Balancing Minecraft & Life Advice?

[InMud7]

So, I struggle with balancing Minecraft and life. Kinda sad ik, but I'm sure others can relate. I'm majoring in Computer Science and it would be INCREDIBLY beneficial for me to program for fun in my freetime. And that can be satisfying in it's own way. However, programming is mentally exhausting and it's just so much easier / more immediate fun if I work on a Minecraft server or play Minecraft.

But as you all know, progress on Minecraft is temporary, whereas progress in real life is permanent. And I have goals for myself, but most of them require me to do years of hard work to actually achieve them basically. So it's easy to just avoid difficult tasks by replacing them with working on my server and seeing immediate progress. I tried giving up my server last year to focus on school and did temporarily, but recently I've been really lonely + have been wanting to work with server files / make it come alive again so the current owners agreed to re-add me as an equal (it is run by a Council rather than single owner. And power is balanced between all of them). So that's great for feeling like I belong somewhere, but terrible too because I want to work on the server instead of do my school work. And if I don't get my act together I'm going to fail all of my classes. And yet... I just don't care enough about college to do work rather than play games.

I've tried quitting Minecraft permanently, and while it was successful, I also completely lost interest in programming / my major because Minecraft is what got me into programming (wanting to make plugins). On the other hand, if I'm a server owner then I just spend all my time working with server files instead of programming / doing work. And if I try playing Minecraft but NOT being a server owner, then I end up trying to come up with ways to work with server files anyway. For example, I made a basic server setup on MC-Market which I regularly updated so I could still work with server files.

So I don't know what to do to be honest. And I'd appreciate some advice. Basically my issue is I feel lonely, depressed, and discouraged/tired whenever I try to focus on real life instead of Minecraft related stuff. And whenever I focus on Minecraft stuff I'm happy (short-term), but my grades/future are suffering because of it.

I've tried balancing Minecraft and limiting it to 2 hours a day but I never follow through.

Edit: Also, I think the reason I feel discouraged is because trying to figure out programming problems for homework can be fun and that's what the first 2-3 computer science courses were like. But now it's like: Go through some dense notes about algorithm analysis, why things work, etc. And reading notes or trying to figure out math is not nearly as fun as working on a programming problem.

Thanks!

 

[Lewyy]

It's great that you're using something you're good at and are combining it with the game you're passionate for. Honestly, you're onto the most important phase in your life as of right now and you need to do good, motivation or not you have to man! I'm not one to ask about helping with depression because i've never been depressed or dealt with it. But honestly, you doing your work in college will get you a lot further in life then what it would if you didn't do it. Motivation or not, finish your work dude!!!!

If you want to quit MC to do your work, during your free time if you've finished an assignment or something try and put your skill to good use, create a discord bot, sell plugins. It's not just helping you with college, it's also making you a bit of money friend!!

sorry if this isn't very useful idk but i tried

 

[InMud7]

It's great that you're using something you're good at and are combining it with the game you're passionate for. Honestly, you're onto the most important phase in your life as of right now and you need to do good, motivation or not you have to man! I'm not one to ask about helping with depression because i've never been depressed or dealt with it. But honestly, you doing your work in college will get you a lot further in life then what it would if you didn't do it. Motivation or not, finish your work dude!!!!

If you want to quit MC to do your work, during your free time if you've finished an assignment or something try and put your skill to good use, create a discord bot, sell plugins. It's not just helping you with college, it's also making you a bit of money friend!!

sorry if this isn't very useful idk but i tried

Thanks for the reply. It is useful, although easier said than done to actually do my work, especially now that I've procrastinated so long that I could spend a full week straight programming / doing math 10 hrs a day and still not be caught up to my classes probably. I did, at least, just tell my math professor that I'm way behind and now he's meeting with me 3 days a week to help me get caught up, which I really appreciate. Also, I haven't learned Java yet so I can't make plugins. I've tried learning it twice alongside with my college work, but college is too time consuming to allow me to learn Java in my free time. Currently I'm learning C++ and supposed to be learning Assembly (I know like 1% of what I'm supposed to know).

I have been working on a C++ project a bit in my free time over the last few months, but less so recently because I get tired and don't want to program in my free time when I could be gaming.

However, it is kinda- not sure the word, assuring? gives me hope? That someone is encouraging me. So thank you.

 

[Lewyy]

Thanks for the reply. It is useful, although easier said than done to actually do my work, especially now that I've procrastinated so long that I could spend a full week straight programming / doing math 10 hrs a day and still not be caught up to my classes probably. I did, at least, just tell my math professor that I'm way behind and now he's meeting with me 3 days a week to help me get caught up, which I really appreciate. Also, I haven't learned Java yet so I can't make plugins. I've tried learning it twice alongside with my college work, but college is too time consuming to allow me to learn Java in my free time. Currently I'm learning C++ and supposed to be learning Assembly (I know like 1% of what I'm supposed to know).

I have been working on a C++ project a bit in my free time over the last few months, but less so recently because I get tired and don't want to program in my free time when I could be gaming.

However, it is kinda- not sure the word, assuring? gives me hope? That someone is encouraging me. So thank you.

Not all of your interests has to be based around computing too man, something that is very stress relieving is sports, as dumb as it sounds try playing a sport or go to the gym. Exercising helps not just your body, but your mental health too. Some people have described working out as an anti-depressant. It motivates you, makes you feel good about yourself and your body and makes you feel a lot better than what you would feel sitting in side playing minecraft. Honestly, as stupid as it sounds this is all facts!

 

[InMud7]

Not all of your interests has to be based around computing too man, something that is very stress relieving is sports, as dumb as it sounds try playing a sport or go to the gym. Exercising helps not just your body, but your mental health too. Some people have described working out as an anti-depressant. It motivates you, makes you feel good about yourself and your body and makes you feel a lot better than what you would feel sitting in side playing minecraft. Honestly, as stupid as it sounds this is all facts!

Very good point. Because I spend all of my time on the computer, it's easy to get worn out for my excitement of computer science. And that's true for working out. In the past it has helped me a lot.. and both my body & mental health could greatly benefit from it. Now I just have to convince myself it's worth walking 10-15min to the gym across campus.. (I gave up trying to convince myself to do that about a month ago). However, I think I'll give it a try again. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Lewyy]

Very good point. Because I spend all of my time on the computer, it's easy to get worn out for my excitement of computer science. And that's true for working out. In the past it has helped me a lot.. and both my body & mental health could greatly benefit from it. Now I just have to convince myself it's worth walking 10-15min to the gym across campus.. (I gave up trying to convince myself to do that about a month ago). However, I think I'll give it a try again. Thanks for the suggestion!

NO PROBLEM MAN, GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!

 

[ignAnko]

I have a similar problem. Im currently working on it now. I used to watch TV in the car, and during class, and whenever im bored. But I started listening to classical music to replace this(mainly when im driving / in class). You can still play games, just right when u get home just try and finish all your work and then play. Or do homework for a bit 20-30mins and then play for like 1 hour. You just need to want to do it. The hardest problem is finding self-motivation.

 

[Sparko]

Work out, seriously. Doing that helped me balance my life more since it cleared my mind and allowed me to “break” my focus on online things.

 

[Zurp]

LOL

 

[Shooting]

I use this
P.O.D.R
Prioritize. Organize. Discipline. Reward

(or just pod)

 

[InMud7]

I have a similar problem. Im currently working on it now. I used to watch TV in the car, and during class, and whenever im bored. But I started listening to classical music to replace this(mainly when im driving / in class). You can still play games, just right when u get home just try and finish all your work and then play. Or do homework for a bit 20-30mins and then play for like 1 hour. You just need to want to do it. The hardest problem is finding self-motivation.

Thanks for the tips! And agreed, for motivation.

Do your homework first & in an environment where you will have no distractions from your phone, computer, etc.

Thanks for the tip! That does definitely help. I just gotta convince myself to actually go to the library. I'll try that though. [DOUBLEPOST=1573317827][/DOUBLEPOST]

Work out, seriously. Doing that helped me balance my life more since it cleared my mind and allowed me to “break” my focus on online things.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that later today. [DOUBLEPOST=1573317937][/DOUBLEPOST]

LOL

I'm glad I could amuse you.

 

[WritingServices]

Many people feel the same way don't be ashamed.