In this post I’m going to share my thoughts on video game collecting and social media burnout. For myself both game collecting and social media go hand in hand. Retro video game collecting is my hobby and I share that through my various Social Media channels and of course this site. When I have experienced burnout it affects both interests.
What is Video Game Collecting and Social Media Burnout?
Burnout is physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and protracted periods of stress. It can happen when you’re overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet the constant demands of people, projects and even pastimes.
Video game collecting burnout, retro game collecting burnout, and social media burnout can be all sorts of different things, but I really wanted to write from personal experience. I have experienced it a bit towards the end of 2018.
Retro Game Collecting Posts:
- Is Retro Game Collecting Worth It?
- How To Get Started With Retro Game Collecting
- How I Started Retro Game Collecting
- Why Are Retro Games So Expensive?
- Why Are Retro Games So Popular?
- The Highs and Lows of Retro Game Collecting
Video Game Collecting Burnout
All sorts of things can cause you to burn out and not just video game collecting. When the pressure of a hobby becomes too much and starts taking over a lot of your time you can soon burnout. The pressure of trying to acquire more games and even the pressure of a large collection can cause people problems.
Collecting video games comes with a clear financial cost but having built up a collection there is also the debate of what it is worth. Some can struggle with the value of things that now sit on a shelf and especially if these games or systems don’t get used very often. There are all sorts of different pressures that can cause you to suffer burnout.
Social Media Burnout
Social media can also cause people problems. Instagram, Twitter and other channels can become addictive. Sometimes this can negatively affect people. You might be spending too much time on your phone and not paying enough attention to your family and what’s going on in real life.
Negative comments are very common online too and this can really hit people negatively sometimes.
It is also easy to start chasing followers and likes especially when you get some initial success on any social media platform. This can also lead you down a path to burning out.
My Experience of Burnout
My experience of it towards the end of 2018 was when I was really busy with work and my family life was busy as well. It just all got a little bit too much for me if I’m perfectly honest I needed to slow myself down a little bit.
I’d been to quite a few gaming expos, I was regularly going to early morning car boots/flea markets at the weekend to hunt for games and I was being over ambitious with my YouTube channel and trying to post 3 videos each week. Along with all this I was always on social media too and combined with my busy family and work life it became too much and I needed to slow down.
How I Dealt with Burnout
To slow down I just sort of stepped away from my social media for a while and stopped collecting games too. I pretty much stepped away from Twitter. I stopped doing videos on my YouTube channel just because I needed to take a bit of time out and breathe a little bit.
To be perfectly honest to have a few months off where I still played games, but I also watched lots of 90s and 80s movies and I started reading the Console Wars book. I was reading old gaming magazines and listening to music and just slowed down and chilled out.
Remember
There’s more to your life than your hobby/social media accounts.
You can stop – there are no rules.
Think about what you enjoy doing to relax, and do it.
Stepping back from things can be a great way to reflect upon things.
Don’t do anything drastic that you might regret (selling stuff or deleting social media accounts).
Slowing Things Down
I still kept playing games but without thinking about picking up new games. I wasn’t tweeting or making videos about video game collecting just enjoying playing games.
At the weekends to just be able to go in my games room and chill out and play games really helped me. I still do this now when I feel the need.
I enjoy social media and writing about video games but at the time it all became a little too much and thankfully I knew that and slowed down for a bit.
If you’ve experienced something similar when it comes to burnout, I highly recommend slowing down and just enjoy the hobby as you would have done back in the day – by just playing some games.
When Video Game Collecting Gets Too Much
I know there’s people out there that get rid of all their game collections due to burnout and the burden of a big video games collection and also delete their social media outlets. I did this with my original YouTube channel and looking back it was clearly a mistake. At the time of writing, I haven’t posted a video for months on my current channel and I’m OK with that because I know the channel is there waiting for me when I’m ready to go again.
You can read about the Highs and Lows of Video Game Collecting here.
Sometimes Your Habits and Interests Change
What you do have to realise is that sometimes our habits and interests change. The trick is to understand if this will be permanent and if you need to do something about it.
When it comes to my retro games collection, I often go through phases of just playing certain games and systems. What I have understood from this is that I also enjoy having built a collection and I know eventually I will go back to the various games and systems I am currently not playing.
My Advice for Video Game Collecting and Social Media Burnout
My advice is to not do anything too drastic and give yourself some time to do whatever you feel the need to do.
After a couple of months playing games everything all started to fall back into place for me again. I started to get my rhythm going again and I started to tweet more. I started making videos again too but the ambitious goals and pressure that came with it had gone.
My top tip for both video game collecting, and social media burnout would really be just give yourself some breathing space if you need it. Don’t do anything drastic just stop, breathe, think, chill out, relax and give yourself time if you need. If its days, weeks, or even months do what you’ve got to do. You are the most important person when it comes to your hobby.
Will I Burnout Again?
I hope to be perfectly honest that I don’t really suffer from this sort of burnout again when it comes to video game collecting and all my social media stuff. I do know that if I do, I’m ready for it because what I did in slowing down really helped me and I think I’d do exactly the same thing again. I’d slow things down, keep playing games, chill out, enjoy myself, and just sort of reset. It is all still there waiting for you when you decide to start again.
Video Game Collecting and Social Media Burnout
Video game collecting and social media to an extent I guess is a hobby. Both are supposed to be fun. Every now and again it’s good to remember that.
I suppose burnout can happen in any type of hobby or pastime. There are probably all sorts of different people out collecting different things and playing sports and other stuff. I’m sure it happens to a lot of people across different pastimes.
More Retro Gaming and Nostalgic Content
Thanks for reading this article, please do explore my site a little using the links below:
Keep it Retro.
Daz
About The Author
