Gaming can improve your professional habits, whether it is an online game like Mahjong on your phone or another one. To be clear, we’re not talking about gaming during work time. Here’s how gaming can help you in the workplace, including your favorite hobby and playing games.

How Gaming Can Help You in the Workplace: Stronger Ability to Strategize
Games like Mahjong involve a lot of strategy, at least if you want to win at them. Thinking several moves ahead can lead you to the move that sets the game on a new path in which you’re in the lead and, ultimately, are the champion. When it comes to your career, thinking far in advance is also important. Doing so could involve working toward a raise by putting in extra time at the office, for example. Certain games can be excellent at improving your ability to think strategically.

How Gaming Can Help You in the Workplace: Less Stress
Gaming is fun! It may be your go-to hobby in your evenings or on weekends when you’re not on the clock. Having this hobby to turn to can help you blow off any pent-up work stress, and you may find yourself smiling more than you have during the week. That could lead to a more relaxed you come Monday when you return to the office. It could improve your overall mood and give you an enjoyable activity to look forward to as you drive home.

How Gaming Can Help You in the Workplace: Improve Data Analysis Skills
Do you and your team have to regularly analyze data sets for errors, patterns, and improvements? If so, in your off-work time, you may want to focus on playing games that strengthen your pattern recognition skills, such as Mahjong. Pairing matching tiles is a key part of that game, so with practice, you’re bound to get better and faster at seeing patterns. That can improve your efficiency at work with your data analysis tasks.

How Gaming Can Help You in the Workplace: Better Under Pressure
Some games are high-pressure, and you love every moment of it. Why? It feels great when you do what’s needed at the end of the level and move on to the next one. In the moment, you can excel, as you’ve been doing in the online games you love to play. Now, it’s time to translate that ability to do what’s needed under pressure in the workplace, as you meet urgent deadlines and carry out important presentations to stakeholders well. It is the practice you’ve had in gaming that can make you better in intense situations at work.

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More Creative
While many video and online games have rules to follow, they also may have room for creativity. Strategy games are an example, where you can come up with a series of moves to use that might not fit conventional gameplay. That could get you to the win in the game, just like it could at the workplace. Thinking outside the box is something your boss may appreciate as you come up with innovative ideas for marketing or another part of your job.

More Detail-Oriented
When you pay attention to the details, a lot can happen, whether gaming or working. When playing Mahjong online, for example, you might find that you’re better able to match tiles because you’re looking at every detail on them. In a video game, more awareness of the little things could get you ahead of another player in the game or a bonus coin you wouldn’t otherwise be able to get. In jobs that require a lot of detail, such as finance, improving your skills in this regard can help you be better at your current and future positions.

How Gaming Can Help You in the Workplace: Patience
When you’re not doing well in a game, you have to be patient, as you might win the next hand or round. A gaming session can also go on for a long time, and you won’t always know if you’ll win in the end unless you see it through. The same holds true of your career: Even if you’re not currently in the role you want to be in, you can get there with continued work and patience. Continuing to smile can help keep you going, too! The right job opening will come with time, and you will be waiting for it when it does.
How Gaming Can Help You in the Workplace: Going Beyond the Play
Games can be wonderful pastimes, and the skills you learn from them can transfer to your workplace, potentially improving your career trajectory. From being more patient and detail-oriented to being less stressed and better under pressure, there are many benefits to gain, making you a more sought-after employee. You’ll likely find you have stronger strategic thinking and are better at analyzing data, too. Your hobby can help you in many ways!