Balancing School and League

You love League of Legends, but schoolwork is piling up as you try to climb the ladder. Due dates are missed or the grades you hoped for don't happen. You care about League and school, but you can't seem to balance the two.

A lot of people procrastinate and do something else because they figure they will be in a better mood to do it later. Your one match to get into the mood to work turns into playing five. There’s a problem though; you’re never in the mood, and that mood may never come.

Unfortunately, there isn't much of a way around not feeling like doing work. Getting things done requires just trying as hard as you can to do it. 

It’s okay if you are not a god of productivity right away. Habits are hard to break, and procrastination is a pretty big one. Through time however, you will become better at managing your time and making sure you can find a harmony between work and play.

 Accept That You Will Be Playing Less

First things first; you probably won't be playing as much as you would like. While you do not have to completely give up on LoL, it will have to take a back seat. There are some people who are able to get by in school without doing any work and spamming soloqueue all day, but I think those people are the minority.  Most of us are looking to ladder climb for the gratification it brings, not so much to become a pro or full time streamer. 

 

Eternal schoolwork, endless torture.

As time goes on you may be able to gradually increase your play time as you manage and utilize your time more efficiently. Working for an hour when you write one sentence and check Tumblr for 55 minutes can turn into writing half of what you were supposed to. It will be hard to do pure work at first- but I believe in you!

 

Take A Break, Take The Time

Try to do work in large, productive chunks of time. If you focus on what you’re supposed to for an hour and then start a game, you will likely have much more done than if you played hours of League and then tried to work for hours. As a break, play League in between those periods of work. Focusing on the same thing for a long period of time can burn you out, so playing a quick game (and only a game) can help to get you back into the mood. This is better than procrastinating on something else and “working” the entire night when you really aren't doing anything.

It’s good for LoL too! Taking a break from League is likely ideal especially if you're having a disappointing loss streak. Even if you're doing relatively well, it's good to freshen up and not fall into a droning grind. A short 15 minute break away from absolutely everything may be ideal too. Have a light snack and look at something that isn't a computer screen!

 

Even if you don't have any work to do, it is a good idea to review the day's work or lectures. Many of us are familiar with the horrible situation where you procrastinated to the point where you have to cram for a test. Unfortunately, last minute studying doesn't do much. Studying ahead of time means the info goes into your long term memory and lets your brain have a time to soak it all in. Even if you don't have too much work, taking time out of your day to go over the course material means you don't have to feel overwhelmed trying to remember weeks worth of material.

Consider taking an off day too. If you get into the habit of working for a few days, it’s good to have at least one day where you can refresh and not feel overworked. It also cuts down on the guilt and dread of feeling like you have to be doing something else. Use that day to spam soloqueue.

Alternatively, Finish Your Work First

 

If you're finding that taking small breaks just isn't enough, you may want to try just finishing your work in one sitting, with small breaks to stretch in between. The problem with alternating is that you may end up playing more than one game or find it hard to get into study mode again. If you really need to get your League fix, doing bot matches to keep your basic mechanics up can be another alternative. You won't get the same need to play until you win that you'll get from playing an actual game. League will feel a lot better once you've done your portion of work for the day!

 

Find Another Space

Being around the same space where you play League will not only tempt you, but might make it harder to study if you are in an environment associated with playing. Do work in another area where you don't play LoL. Whether it's in another room or location altogether, this lets your brain and body recognize that you are in that area to work, and it will help your concentration. If you have a laptop or notebook for school and desktop for home, use your main computer solely for entertainment purposes. This will help avoid the temptation to start up the League client or do other things.

Of course, not everyone has two computers. Do as much work away from the computer as you can, even if it is just reading a textbook or writing down ideas for an essay. Leave your phone and other devices in another room and only work with what you need. 

 

 

Don’t Reach For Program Blockers

Programs that block applications and websites seem like a great idea, but I don’t think they should be a go-to solution for a few reasons. A minor one is that it doesn’t really do anything to stop you from distracting yourself in another way. You can play with your phone, decide that your extensive card collection needs reorganizing right this second, and so on. Learning how to depend on yourself to work is going to work much better in the long run.

A bigger issue is that a lot of these programs aren’t safe. They are very hard to remove from your computer should you decide you don’t want to use it anymore, and you run a risk of bugs making your browser unusable.

 

Don't Queuedodge Your Life

It's hard to gain self-discipline for school when you are struggling with it, and it's okay. However it is important to remember that everything outside of League needs to take precedence. If you are having issues with concentrating, you may consider only doing bot matches and leaving to do ranked games on your break days. 

 

It is not a good sign if you are having a very serious problem breaking away from playing LoL and are missing important life events or work to play. If you really can not stop playing LoL in order to complete things on time, consider uninstalling the client for the duration of your study period. It's drastic and if you are ranked higher than Gold you'll risk rank decay, but ultimately making sure you don't fail or worse is more important. 

League of Legends is a fun game and something everyone wants to be good at, but learning how to balance your academic life with your LoL time will ensure you get the best of both worlds without the anxiety that comes from falling behind work.