# Finding time for gaming after starting job **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 30, 2017, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213 "2017-06-30T17:52:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/21 "2017-07-07T17:13:38Z")
I just want to point out that a number of games, particularly D&D and Pathfinder, have organized play. Check your FLGS for ‘D&D Encounters’, usually on a week night. Those are short 2-3 hour sessions where you play (typically) one encounter from a module, sometimes a bit more depending on how slow your group is (larger groups take longer, or those ‘oh its my turn, let me start thinking about what I want to do’ people bogging things down). The Pathfinder Society for Pathfinder (OGLS D&D 3.75, basically). Here in Minneapolis, I could play Pathfinder 12-20 days per month through the society, or play D&D Encounters several times a week. While I’m a bit out of it for various personal reasons right now, I was playing Pathfinder twice a month, second and fourth Sundays 1-5pm, through Pathfinder Society at a FLGS. Then negotiate some time with your spouse. Or bring her along, since about 1/3 of the Pathfinder Society players in my area are women. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/22 "2017-07-07T17:21:43Z")
> [@MaverocK](#): > > I will be starting my first developer/programmer job in next weeks. During the university, I found less and less time for gaming than before I had started studying in the university. I started gaming again right after graduation. I started LOVING it again. Now, I am worried that I will have less time for it. Welcome to the world of having a job. Of course you’ll have less time for it. > [@](#): > > How can one find time for gaming (someone who really loves it) while s/he’s working? You aren’t working 168 hours a week. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/23 "2017-07-07T19:44:03Z")
A job, a wife, \*and \*gaming? Gotta pick two. Maybe only one. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/24 "2017-07-07T19:51:30Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A job, a wife, \*and \*gaming? Gotta pick two. Maybe only one. And if you have kids, you don’t have time for anything. But that improves after 18 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/25 "2017-07-07T19:54:21Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > And if you have kids, you don’t have time for anything. But that improves after 18 years or so. Nah, a few people bring their 7+ year old children to Pathfinder or D&D Encounters. Train 'em young! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/26 "2017-07-07T19:57:17Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A job, a wife, \*and \*gaming? Gotta pick two. Maybe only one. Yup. Two is hard enough to maintain, three means someone’s gonna be unhappy. The answer is get a better and more challenging job or a wife with a better job so you can game full time. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/27 "2017-07-07T21:53:34Z")
Just break it to her gently. ---
**Author:** ![IraqCombatVet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f475e1/32.png) [@IraqCombatVet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IraqCombatVet)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/28 "2017-07-09T18:36:24Z")
> [@MaverocK](#): > > I will be starting my first developer/programmer job in next weeks. During the university, I found less and less time for gaming than before I had started studying in the university. I started gaming again right after graduation. I started LOVING it again. Now, I am worried that I will have less time for it. > > Did something similar happened to you as well? > If you are working, how do you find time for gaming? > How can one find time for gaming (someone who really loves it) while s/he’s working? I was in the Army and I still found time to game. When I was in college I still found time to game. When I became a father, was in college, and starting my own business I still found time to game. It may not be the gaming marathons it used to be when I was younger but I always find time to game. Luckily my wife (and now my daughter) are gamers too so it makes it much easier. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/29 "2017-07-10T20:50:31Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > You don’t even need kids. Just a non-gamer significant other. I’m married. She games. You are responsible for your own life decisions. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/30 "2017-07-10T21:24:34Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A job, a wife, \*and \*gaming? Gotta pick two. Maybe only one. One of our RPG group members has a gaming wife. He has no trouble showing up every week and if we are playing board games instead she’ll join us and kick our ass. Looking at them the secret seems to be to have cats instead of kids, that still leaves time for gaming. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/31 "2017-07-11T13:39:04Z")
> [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#): > > One of our RPG group members has a gaming wife. He has no trouble showing up every week and if we are playing board games instead she’ll join us and kick our ass. Looking at them the secret seems to be to have cats instead of kids, that still leaves time for gaming. Dogs are manageable too. Speaking from experience here. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/32 "2017-07-11T14:50:31Z")
I’m married with kids and a full-time job and still game. Spend time with my wife in the early evening and don’t do much gaming while the younger one is up (or, hey, game with him! Lego co-op games are great). After he’s in bed, I might play something in the evening while my wife is watching reality shows or British history documentaries. On Friday nights, she knows that if we’re at home I’ll probably be playing Battlefield 1 with some friends and blowing off steam from the week but I wouldn’t cancel plans for it. Every other Saturday night I play a bi-weekly D&D game. Again, I wouldn’t skip a wedding for it but she respects that twice a month isn’t much to ask and is glad I’m getting out of the house anyway. Likewise, I have no objections if she plans a karaoke night with “the girls” or wants to spend Saturday after a tough week vegging on the couch with endless Jane Austen movies or take up a dance class. For us, it’s a question of making sure we have time for one another and stay accessible but not necessarily spending every moment together. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_lining](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Silver\_lining](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_lining)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/33 "2017-07-12T10:31:01Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I have a full-time job, a wife, and a daughter of the age that if you turn your back for five minutes she’ll stab out her eye and burn the house down simultaneously. I rarely get to game at all. ☹ When I got married I had a once a month understanding with my wife for poker games with my friends, which I can swap out for any other game. Children has not changed this. I also get up a little early for leisure time. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/34 "2017-07-12T14:29:49Z")
Also depends on the wife. I recall when some friends finally had children and the wife quit her job to be a stay-at-home mom. By the time she had the second child, she was furious at any activity that took him out of the house (including our long standing once-a-month game), because after all, he was out and about all day while he was working :rolleyes: and so he should always be home when he wasn’t working so that she could have a chance to leave the house. I parted ways with them during that time because I got tired of being bitten by their dogs and struck by their toddlers and then having her scream at me about it. But that demand that he be home every waking moment that he wasn’t at work clearly went by the wayside as he developed some outside interests and joined a few clubs. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/35 "2017-07-12T15:38:30Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A job, a wife, \*and \*gaming? Gotta pick two. Maybe only one. Make gaming your job. > **[Esports News: LoL, Dota 2, Hearthstone](https://www.espn.com/esports/)** > > Get the latest esports news and pro-gaming tournament coverage for LoL, Dota 2, and Hearthstone on ESPN. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/36 "2017-07-12T16:00:08Z")
Ms. Cups and I have Thursday nights to ourselves. This is when I can game for an hour or 3. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213/37 "2017-07-13T13:52:48Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Also depends on the wife. I recall when some friends finally had children and the wife quit her job to be a stay-at-home mom. > > By the time she had the second child, she was furious at any activity that took him out of the house (including our long standing once-a-month game), because after all, he was out and about all day while he was working :rolleyes: and so he should always be home when he wasn’t working so that she could have a chance to leave the house. Yeah, I’ve encountered a couple of couples with lesser versions of this. It’s double-absurd in the pair where both parents are absolutely required to be home to put the kids to bed every night, in spite of the fact that BOTH of them work. You’d think they could work out some arrangement that would allow trading off, but I suspect that since she doesn’t have much going on in the way of a life except for martial arts practice that he also attends, so I guess she figures if that’s all she needs, it’s all he needs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-time-for-gaming-after-starting-job/790213.md?page=1)