Tom

Day 104. An intense and satisfying day. Breakfast with the family, walk with the little one, a few minutes playing piano, then work. I had a long break talking with my wife. It's great that I'm reading a book about cognitive behavioral therapy as I have the feeling that it will teach me strategies to become a better husband and father. To fight decision fatigue we wrote down a two-week meal plan. Gratitude journal: The childminder always greets my son with a giant, sincere smile.Pink Floyd. They just blow me away every time.FTP mirrors.

Yay for reading to build compassion. It's great that you left gaming behind. I too don't have cravings anymore and it's... kind of weird: I thought it would be much harder. Have fun!

Day 103. Today was interesting. I jumped straight into work after a quick breakfast since I had to go to an appointment for my eldest son. Since I was pressed on time I've been extremely productive. A big chunk of my morning was dedicated to that appointment so I just had a quick lunch break in which my wife and I chatted with my parents over Skype. They were concerned over a situation, I'm relieved they are feeling better after we discussed it. Somehow last week I decided to stop believing in rationality and picked up my weight training program from where I left it before my holidays. If Friday, a lighter day, was a miracle that I managed, today the iron fairy reminded me that °nah, let's try anyway" is not a sound strategy. So I begrudgingly kicked my program back two weeks. That should be enough but there's only one way to be certain. Yesterday I finished The Shallows. I found it brilliant. I also read a couple more pages of Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. I always loved reading but it became more difficult over the years. First the Kindle and then quitting gaming provided me with the two things I need: big fonts and more time. Gratitude journal: A new batch of hummus my wife made.My son is doing OK.Disabling push notifications and setting up my email client to check less frequently.

Hey Alex, great energy! Props for your first full song! Music while working: try ambient. Or anything instrumental if it doesn't distract you too much. Of course silence is great. If you just want to drown out outside noise try white noise (although I prefer pink noise as I find it masks voices better). Cold shower: relax your body as much as you can. That way you blood will flow freely and your body temperature will self-regulate much better.

Hey, welcome back! I'd love to give it a try. Did you publish anything already? You just inspired me to offer my help as a translator too. I'll PM Cam. Your idea is excellent! Exactly what we need to raise more awareness and expand the community. I do care about you, Mr. Stranger. And I sincerely wish you feel better. Your posts stir emotions, make me care and grow. Please keep posting.

Day 102. A nice day. Woke up when the children climbed into bed with the solid resolve to play right there and then. And so we did. I spent all day with them. When my wife went out to meet a friend we baked cookies. Being together is one thing. Doing things together is the stuff memories are made of. The last visit to my hometown left me lighter. I'm getting rid of a lot of emotional baggage. Some of it clings on and scratches when it comes out but it has to go all the more. I believe happiness is a process of elimination. Interestingly enough, quitting gaming accelerated the process by quite a bit. Gratitude journal: My wife and I spent more time together than usual.The divine gift of chocolate.Public education.

Haha, I also used HS as my craving gauge Glad we are in the same place. It's nice to be in good company.

Hey, I hope your friend didn't shun that masterpiece that is Black Mirror! I tend to have the same issue with vulnerability. I know that for me it springs from being bullied when growing up because of my disability and nerdiness. Two words: massive bifocals. My guess is that the reasons can be highly personal. How do I fight it? First and foremost I don't open up much. Less than a handful of people have access to my innermost thoughts and feelings. Secondly, I constantly remind myself that we are all different and try to live every interaction as a learning experience. When I feel extremely self-conscious about something I said or done, I find comfort in thinking that in one hundred years what happened won't have any importance.

Happy birthday man! And keep deadlifting!

Days 100, 101. Back on track I'd say. Mornings are finally pleasant again now that the children readjusted to their usual bed times. Day 100 should feel like a giant milestone but it doesn't. The fact is that I left gaming in the past. Cravings are gone, interest too. I effectively erased gaming from my life. This in turn helped me free up time to focus on other things, things that matter more to me now. Thinking about it, this should be the best reason to celebrate. Well, I guess it is a giant milestone after all. I was happy to resume my weight training program. A bit unfocused though. At the end of the working day my wife and I went to our local TEDx. We really like the environment and the people. It's awesome that we have the chance to participate. Day 101 was very nice too. We went to the swimming pool in the morning, made pizza in the evening. The day flowed naturally and pleasantly. Gratitude journal: Spending one on one time with my eldest son, teaching him to swim, talking science.My power rack does its job of saving my neck.Quitting games encouraged me to get rid of even more dead weight. Letting go is liberating.

Enjoying the little things in life that we can have every day make for the most fun. Good on you for taking the time to appreciate the little things like reading a story, I have yet to change my thinking patterns/ way of thinking to appreciate the little things more and 'celebrate the small wins'. Sometimes it takes quite some effort. I'd like to make it automatic. The more I do it, the easier it becomes.

Good to hear from you! Sounds good. Keep it up. You have talent for writing and a loyal following here on Game Quitters. I agree completely. The next book on my list is Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David D. Burns. I read the introduction where a third-party study compares bibliotherapy (reading that book) with pharmacological therapy. The whole book seems grounded in science. Give it a shot.

Day 99. I let my wife sleep in and took care of helping my son get ready for school. When my wife got up our youngest son was still asleep, so we ate breakfast together and enjoyed some silence while reading our books. Nice! My goal for today was to be more cheerful. Today was a sad, cold, rainy day, but I didn't really mind. I took a reinvigorating shower after lunch, listened to uplifting classical music, and spent time with my family. Had a blast acting the big bad wolf in the Three Little Pigs. Gratitude journal: Our delicious lunch of steamed fish and vegetables,We met the new babysitter. It's a man. The boys will have fun!I have nice things planned for tomorrow and the weekend.

With non-fiction I prefer my Kindle because I can easily re-read passages, jump to footnotes, and see the illustrations. Fiction is something I usually read when my hands are busy (doing chores, buying groceries...) or before falling asleep.

Is contemplating beauty a waste of time? Let your mind wander on its own from time to time. It's like wiping the lens you use to focus. You can try some unguided meditation too.

How about phasing it in after not playing for 90 days? Any attempt at self-limitation failed for me and for others on this forum. If it works for you please let us know any tricks or strategies that helped you! Sometimes is time wasted, sometimes is time invested. If it fills you with genuine positive feelings, if it leaves you with a feeling of accomplishment, then don't dismiss it. Watching sports can help you unwind and even motivate you to be healthier and more ambitious. But if it bores you then of course you can find other ways of achieving the same.

Hey Laney, I think you are a very talented artist. I love your pixel stuff, especially how you use color to bring out the illusion of 3D. And your painting is stunning. Retention: it will improve with time as you get used to audiobooks. What I usually do: non-fiction on my Kindle, fiction on my MP3 player. Car CD player: maybe it has an AUX input hidden somewhere? That way you just need a 3.5mm male-to-male stereo audio cable to connect your phone.

Absolutely! Thanks SpiNips!

Thanks! I like the plot. I'll definitely read it after Siddhartha.

Happy new year Oct! Great to read about your mental shift. Apparently taking your mind and hands off games works wonders. What are you doing with the time you used to spend gaming? Have you picked up any new hobbies?

Day 98. A productive day. Work went very well and I enjoyed a long conversation with my boss. I also kept more focused on my mood, with the result of being, if not very cheerful, at least not cranky. I decided to read Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy once I'm done with The Shallows. I hold cognitive behavioral therapy in high regard so I'm sure I'll find a lot to like in that book. Seems like Travis has a lot of good suggestions as to what to read. I'm also dropping This Will Make You Smarter because it isn't teaching me anything new. I'll read Herman Hesse's Siddhartha instead. I read and loved pretty much everything else he wrote and I want a fiction book, so it's a safe bet. Gratitude journal: Homemade hot chocolate tasting just like the bar's.The nice short walk I took after dinner.My new glasses finally arrived. I can stop going around with old, scratched, taped ones.

Day 97. First day back to normal. My wife and I woke up just in time to help the children get prepared for school and kindergarten. I walked with the youngest one and made funny faces with him in the elevator. Back home I went straight to work. Having made sure to leave for my vacation with as little on my plate as possible, I found it easy to get started in a positive and productive mood. I also took good breaks during the day. I'm still readjusting my rhythms after my vacation. Energy levels could have been higher and I could have been more patient with my children. I'm sure I'll get back on track in no time now that I'm back in my environment. Gratitude journal: My mum singing the children to sleep via Skype.The quiet of my office.Raising my speakers to ear level.

Congratulations for focusing on focus! Decluttering truly is one of the best things you can do for yourself. I'm quite disappointed by This Will Make You Smarter. I'm not learning anything new from it, to the point that I'm pondering whether to keep reading it or not. On the other hand I find The Shallows an excellent read.

I liked Radical Acceptance very much. It offered me a lot with its real life examples and solid meditation techniques. I took a bit to adjust to the writing style and after a while I didn't have any problems with it, on the contrary. It's a book that challenged me on many levels and left me with the feeling I've learned something important. I find The Shallows fascinating. It's long, detailed, very well researched and touches the question from many points. A pleasure to read, but keep in mind that I'm a sucker for that kind of books and articles!

Maintaining your habits is a changing environment is where the real magic happens. It means you've leveled up in your competence. Make sure you recognize yourself for this progress. It's key. Thanks! That's something I struggle with at times. I usually find my reward in the activity itself: the physical and mental rush of a cold shower, a music piece coming together, such things. With negative habits like not gaming, I don't really know how to reward myself although I feel I should. At least in the beginning, like with the 90 days of not gaming. Thoughts?