Perhaps surprisingly, playing video games can teach us many skills that have useful applications in life.
Here are five of the key life skills that you can develop from gaming.
#1 Patience
Learning how to be patient can benefit many areas of your life, from work projects and personal relationships to saving money and manifesting dreams.
By playing video games, you can potentially improve your patience.
After all, to complete a stage, level, or entire game, you will usually have to go through repetitive scenarios.
Those who get too frustrated end up quitting early and not learning the art of patience. Conversely, the best gamers are those who take everything in their stride and remain calm, knowing that it takes time to accomplish their goals.
#2 Better Hand-eye Coordination
Having better hand-eye coordination can be useful in many elements of your life, from playing sports to completing work tasks to handling household chores while also keeping an eye on the kids!
Whether you play video games like first-person shooters or old-school platform games or even great slot games like the mega moolah slot, you can improve your hand-eye coordination.
Whether you are navigating a character through a hazardous setting or simply clicking on items, the more you play a game, the more your hand-eye coordination skills will improve.
Your reaction times will get faster too, which can also help in other areas of your life.
#3 Improved Memory Skills
Video games can help to improve your memory too.
Indeed, some video games are designed to specifically train and improve your brain’s functionality. Such games can also improve skills like your reading speed, math skills, and level of concentration.
But even video games that are not specifically designed as brain trainers can help to improve your mental prowess, especially puzzle games like sudoku and Tetris.
The latter is especially good for helping you to develop pattern recognition skills. Boosting your brain functionality has many benefits for everyday life, not least allowing you to have a better memory.
#4 Literacy Skills
Some video games have strong text narratives, like the classic point-and-click adventure games.
When you play such games, you can improve your literacy skills. For instance, you could learn new words and how to improve your grammar. Also, in point-and-click adventures, you often have to read the dialog between characters, which can help you to better understand jokes and phrases that are specific to a certain culture.
You will find specific brain-training video games designed to improve your literacy skills, too. When you improve such skills, you can apply them to many areas of your life, such as writing a killer resume to secure a better job.
#5 Enhanced Social Skills
Only a few decades ago, gaming was associated with lonely people playing games by themselves in their bedrooms.
While the cliché of lonely people was always unfounded, it is of course true that many gamers play games alone. However, things have changed a lot in recent years with the advent of online games. So, now, people can actually improve their social skills via playing video games.
Many types of socialization happen when you play video games with others online.
You get to collaborate and communicate with people from all over the globe, and when you are immersed in intense gameplay, you are sure to form a bond with those you are playing with. By learning social skills from playing online video games, your social skills will improve in the physical world.
And the more you enhance your socialization skills, the more you can succeed in life. After all, whether you are heading a work project or trying to make it as a singer, having strong social and communication skills is vital. Playing video games can contribute toward that.
Image credit – @Getty
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As a founder and chief author at InsightState.com, Bulgarea Candin helps readers on their spiritual journeys. His writings are designed to inspire creativity and personal growth, guiding readers on their journey to a more fulfilled and enlightened life.