You don't need me to tell you how much the pandemic has changed the way we act. Remote work may have been a blessing in disguise on some level, but it's hard to deny that in recent years it has slowly eroded the line between our personal and professional lives.
Don't get me wrong, you will never find me to complain about not having to spend several hours a day commuting between office and office. However, despite this, working from home completely destroyed my desire to get closer to my gaming setup.
I still play video games, but with each passing day I find it much more comforting to curl up on the couch with an older-generation console than to spend the night playing in the same office where I work eight hours a day.
Give up my gaming PC
I assembled my trusty gaming PC shortly after finishing school. Since then it's been with me through thick and thin, even going through a few CPU, GPU, and motherboard upgrades over the years. This same gaming rig now sits alongside my work-at-home setup, where I spent most of the pandemic working.
My gaming platform continued to be an important part of my life throughout college and early in my professional career as a communications consultant. Even during the pandemic, my PC helped me get through 2020 and allowed me to enjoy some of the best games of 2021 during the crash.
However, it was only recently that I realized that the more exhausted and exhausted I felt at work, the less time I wanted to spend playing games at a desk. I understand that working and playing are very different activities, and in my case they involve having two separate PCs, but I couldn't get over the fact that I was glued to a computer in the same chair and at the same desk.
At first I wondered if I had left video games behind, like. I've always wanted to play games, even though the thought of sitting in front of my gaming PC made me a little sick. I first turned to Twitch broadcasts to try to live vicariously through various game content creators, but it just wasn't the same.
That's when I had a lightbulb moment: I still couldn't grab a next-gen console like the PS5 or Xbox Series X, but I had my dusty original PS4, which I decided to install in my living room so far from my office. as physically as possible. This solution worked like a charm.
Of course, an eight-year-old console could never compete with a mid-to-mid-range gaming PC in terms of hardware specs and graphics capabilities. But it never seemed to matter to me, even with the occasional FPS stutter I was able to explore new releases like Resident Evil Village and Mass Effect Legendary Edition with minimal fuss.
However, I admit that consoles will probably never be able to reasonably compete with PCs in terms of having a comparable selection of games to choose from. Even taking into account Xbox Game Pass and rumors that PlayStation may develop its own game subscription service, the versatility of computers will mean that PC users will have access to a greater variety of games than their console counterparts. Personally, whenever this became a problem, I would simply pass my partner's Nintendo Switch around whenever the need to play more relaxed arose.
Is there a solution?
While I made the switch to console gaming for now, I certainly don't see this as a permanent change. Even though my PC keeps collecting dust, I still think I'll use it again one day as soon as my patience for remote work stops wearing off a bit. In the meantime, in case you are in a similar situation, I have put together a few possible solutions that have not quite worked for me, but could work very well for you.
First of all, and I admit that this may not seem like a viable solution for those of you who live in a small London apartment like myself, it may be worth thinking about separating your gaming rig from your gaming space. Work if you have the space to do so. that. Moving your gaming setup to a guest room, hooking it up to your TV, or even just moving it to another office can make a difference in helping you mentally separate your workspace from your recreation area. If that sounds like a reasonable plan, we've got a roundup of the best low-cost gaming desktops available right now.
While it's not possible to move your gaming PC away from your current desktop, there are other things you can do to change the way you view your workspace. Making a conscious effort to adopt healthier work habits has worked for me on more than one occasion. For example, this may include things like taking short breaks during the day or setting aside time for a short walk in the middle of the day whenever your work schedule allows.
Another tip is to avoid eating lunch in front of your laptop at work, but that's good general advice for life. Basically the goal here is to minimize the time you spend at your desk as much as possible to ensure you have the energy you need to play games later.
Having a trustworthy group of PC gaming friends can also help you regain your motivation to play. You will also be less likely to break down if you schedule regular play sessions throughout the week.