By Surplus Talent [Tim Jones]

Dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.

Benjamin Franklin

A quick glance at the growing list of triple-A and “worth playing” titles crowding shelves this Holiday season might make even the most organized gamer flush with anxiety. With several one hundred hour action role playing games, numerous fifty hour shooters, a few time-suck, build-your-own creative playgrounds, and a fresh season of games for every major sport vying for every second of single player gaming time, it’s hard to imagine fitting in the necessary marathon multiplayer sessions, much less finding time to deal with less important distractions like family or work.

It would be easy just to resign yourself to playing a handful of games, shoved in between fruitless endeavors like breakfast, lunch or dinner. But that’s not helping anyone—a cowardly decision like that would be willfully robbing yourself of what could be a truly fulfilling life as a gamer.

Fortunately, a few powerful time-management techniques can help you overcome the urge to throw in the towel, and instead propel you to achieve ultimate gaming productivity. With this patent-pending game management system, you’ll learn how to:

• Use your time to play all the games you need to play WITHOUT falling behind your friends.
• Improve your gaming productivity and accomplish more with less effort.
• Make time for the games you value.
• Find greater balance, fulfillment, and satisfaction in your gaming life.
• Set and achieve your long-term gaming goals.
• Finish games while reducing anxiety and stress.

Effectively managing your gaming time comes down to discerning between good and bad choices. Good choices equal better results—poor choices equal wasted time and energy, and increased frustration. The patent-pending techniques below will help to guide your gaming decisions so you can maximize the good choices, and minimize the bad choices; all it takes to become a more efficient, powerful, and successful gamer is a few minutes of your time.

1. Make a list of the games you need to play.

With so many games coming out, it’s easy to forget a few here and there, but creating a list gives you the framework you need to plan your gaming time. After you make the list, keep a calendar of release dates. Remember to make enough money so you can afford to purchase all the games you need. An easy way to keep enough extra cash around to buy Tomb Raider Underworld, Need for Speed Undercover and Prince of Persia is to avoid buying gifts for family and friends this holiday season. Donating blood and non-vital body parts is another means to earning some extra money, with the added side benefit of requiring recovery time that can then be used to provide more time for your gaming necessities. Remember that time management is ultimately about priorities and sacrifices.

2. Prioritize your gaming list.

Prioritizing your gaming list will help you focus your energy and spend more of your time on the games that really matter to you. Rate your games by your anticipation level, then sort them by release date. Do your best to stick to your ratings even when games like Gears of War 2 or Call of Duty 5 turn out to be nothing more than lifeless retreads. It’s important to stay on schedule, but remember that some minor adjustments can be made and flexibility on the small details is a virtue, as long as you maintain your focus on your big-picture goals.

3. Implement a gaming management plan.

Create a balanced gaming plan that includes multiple genres and gameplay options, as well as a balance between games you want to play and games you need to play. Schedule your time. Establish clear deadlines for game completion. Spend some time at the beginning of each week planning and reviewing your schedule, making whatever minor adjustments you might need. Obviously you can’t use game time to for this task, but keeping a small, unobtrusive notebook in your pocket will allow you to use time at work to check and revise your schedule, even in the most carefully supervised circumstances. Trim fat where you can, and be sure to adjust your gaming goals if you finish Resistance 2 in a quick five hours instead of the promised fifteen. Occasionally, reward yourself for finishing a game ahead of schedule with a quick round of deathmatch or a shower.

4. Don’t be a perfectionist.

Not every game is worth one-hundred-percenting. Few are. Learn to distinguish between achievements and trophies that improve your ability to complete games more efficiently and ones that are really just for gamer score and trophy whores.

5. Learn to say “No!” to invites.

When plowing through a pile of new releases, it’s easy to get bogged down with endless game invites—many gamers say “Yes” when they really should be saying “No.” Learn to refuse multiplayer invites that don’t help you achieve your stated goals. Co-op invites that can improve efficiency are acceptable, but this holiday season is no time for noob community service or hand-holding. Maybe by Valentine’s Day you can clear some time on your schedule for leisurely co-op play, but the next few months are all about you and your goals. Don’t apologize for being motivated and successful, and don’t forget that failures love company.

6. Don’t waste time during load screens.

Just because Fable II or Fallout 3 might waste your time with lengthy loading screens and endless amounts of dialogue doesn’t mean you need to sit idly by and tolerate such blatant disregard for your carefully crafted gaming schedule. Dialogue is mostly filler anyway, and no one cares about the narrative of a videogame, so use the “Skip dialogue” feature liberally. Every moment spent listening to talking is one more moment away from your goals. You should also make sure to plan you gaming across multiple consoles and use lulls to switch controllers so you can make up for that moment of weakness when you enjoyed an extra bathroom break last week. Some might view renting an extra TV for a few weeks or keeping your DS or PSP by your side at all times as extreme or addictive behavior, but those are the same people who are trying to prevent you from realizing your gaming potential.

7. Use software to track your gaming time.

The Internet is full of information about quality project management tools, which, when used properly, can certainly help. But a well-crafted Microsoft Excel spreadsheet can be just as helpful in spotting those extra hours of Little Big Planet level building keeping you from hitting your Far Cry 2 deadline. Victory requires sacrifice, persistence and knowing how to put down the “creative tools” and start shooting stuff again.

8. Identify bad habits.

Make a list of bad habits that steal legitimate gaming time. Make a copy of that list. After you do, burn the original list as a symbolic gesture of casting off your old ways and recommit your entire being to hardcore, efficient gaming. Then, work on your bad habits one by one—Xbox Live Arcade, Nintendo Wii, Peggle—until you’ve replaced them all with better games.

9. Learn how to delegate gaming tasks.

Don’t waste time looking for hidden items or dying over and over attempting a difficult section. No need to reinvent the wheel—just use strategy guides, FAQs, walkthroughs and online forums. As before, don’t use game time to look for information; using a Blackberry or iPhone during your commute, using your computer at work when your boss isn’t looking, and going to internet cafes on your lunch hour are all simple and effective means to find useful information without wasting valuable time. Being disciplined by you boss, getting into a car accident, or being late for work are all sacrifices that may need to be made if you want to achieve your goals. Plus, successful people, in addition to making sacrifices, know how to turn lemons into lemonade. If you’re fired from your job, or if you need recovery time from your car accident, a dedicated gamer will realize that these are just blessings in disguise, providing you with more time to devote to gaming. If there is an easier, more efficient route, take it. There are no achievements for missing a deadline due to “toughness,” “pride,” or “reliability.” Those are just other ways of saying “Failure.”

10. Have fun!

Take daily five-minute breaks during this holiday season. Most holiday meals can be consumed in less than five minutes, and most conversations with non-clan members become pointless long before five minutes is up. Careful planning can let you fulfill your family obligations and stay on track to meet your goals. Finally, as you use these patent-pending techniques to achieve your gaming destiny, take a moment to pause and enjoy the season because, after all, they’re only video games.