I love games of all sorts, from abstract board games like Go to console based shoot-em-ups. One of my favourites remains Grand Theft Auto 3 (GTA3). Despite having played it through numerous times it’s still one I go back to.

What’s this got to do with personal productivity? The other day I was playing when it struck me just how well I knew the game world. I recognise landmarks, have a mental map of the city and can easily navigate from one location to another. I know the virtual world better than my own neighbourhood!

That realisation led me to wonder how much time and brain power I’d spent becoming an expert on one silly little computer game. It’s a lot.

What a waste.

Am I saying that I shouldn’t play video games? Of course not. There’s nothing wrong with having fun. But for a lot of those hours I hadn’t been actively having fun, I’d just been passing the time or avoiding work.

What could I have done with al that time I’ve spent playing video games in an almost zombie like trance? I could have learned a foreign language or two. I could have helped out at a local charity. I could have written the first draft of a novel.

Perhaps, just perhaps, I’d got my priorities wrong.

It’s not just gaming of course, there are many other pernicious time stealers. Watching television, surfing the web, gossiping on the phone. None of those are in any way bad, they’re all things I do and intend to continue doing. The problem comes when they become things we do out of habit, without thinking. Then they’re no longer positive pleasures, they’re a waste of our life.

The key is to be mindful in our pleasure as in everything else. Play GTA3 or watch American Idol because we want to – not just because we can’t be bothered to do anything else.

That’s my plan.