I've been self-evaluating my gambling behavior multiple times. Well, sometimes it negatively affects my productivity, but sometimes I feel it's just one of my unproductive pastimes. For sure, if I could turn my gambling time into reading or working out, my life could be better... But you know it's humane to do stupid stuff

I think the negative feeling arises when you spend your time and money more than you can afford. Thus, the key is still "balanced lifestyle" and the good old "self-control" so you can stay mostly positive.