Making and Finding: Time

Finding time and making time are really two different things.

The former makes me think of finding a quarter on the pavement. "Oh hey, money!" I just happened upon it without any kind of effort. It was a "right place, right time" situation.

The latter is something far more active and involved. It means shuffling schedules around. Maybe it means putting off what I'd really like to do for a few days (or even months) so I can make time available for it at some point in the future.

It's this distinct split between finding and making time that always springs to mind, not to mention maturity level of the writer, when a gaming forum thread is started with something along the lines of "I'm having a kid in March -- will I still be able to play video games?"

Triple fermented and 9%

Yes, you'll be able to play games but you'll finding the time rather than making time. It becomes a matter of priority though. Speaking from my own experience, sleep, kids, wife, food, time outside, paying bills, work, etc. all pretty much take priority over gaming, not to mention my ability to update The Armchair Empire with any regularity.

If there's any time to be found it's after everyone else has gone to bed. Then I come to a fork in the road: sleep or gaming. More and more the sleep option is getting play. With five kids in the house and a wife that actually likes to have me around, sleep always seems to be in short supply so for me to make a choice to stay up late truly takes an active decision.

Recently I received a (loaner) M18x from Alienware and since it landed on my desk I've been dying to just sit down and play some games. So, during the recent Christmas holidays I finally had the chance to really dive into it with StarCraft II, Batman: Arkaham City and a little Left 4 Dead 2. Just before sitting down I had a hot shower and poured myself a bottle of La Fin Du Monde. It felt really good to just sit down and play some games for few hours with some "found" time. Of course, my evening ended close to 2:00AM and I knew I would pay for it the next day since my house is full of early risers.

The kids shouldn't be awake to witness the
horror of a zombie apocalypse

The odd thing was that in the morning I didn't feel cranky. No, that came a a couple days later when I'd had successive late nights, which wasn't due to anything game-related.

Anyway, kind of away from my original point. Yes, you'll still be able to play video games when you have kids. And when they get older you may actually be able to play games with them (not limited to the electroni kind), but the moment you have kids there's definitely less opportunity to make time, which is really just a function of getting older and being more responsible.

It makes those times when you find enough time to squeeze in a few hours of gaming all the more satisfying.