Game Burn-out; A Way Gaming Can be a Social Catalyst

With my newly found time management skills, I've found myself enough free time to play some video games after I get my work done, and I've found that I can't get into anything in particular. I've done some thinking about why, and I've realized I'm not the only one who came to the conclusion I've thought of. So, the following is advice for both kids and their parents of all ages if there is any concern of not doing your work because of any supposed "video game addiction":

During summer vacations, play a ton of games. Just do it, play through games again, go for online achievements, and if you are willing, play a lot of online games. 

As someone who has played video games my entire life, I've found that the amount of gaming I did over the summer has made me indifferent to it. Right now, the only gaming I do is for social or laborious purposes. For example, during lunch, I talk with some of my friends about the game Fallout: New Vegas, a game whose acclaim is centered around ego- insertion and decision-based personalization of the story and world. We talk about those decisions, and what paths we take. Because I've grown tired of playing without purpose on my own, now I take my friend's advice and try different playthroughs with their advice and see where it leads, and then bring whatever the results are to the discussion the next day, making the gaming a much more social experience, and giving it some sense of purpose and motivation instead of mindless time-burning. But, if I have no one to play with or no one to talk with about the game, I don't play it, unless I'm writing a review. Because of my summer gaming spree, games have now become a connection between my social life and my free time, instead of something that separates the two, and has made my life arguably a much healthier one. 

Now I can effectively pace out my free time and my work time, all because I did no such pacing or monitoring for most of a summer. It may not work for everyone, but I suggest it in the hopes that it will help someone, and, as odd as this statement seems, this can make video games an enhancement for your life instead of simply an escape from it.