to be productive because of the mental strain
On June 09 2011 03:07 Monokeros wrote:
First off I read off the website as the peoples the rapist.
ME TOO
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i dunno, drugs are my anti-starcraft.
am i doing it wrong?
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Very pleasing to read. =)
I love reading things like this that really are a great representation of not only your own experiences with Starcraft, but speak largely for most everyone on TL, as SC often is a pretty significant part of many of our lives.
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Video games in general keep me sane for the most part. Starcraft 2 is one special case as it is one of those games where victory feels extremely sweet as much as defeat feels sour. Most games these days don't seem to offer that kind of challenge factor.
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You know, I never really looked back at my life and thought about it, but gaming has always been like that for me since I was just a little boy, great read, got me to look back and really think. 5/5
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Is a replacement drug an anti-drug?
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Starcraft 2 is one of the few things i enjoy to do. I dislike school, i have a side-job with horrible people (although i dislike most people) and there is nearly always a shit-storm going on at home.
So when i get home, i boot the pc, go to TL.net to see if anything is going on (Interesting threads or streams on) if not i go play a game of SC2. Although i suck at the game i just love playing it as it makes me forget everything.
Thanks for sharing your story with us (And her story)
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Good luck to you, I can only imagine how it must feel for such a daily grind; working 60-80 hours must be a real pain o.o
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I don't game for more than 2-3 hours a day - which is a lot to some people I know, but compared to my previous habits this is a major improvement - but those hours really help me, especially when I'm studying 6-7 hours a day for exams. Stuff just digests better and I get a greater understanding of it after I'm done.
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60-80 hours...holy cow batman. That sounds intense o.O
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@OP: How old are you ?
and 60-80 hours sounds insane but then again you are a lawyer
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The title is even more real for me because Starcraft 2 has been the catalyst for me finally slowing down my excessive marijuana use. Can't ladder stoned, man.
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Thankfully, my job does allow me to work remotely and from home from time to time - that makes the 60+ hours a week not seem /so/ bad.  It is usually 10-12 hours in the office, go home (work on the commute while listening to SC2), eat dinner, work a few more hours, spend some time with the fiancee, and after everyone's gone to bed, a few hours of SC2. I can sneak in a few SC2 games whenever I can or if I've got a tournament, but they all feel like guilty games.
@damahammer: I'm over 30. :D
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EPT
