I’m very lucky that right now my first instinct pulls me to do other things than gaming first, so playing most video games is an active choice for me now—which usually happens when I actually have time to game and not when I should be doing something else. It wasn’t always this way.

A common trigger for getting me to game is if I’m with friends, because although we did not become friends over video games it has weirdly turned out that most of my friends like video games. We might play two different games, just coexisting in harmony enjoying each others’ company, or play together, or watch the other play. And of course, their availability and mine puts a limiter on how long we’re gaming.

If you legitimately struggle with managing your gaming and not having it take over your life… reddit.com/r/stopgaming exists as a starting point. I know a lot of people including me are on Lemmy because we wanted to get off Reddit, but I rate “help fix an actual life problem, possibly an addiction” much higher than “stay off Reddit.” I don’t begrudge anyone who still needs Reddit for its r/stopdrinking or other support communities. Also, there are apps for mobile and programs for PC that can lock you out of opening certain applications, including games. I know about 1Focus for Mac. I have not used it in forever, but if I recall correctly the typical workarounds you would use to stop it from blocking the stuff you want it to block wouldn’t work—so the self-imposed restraint you set wasn’t so easy to just reverse. Don’t want to make assumptions about your situation, you might have just been asking as a conversation starter, but on the off chance anyone actually needs help…