While Final Fantasy XIII is bound to keep RPG fanatics holed up in their bedrooms for the next couple of weeks, it’s not the only big title being released this month. In just 7 days God of War III will start heating up Blu-ray drives across the world. Here’s a few strategies that might help you knock out the 50+ hour epic that is Final Fantasy XIII in time for Kratos to ready his blades of Chaos.

Fake Sick
College students, if you’ve been saving your allotted 2 days of unexcused absences for a nice day, nows the time to use them. If you’re a working man, the same applies for you too. Now’s the time to take a couple of those sick days. Who needs an entire week at the beach anyway? High Schoolers you know the deal, now is the time to rub that thermometer in between the seat cushions to bump it up those few extra degrees.

Turn off your cell phone and delete your Facebook account
I never said this was going to be an easy task, to beat Final Fantasy XIII in 7 days you are going to have to be committed. Every precious minute you’re not gaming is time wasted. So, here’s what you do, shut off your cell phone. This will eliminate the urge to respond to your friends who want to do things like “socialize” and other things that “normal” people do. This will also curb your obsessive need to check your e-mail every 10 minutes for that “very important” e-mail you’re waiting for. The other thing you are going to want to do is delete your Facebook account. Don’t worry you can reactivate it after the week is over. Some say that /B/ is the blackhole of the internet where losers go to waste away countless hours of their lives with nonsensical things, I call that place Facebook. Put it on hold, you’re stalking skills will still be as keen as ever when you return.

Have plenty of microwavable food ready
Microwavable food is amazing! Well, not really, but you’ll survive! Cooking is time consuming and so is cleaning up after a full course meal. Save the time and energy by eating lots of Vienna Sausages and Easy Mac. And don’t worry, you can’t become overweight in a week, so indulge yourself. It’s the least you can do for cutting off your entire social life.

Don’t fool around in-game
The nice thing about RPGs are the meticulous customizations and interactions. In the past I’ve actually spent more time messing around in Final Fantasy menus swapping out armor and perfecting my skill trees than actually playing the game. While all that is fine and dandy, we are on a tight schedule here, so cut the crap and focus on progressing through the story. Equip whichever armor and such that is good enough to get you through the next boss battle and be on with it. This goes for grinding as well, if your party is fit enough to get through the battle there is no need to max out their stats just for the sake of it.

Hopefully, after following the steps above and a little bit of luck you’ll be able to dedicate the 7 hours a day of gaming you will need to beat Final Fantasy XIII by the time God of War III releases on March 16th.