Fighting Smartphone Game Addiction | Prischew.com

You may be reading this article, because you have realised that you are spending way too much time on a particular smartphone game. With smartphones becoming increasingly prevalent in our lives today, this is an ever-increasing possibility.

Regardless of whether the game is Candy Crush, Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja or another one, being completely hooked onto any smartphone game isn’t good at all for your health and lifestyle.

Here are some things for you to tackle and fight your gaming addiction to that smartphone game.

Make a list of your actual priorities

You should get a pen and paper (definitely not an iPad or laptop) and write down (no, not type) a list of what your priorities actually are. This is not a list of things that you should be doing, but a list of what they actually are. Doing this will help you to realise just how addicted you are to the smartphone game. If you aren’t sure of the level of priority to assign a particular item, try and think about what you’ve been doing for the past few weeks.

For example, if you’ve completed such a list and realise that you have said no to going out with your best friends but stayed at home to play that smartphone game, this is a sign of gaming addiction.

Keep your smartphone hidden from view and away from you

It may be difficult not to have your smartphone with you all the time, especially if you are using it to receive important business calls. But if you have your phone sitting in full view of you, it will only make you tempted to play that game you’re addicted to. The desire to play will decrease if your phone isn’t staring at you in the face.

So do put your phone inside your drawer when you’re at work, or maybe in another room when you reach home. Make sure that it is not the first thing you look at when you wake up and the last thing you see when you go to sleep. That should help you fight your video gaming addiction.

Try and do something else

Instead of playing that smartphone game, do something else will help you fight your gaming addiction. You could get involved in another activity that you used to enjoy before you become addicted to that game.

For example, you could try curling up with a good book (definitely not an e-book though) or try some outdoor activity, such as running or cycling. You may also want to consider engrossing yourself in a sudoko or a crossword puzzle. Or a trip to town to do some window-shopping may take your mind off the games.

Go out with your friends

Contact your friends and arrange an outing with them. Do remember that your friends are there to support you when you need them.

Perhaps you could arrange a dinner gathering to have an idle chat session with them or even go for a picnic in the park.

Make yourself go to bed earlier

Usually, if you are addicted to smartphone games, you will tend to sleep late because you are playing the game late into the night. So in order to fight your gaming addiction, you could consider setting a time to go to bed, and making this gradually earlier and earlier.

For example, if you usually go to sleep at two o’clock in the morning because you are playing games, you could promise yourself that you’re going to sleep at midnight the first night, and then at 11pm the night after that. It might be hard at first, but after a while, you may not even feel the need to stay up late to play that smartphone game anymore.