Movies

[Tanvir]

I just thought what if a person gets addicted to movies after quitting games? Is watching movies instead of gaming fine? I believe there is a grey line for the amount of movies you should/can watch. Thoughts? 

[Dannigan]

Hello Tanvir,

 

I think it's easy for a person to jump from one addiction to the next.  Your mind is still craving the instant gratification that's associated with gaming addiction.  I think that watching movies is more of a passive hobby, versus gaming is utilizing different parts of your brain that require engagement in the activity.

Maybe it would be helpful to ask yourself the following questions....

1)  Is this activity causing me to neglect myself, my responsibilities, and the people I care about?

Furthermore.....

a)  Is this activity causing me to lose sleep?

b)  Is this activity causing a shift in my mood?  Or causing irregular mood patterns that I have difficulty controlling?

c)  Is this activity interfering with my work? 

d)  Is this activity causing me to isolate myself from others?

e)  Is this activity taking too much time in my day where I could be doing other things that are more productive?

Don't get me wrong, I love watching movies too.  But I also think that watching six movies in a row in one day is too much.   In my personal journey, I would probably use a movie as a reward for completing a hard day's work at the gym, or on the weekend I'd invite friends or family over to watch the movie with me. 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2016 by Dannigan

[Cam Adair]

It always comes back to what your goals are. Are you quitting gaming to just sit around and do nothing else with your time or are you quitting because you have bigger aspirations and goals to pursue in your life? That's what it always comes back to.

[Mark]

Hey Tanvir!

Dannigan is right in saying that watching films is more of a passive hobby, whereas gaming requires a lot more engagement, so I imagine that it is an easier pastime to moderate. I regularly watch films and TV series because I need that downtime to allow my mind to relax for a while. Whether it is a problem for you comes back to how much time you dedicate to watching films, and what activities you prioritise it over. Dannigan and Cam have provided some great questions for you to ask yourself regarding this 

[Mark1520]

Hi there Tanvir!

This is basically what I did when I stopped playing videogames. I started watching Netflix all day. After a while I confronted myself with this behaviour and realized I didn't quit playing videogames so I could sit around and watch movies all day. 

Ask yourself what you want to be doing. What are your dreams? Your goals? If you don't have any goals yet, try to create some first. Look at your dreams and ask yourself what goals you need to accomplish to be able to live that dream.  If you have your goals you can split those goals into smaller ones. Keep doing this until you're at a point you know you can accomplish it in a day. Make a habit out of it to complete at least one task/goal a day.

Just pick one goal or task and tell yourself you can watch a movie after you've finished that task. After a while, you'll be able to accomplish more and more in a day. At first this is really hard, and you will have days you won't be able to do anything. Just accept it, and try again the next day. Keep doing this and you will accomplish all of your goals.

Give it some time (apply The Slight Edge) and after a while you'll realize that your dreams aren't dreams anymore. Your dreams are becoming reality.

[Primmulla]

As I mentioned in some of my posts, I love TV series though I never was capable of spending entire day watching them: two episodes a day is the maximum I can watch. But in my case, watching TV series is strongly connected with my passion for learning languages, since I hardly ever watch series in my native language, but almost exclusively in English (which I hope I have mastered, but TV series are my only contact with spoken English, so I consider it a productive activity) and German. There is a great post on learning languages from series on Fluent in 3 month, I will try and find it for you. But I agree that watching series in your native language can be considered a waste of time, since you do not learn anything then.

I've found the link: http://www.fluentin3months.com/movies/

Edited March 17, 2016 by Primmulla

[Falky]

Even whilst gaming I would love watching films and TV shows. Both combined though took up so much time I couldn't get anything done.

I would become engrossed in my games for literally all day then slump on the sofa to watch a couple of films because my brain hurt from so much thinking haha.

Watching films is something I would never give up.

[Some Yahoo]

Movies are still wasting your time.  You're better off repainting a fence than watching a movie.  Learning, cooking, fixing things, writing, even reading are better than passively absorbing entertainment.

[Kent Norris]

Thank you for sharing. I feel very good that I do not get caught up in the games. Often watching movies over IPTV with Listas IPTV feels very good, you should try

[Zafar]

Watching movies is totally wasting of your time. 

[creationlist]

The major difference between watching movies and playing video games is the alert level.

You can easily calm down by watching a movie. Compared to gaming where you need to have good reflexes and a high alert level all the time.

While it is the better thing compared to playing video games, it can be a waste of time.

In other words: If you watch a movie instead of doing your laundry and you have no clothes left to put on, it's an addiction.