With finals coming up right around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss the topic of managing being a student and a summoner. League of Legends is an amazing game that can provide hours of endless fun. But in the end, you need to remember that it is just a video game and it shouldn't interrupt your real life obligations.

League can be such a time sink that distracts you from work. "One win then I'll start my paper," turns into "I just want first win of the day," then again turns into another excuse to play again, and so on and so on. You get so sucked into the League paradox that you just no longer have motivation to work.

As a collegiate player, and a college student, I would like to tell you how I manage balancing both being a student and player.

1. The first thing is that, as I previously said, League is just a game. Its outcome doesn't effect me besides maybe a little salt in my attitude. On the other hand, failing a class is far more terrifying. I am far more scared of having my parents angry at me than I am losing a game. Take a break from playing League. If you take yourself away to study, League will feel more rewarding and fun.

2. Practice self-control. I never reach for program blockers. I don't use them for two reasons: they are unsafe, and they're useless. It doesn't matter if you block League or Facebook or Tumblr, you will still find distractions to get you away from studying. You may as well just use this time to teach yourself discipline by not giving into the temptation of League while you're trying to study. In fact I use League as a type of reward which leads into:

3. Take breaks. It's important to take breaks away from studying. The concept of "tilt" doesn't apply only towards video games. You can tilt with anything that you're doing. If you study for long periods of time, your brain will take in less and less of the information. Taking a break from studying will help rejuvinate yourself and let you back with a fresh mindset.

4. Leave your computer. I for one am at my least productive when I am around my desktop. To combat this I leave my room and go to a study area and use my laptop which cannot run games. This allows me to get rid of any distractions and be productive. Although some people do not have both a desktop and a laptop, you can still gather all your studying supplies and just leave the room to avoid any unnecessary distractions.

5. The last tip I can provide is to finish your work first. This is probably my most efficient method to getting my work done. I divide up the amount of work for the day and grind it out within a few hours while only taking quick breaks to go to the bathroom and stretch. I find this my personal most efficient method because when I take a break to play League of Legends, sometimes I find it very difficult to switch back into my studying mentality. With all your work finished, you will feel far less guilty for playing a lot.

If you don't currently have the self-discipline to balance out both League and academia, don't worry. Gaining self-discipline is a process. But you definitely need to remember that League should be a secondary priority and your real life needs to be your first priority. It may be a sign that you have an addiction if you are skipping work, school, or even life events in order to play more League.

League is a fun game. Some people play to enjoy it with friends, and others play it to be competitive. No matter what your reason to play, you need to learn how to balance out your academic life and League life in order to avoid stress and anxiety.

I hope that by sharing my studying habits that I provided new ideas to help you get through school. If you have any studying habits that you would like to share feel free to tweet them to me @gShouranF. I am always looking for new ways to study and would love to hear what you guys do to get on track.