Embracing the Pause: How Video Games Can Teach Productivity

I grew up in the era when the original NES came out. I could often be found spending my free time playing video games. As a family, we would often have competitions on games like Tetris or Klax, but I also spent a good deal of time playing role playing games like Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy. These games required a lot of solving puzzles, planning, and strategizing.  We would have some family collaboration with these games, too - mostly with my mom and grandma. We would often pause the game to make notes on clues from talking with different characters, draw rudimentary maps, list where certain items could be found or bought, and so on. I often found myself looking over this array of information before and after playing so I could strategize my next course of action. Similarly, we sometimes need to hit the pause button in life to figure things out. Don’t just rush in to do a task - take a little time to step back and evaluate Getting the 30,000 foot view Gives time to: Assess the situation Evaluate the data Create a plan Decide the first best step “Slow is smooth; smooth is fast” Sometimes you just need to take a break Helps to clear your head Gives you a fresh perspective