10 steps to Healthy
and Meaningful
Gaming
Start
Before you start, read the instructions!
GO TO SECTION:
Indication to interactive elements
Defining Goals
Warming Up
Video
Sleep
Physical Activities
Additional information and advice
Food and Water
Mental Agility
Regular Pauses
To the next step
Socialising
Financial Literacy
Game Transfer Phenomena
Guidelines
Lets go!
STEP 1
Choose the direction and define the goals you wish to attain
Entertainment or professional sport?
E-SPORTS
You have to choose the direction and set the goal you wish to attain in the course of a game.
ENTERTAINMENT Free time activities
Professional attitude with the aim to self-discipline and train to achieve higher results and develop a career.
Regardless of the choice, further steps are recommended for both directions.
STEP 2
Warming Up
PHYSICAL
While warming up, always take care of your back as you will spend many hours of playing in the same pose.
Examples of exercises:
Dynamic stretching, mobility exercises for hands, palms, fingers, and the back.
VIRTUAL
Depends on the game discipline. However, to achieve results more successfully, it is always useful to do individual warming up, repeating the things mastered in previous days and improving the reaction time.
STEP 3
Sleep
One of the most important processes in daily life.
A regular and proper sleep ensures the well-being of the entire body. In deep sleep, various crucial processes take place, during which the body restores itself and the brain records the newly gained knowledge in the long-term memory.
A high-quality sleep will improve your productivity while playing in different modes.
Facilitates creative and strategic thinking.
Improves the mood and motivation.
Reduces the reaction time.
Improves memory, allows processing information faster.
Helps mastering new knowledge and save it.
Enhances brain activity and agility.
Suggestions for better sleep
STEP 3
Stick to the regular sleep schedule
Stop playing at least an hour before going to sleep
If possible, place your computer outside your bedroom
Try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. This will help your biological clock to adapt to your rhythm and improve the quality of your sleep.
A game might be highly stimulating and exciting, thus hindering falling asleep and preventing a calm sleep.
When playing in the bedroom, it is more difficult to separate the bed from the gaming room. It can hinder relaxation and calmness once it is time to go to bed.
Avoid caffeinated
beverages
Do physical activities
Limit the usage of your smartphone before going to sleep
Many of those playing in the evening choose coffee, sweetened carbonated beverages, or energy drinks. Thus, the possibility of having a proper sleep and maintaining a normal sleep cycle is restricted.
Your smartphone or any electronic device stimulates your brain and radiates the blue light, which suppresses the production of natural melatonin
Regular physical activities have a favourable effect on the quality of sleep. Find out more about physical activities in Step 4.
STEP 4
Physical Activities
Gaming can be a fun and rewarding hobby, yet it can also be inactive and non-healthy, unless combined with physical activities.
To promote the habit of doing regular physical exercises already at a young age, include physical activities in your daily rhythm. It is crucial to choose activities which you find to be inspiring and pleasant. They have a positive effect on your performance in computer games:
Improved thinking, learning, and reasoning skills
Maintaining the optimal health of your heart, body, and mind
Reduced depression and anxiety symptoms
Physical Activities
STEP 4
Movement ensures healthy growth and development, yet more than youngsters across the world are not physically active enough.
For children and teenagers (5–17 years), including with disability:
- It is recommended being active for at least 60 minutes a day, doing medium- to high-intensity activities (mainly aerobic and physical).
- It is recommended doing high-intensity physical activities, including those strengthening muscles and bones
- Inactively spent time must be limited. If you are planning to play in the evening, avoid watching TV.
80%
3 days a week
STEP 5
To regenerate and ensure that the brain and the body are at full strength, it is important to consume all groups of foods and to drink water.
Healthy meal
Veselīgs ēdie– a healthy meal can be easily cooked at home, eating whole grains, vegetables, legumes, and non-processed food, as well as reducing the amount of sugar and salt. Although everyone likes snacks, you have to find balance in your daily life and endeavour to eat diverse food rich in nutrients.
Lai smadzenes un prāts strādātu atbilstoši - nepiecieša i is necessary to consume fat and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates provide freely accessible energy to the brain to operate, whereas fat ensures the brain activity.
To ensure that the brain and the mind work effectively,
Food
and Water
Food and water
STEP 5
Eat nutritiously, using the plate principle
2 – 2,5l
Liquid - water, unsweetened drinks
Don't forget the healthy fats!
25%
Whole grain products and potatoes
50%
25%
Most of the meal - vegetables, fruits, berries
Protein-containing products
Food and water
STEP 5
By drinking water you can improve your gaming skills, for example, the reaction time, precision, strategic and creative thinking.
Moreover, water prevents brain fog which is characterised by the feeling of confusion — it can affect performance during the game.
Water reduces the level of the stress hormone which can enhance negative emotions and deteriorate cognitive functions.
STEP 6
Mental agility
If you are subject to prolonged stress, your mind and consciousness will get exhausted, resulting in mental health problems.
Just as an athlete needs agility to move
quickly and easily, an e-sports
gamer requires agility in order to:
Be flexible in decision-making
Be able to spot details, while observing everything around
Study effectively and easily
Think critically and make conclusions
STEP 7
Regular pauses
An effective way of preventing possible injuries and pain is to take breaks and have regular resting pauses.
Try not to use your smartphone during pauses
Stop playing if your mind is tired
Keep your eyes healthy
Stretch in between matches
Long gaming sessions exhaust your eyes. Pauses reduce the load and help maintaining the sharpness of your eyes. Likewise, you can do eye exercises to train your eyes.
When intensively playing several matches in a row, your mind needs a pause every 90 minutes. To maintain good results, your brain needs to rest.
Remember about standing up regularly and stretching to reduce the back tension.
To ensure that a pause is useful, avoid using screens. This will allow your brain to rest.
STEP 8
E-sports and gaming might be a useful tool to develop socialising skills:
- Iekļaušana, tolerance un redzesloka paplašināšanās
- Komandas darbs un sastrādāšanās
- Sportiskums - sacensības gars un vēlme attīstīties
- Komunikācijas spēju attīstīšana
- Stratēģiskā domāšana
- inclusive environment and broadening your horizons;
- team work and co-working;
- sportiness — the feeling of competitiveness and the will to develop;
- development of communication skills;
- strategic thinking.
Socialising
The development of other skills improves the self-awareness of a youngster, which promotes better studying results and diversity of interests.
STEP 9
Games are a great way for a gamer to master budget planning principles at an early age.
Games use a virtual currency that often determines the progress of the game. For example, in such games as The Sims, money determines what you will be able to build. In FPS games, you have to calculate your budget constantly to plan an attack, whereas in ‘eco’ matches money is saved.
Financial
literacy
Just as in games, when shopping in an online store and planning the budget, we recommend you to adhere to the basic principles of financial literacy.
Financial literacy
STEP 9
Three principles of
financial literacy which you can master by playing
Significance of
investment
Budget
Planning
Rainy day
fund
Financial literacy
STEP 9
To protect your funds on the Internet, watch out for fraud!
Fraud by phone
Mule accounts
Bank card fraud
Calls are made on behalf of a trusted organisation to obtain personal data.
Advertising of great income possibilities or job advertisements with an invitation to open an account in a bank. Illegal transfer of funds to your account and further transfer thereof to another account can be subject to criminal liability.
A lost or stolen card, the data of which is
illegally used by someone.
How would you deal with
a cybercriminal?
Phishing
A type of social engineering, where fraudulent messages are sent with an aim to swindle out sensitive information or install malware on a device.
Play and find out!
seb.lv/kiberkvests
STEP 10
Game Transfer Phenomena
On average, 82–96% have experienced the GTP at least once over the last year.
Spēles pārneses efekts (SPE) m. means the transfer of the elements of a video game/e-sports to daily situations, noticing the same elements in real life, as well as feeling the same emotions as those during the game.
The game transfer phenomena (GTP)
The game transfer phenomena directly help in professional sports as well. A great example is the use of car simulators and their transfer to traditional sports.
Professional racers train with car simulators on a daily basis, as it is more practical and safer, as well as helps learning the game route more precisely. Likewise, simulators directly improve the performance of a racer while driving a real sports car.
Game Transfer Phenomena
STEP 10
The GTP are most directly observed in competitive racing. Nowadays, simulator trainings are used, for instance, by Formula 1 and resilience racing participants, which is crucial to maintain the reaction time and driving skills.
Skills that can be developed in racing simulators:
- reaction time;
- muscle memory;
- ability to visualise (route, trajectories);
- decision-making.
VALTERS ZVIEDRIS
Porsche Experience instructor and professional racing driver
Game Transfer Phenomena
STEP 10
Examples of the game transfer phenomena in daily life:
A game recently played is experienced or its details are vividly seen in a dream
Visualisations similar to things seen in games
Unconscious movement of hands or fingers, which corresponds to the way they move during the game
Application of the game strategy in daily activities
Willingness to apply a skill useful in a game in daily life
Sound of the game soundtrack in your mind
Healthy gaming contributes to development and improvement. See you in games!
Guidelines have been developed in cooperation with SEB, Pusaudzis.lv, and Porsche Latvia.
Foto: pexels.com, unsplash.com
To the beginning
10 Steps to Healthy and Meaningful Gaming
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Transcript
10 steps to Healthy and Meaningful Gaming
Start
Before you start, read the instructions!
GO TO SECTION:
Indication to interactive elements
Defining Goals
Warming Up
Video
Sleep
Physical Activities
Additional information and advice
Food and Water
Mental Agility
Regular Pauses
To the next step
Socialising
Financial Literacy
Game Transfer Phenomena
Guidelines
Lets go!
STEP 1
Choose the direction and define the goals you wish to attain
Entertainment or professional sport?
E-SPORTS
You have to choose the direction and set the goal you wish to attain in the course of a game.
ENTERTAINMENT Free time activities
Professional attitude with the aim to self-discipline and train to achieve higher results and develop a career.
Regardless of the choice, further steps are recommended for both directions.
STEP 2
Warming Up
PHYSICAL
While warming up, always take care of your back as you will spend many hours of playing in the same pose.
Examples of exercises:
Dynamic stretching, mobility exercises for hands, palms, fingers, and the back.
VIRTUAL
Depends on the game discipline. However, to achieve results more successfully, it is always useful to do individual warming up, repeating the things mastered in previous days and improving the reaction time.
STEP 3
Sleep
One of the most important processes in daily life.
A regular and proper sleep ensures the well-being of the entire body. In deep sleep, various crucial processes take place, during which the body restores itself and the brain records the newly gained knowledge in the long-term memory.
A high-quality sleep will improve your productivity while playing in different modes.
Facilitates creative and strategic thinking.
Improves the mood and motivation.
Reduces the reaction time.
Improves memory, allows processing information faster.
Helps mastering new knowledge and save it.
Enhances brain activity and agility.
Suggestions for better sleep
STEP 3
Stick to the regular sleep schedule
Stop playing at least an hour before going to sleep
If possible, place your computer outside your bedroom
Try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. This will help your biological clock to adapt to your rhythm and improve the quality of your sleep.
A game might be highly stimulating and exciting, thus hindering falling asleep and preventing a calm sleep.
When playing in the bedroom, it is more difficult to separate the bed from the gaming room. It can hinder relaxation and calmness once it is time to go to bed.
Avoid caffeinated beverages
Do physical activities
Limit the usage of your smartphone before going to sleep
Many of those playing in the evening choose coffee, sweetened carbonated beverages, or energy drinks. Thus, the possibility of having a proper sleep and maintaining a normal sleep cycle is restricted.
Your smartphone or any electronic device stimulates your brain and radiates the blue light, which suppresses the production of natural melatonin
Regular physical activities have a favourable effect on the quality of sleep. Find out more about physical activities in Step 4.
STEP 4
Physical Activities
Gaming can be a fun and rewarding hobby, yet it can also be inactive and non-healthy, unless combined with physical activities.
To promote the habit of doing regular physical exercises already at a young age, include physical activities in your daily rhythm. It is crucial to choose activities which you find to be inspiring and pleasant. They have a positive effect on your performance in computer games:
Improved thinking, learning, and reasoning skills
Maintaining the optimal health of your heart, body, and mind
Reduced depression and anxiety symptoms
Physical Activities
STEP 4
Movement ensures healthy growth and development, yet more than youngsters across the world are not physically active enough.
For children and teenagers (5–17 years), including with disability:
80%
3 days a week
STEP 5
To regenerate and ensure that the brain and the body are at full strength, it is important to consume all groups of foods and to drink water.
Healthy meal
Veselīgs ēdie– a healthy meal can be easily cooked at home, eating whole grains, vegetables, legumes, and non-processed food, as well as reducing the amount of sugar and salt. Although everyone likes snacks, you have to find balance in your daily life and endeavour to eat diverse food rich in nutrients.
Lai smadzenes un prāts strādātu atbilstoši - nepiecieša i is necessary to consume fat and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates provide freely accessible energy to the brain to operate, whereas fat ensures the brain activity.
To ensure that the brain and the mind work effectively,
Food and Water
Food and water
STEP 5
Eat nutritiously, using the plate principle
2 – 2,5l
Liquid - water, unsweetened drinks
Don't forget the healthy fats!
25%
Whole grain products and potatoes
50%
25%
Most of the meal - vegetables, fruits, berries
Protein-containing products
Food and water
STEP 5
By drinking water you can improve your gaming skills, for example, the reaction time, precision, strategic and creative thinking.
Moreover, water prevents brain fog which is characterised by the feeling of confusion — it can affect performance during the game.
Water reduces the level of the stress hormone which can enhance negative emotions and deteriorate cognitive functions.
STEP 6
Mental agility
If you are subject to prolonged stress, your mind and consciousness will get exhausted, resulting in mental health problems.
Just as an athlete needs agility to move quickly and easily, an e-sports gamer requires agility in order to:
Be flexible in decision-making
Be able to spot details, while observing everything around
Study effectively and easily
Think critically and make conclusions
STEP 7
Regular pauses
An effective way of preventing possible injuries and pain is to take breaks and have regular resting pauses.
Try not to use your smartphone during pauses
Stop playing if your mind is tired
Keep your eyes healthy
Stretch in between matches
Long gaming sessions exhaust your eyes. Pauses reduce the load and help maintaining the sharpness of your eyes. Likewise, you can do eye exercises to train your eyes.
When intensively playing several matches in a row, your mind needs a pause every 90 minutes. To maintain good results, your brain needs to rest.
Remember about standing up regularly and stretching to reduce the back tension.
To ensure that a pause is useful, avoid using screens. This will allow your brain to rest.
STEP 8
E-sports and gaming might be a useful tool to develop socialising skills:
Socialising
The development of other skills improves the self-awareness of a youngster, which promotes better studying results and diversity of interests.
STEP 9
Games are a great way for a gamer to master budget planning principles at an early age.
Games use a virtual currency that often determines the progress of the game. For example, in such games as The Sims, money determines what you will be able to build. In FPS games, you have to calculate your budget constantly to plan an attack, whereas in ‘eco’ matches money is saved.
Financial literacy
Just as in games, when shopping in an online store and planning the budget, we recommend you to adhere to the basic principles of financial literacy.
Financial literacy
STEP 9
Three principles of financial literacy which you can master by playing
Significance of investment
Budget Planning
Rainy day fund
Financial literacy
STEP 9
To protect your funds on the Internet, watch out for fraud!
Fraud by phone
Mule accounts
Bank card fraud
Calls are made on behalf of a trusted organisation to obtain personal data.
Advertising of great income possibilities or job advertisements with an invitation to open an account in a bank. Illegal transfer of funds to your account and further transfer thereof to another account can be subject to criminal liability.
A lost or stolen card, the data of which is illegally used by someone.
How would you deal with a cybercriminal?
Phishing
A type of social engineering, where fraudulent messages are sent with an aim to swindle out sensitive information or install malware on a device.
Play and find out!
seb.lv/kiberkvests
STEP 10
Game Transfer Phenomena
On average, 82–96% have experienced the GTP at least once over the last year.
Spēles pārneses efekts (SPE) m. means the transfer of the elements of a video game/e-sports to daily situations, noticing the same elements in real life, as well as feeling the same emotions as those during the game.
The game transfer phenomena (GTP)
The game transfer phenomena directly help in professional sports as well. A great example is the use of car simulators and their transfer to traditional sports.
Professional racers train with car simulators on a daily basis, as it is more practical and safer, as well as helps learning the game route more precisely. Likewise, simulators directly improve the performance of a racer while driving a real sports car.
Game Transfer Phenomena
STEP 10
The GTP are most directly observed in competitive racing. Nowadays, simulator trainings are used, for instance, by Formula 1 and resilience racing participants, which is crucial to maintain the reaction time and driving skills.
Skills that can be developed in racing simulators:
VALTERS ZVIEDRIS
Porsche Experience instructor and professional racing driver
Game Transfer Phenomena
STEP 10
Examples of the game transfer phenomena in daily life:
A game recently played is experienced or its details are vividly seen in a dream
Visualisations similar to things seen in games
Unconscious movement of hands or fingers, which corresponds to the way they move during the game
Application of the game strategy in daily activities
Willingness to apply a skill useful in a game in daily life
Sound of the game soundtrack in your mind
Healthy gaming contributes to development and improvement. See you in games!
Guidelines have been developed in cooperation with SEB, Pusaudzis.lv, and Porsche Latvia.
Foto: pexels.com, unsplash.com
To the beginning