AlexTheGrape

I finished my detox 166 days ago, after my third attempt. Although I did play a few hours of games with friends some 140 days ago when my brother invited old gamer friends over, but that's not important. Anything else you'd like to ask I can help you with?

Hi Karma, just thought I'd check out your journal. Looks like you're making good progress by trying new things to get into a good routine and build more self control. Awesome job making a project for yourself, I think I'll try that too. Assessing why I don't go for things I know I want to do would be really helpful. Keep it up man, you're doing well

Hi Matt, sounds like you're making great progress! Urges will come and go, just remember they'll pass. The best ways I found to get rid of them was to get engaged with another activity (preferably outdoors), remember your reasons for quitting gaming, thinking forward to the person you want to become, and recalling the hours wasted on video games. Whenever I think of playing video games, I now also think in a third person perspective - thinking what I'd look like from an observer's perspective. It'd just look like I'm staring at a computer for countless hours, and that's easier to think of as something I'm not wanting to do. You've got an awesome attitude towards becoming a better person and taking on all advice, so keep it up man!

Hi Rick, welcome back! That's absolutely normal, and there's surprisingly simple ways to avoid it. It's good you're aware that it'll be easy to forget important advice. I find that just covering a small amount of self-development content a day, writing important bits down, and writing how I can apply them is very helpful. I've also tried making a daily challenge to apply one of those things (in my journal) which has worked very well. I used to think that absorbing the most information was the best way to improvement, but the reality is that all the information will be useless if we don't record it for practicality and apply it in real life. That's just my two cents on the matter, I hope that helps you make more effective use of resources and self-development material. Relapses can happen, but they can be very important for learning why you play games and hence how you can avoid it happening again in future. If you outline why it happened, it might help you make better change in the long run. From you last post, it sounds like you need a bit of a challenge. Relatable to Cam's definition of the reasons we game, we all need to be challenged and provided/find a sense of purpose. My only advice for this one is that you'll only find out what works for you by trying new activities and applying yourself fully; committing to action. Most of the time we can't think ourselves into liking an activity or feeling excited about it, so just taking action is the best way to go about it. Perhaps keeping yourself accountable to achieve a goal would give you a little more purpose. I hope my advice helps, and best of luck making the most of your time

Hi Colin, I just read up on your journal, and you're doing amazingly to have gotten rid of all your accounts, even your Blizzard account! Without your account to haunt you, you'll undoubtedly have much more time on your hands and freedom to try new activities. Better yet, make a 'new you'! Quitting the games is the first step, afterwards you can develop yourself into the person you really want to be. Every now and then you'll get cravings to play the games again, but they pass, and generally become less frequent over time. I hope this helps and best of luck with taking control of your life!

@drumkat This might help you: In my own experience, getting rid of my steam account and other games seemed like a big task at first. After getting rid of them it was actually a big relief that I wouldn't be dragged into them anymore. At the end of the day, any time spent in the game was for instant fun, there isn't any actual progress there: it doesn't affect real life. As described by a previous GQ member: Getting rid of gaming accounts feels like running toward a brick wall since it feels like you're going to lose a lot, but when you hit the wall, it turns out it is only paper that you easily run through. On the other side, there are many more opportunities and freedom to not be tempted back into the wasting time playing the games. I felt the same: I hadn't lost anything at all because the time spent was already wasted, and the money already spent.

Hi Shine Magical, I just had a read through your journal and I think you're doing yourself a great service by going without gaming. Relapses can happen, but they can be valuable learning experiences to learn more about why you game and how you can adapt what you're doing to meet your needs. In your case it might be good to find some outside activities that you can fall back on if cravings arise, as staying in the same place for long periods can easily cause nostalgia for gaming due to their engaging nature. In my experience, coming to terms with who I really am and taking action to move forward with life was much more empowering and worthwhile than trying the opposite: distracting myself with video games so that I didn't have to deal with negative emotions and other unhelpful views of my life. Perhaps this might apply to you in some way? If any of the other advice doesn't help, then at least try this; If you were nearing the end of your life span, would you be happy with how you've spent your life? What would you like people to remember you for? Those can be powerful reflection tools to align your actions with your innermost values, and help to see what you'd like in the long term. I hope your trip to Japan goes well, and best of luck with making a better life for yourself

Hi Sarma, I thought I'd pop in and check out your journal. Seems you're doing well to be continuing after a relapse, it takes a lot of courage to start again. Break time from school was a big factor in my two relapses, it's a time where you'll have an abundance of time that prompts us to think we need to kill time. Quitting gaming is the first step, but by the end of the detox the idea is you'll have become a better person through getting into new activities, developing your social skills etc, so I'd say look forward to 'the new you' that you can create for yourself. In my experience, the most significant change in myself was my mentality towards and how I use my time now. Previously if I had spare time, it was time to kill through playing video games. Now I see my spare time as time to invest in myself and making my life richer, and I see weeks of holidays as an opportunity to do amazing things. Something I remember that was important to me keeping away from games was that at the end of the day, any progress made in gaming was worthless in real life, so could count as a day wasted. That time is precious and can be used better in an unlimited number of ways. I hope this helps you to get through your summer break without gaming easier, best of luck for your 30 day challenge!

Hey, welcome back Svet! Every now and then we'll get cravings after quitting gaming, but just know that it'll pass, even if it takes a few days. For me, my old friends talking about games and such has gotten me nostalgic before. In that scenario once I reminded myself of why I quit gaming in the first place, how much better I've become without them, and how much time would be wasted playing video games, I felt much better without them. Perhaps you could apply similar thoughts to your current situation. I'm glad you've gone so long without gaming, awesome job!

Wow what a great way to reflect and prioritise! Keeping what matters most to you is a great way to go about your daily habits, especially if it avoids burning out.

wow that's so cool - if I keep going through the phone book i could find you!!!! you are right, it's mainly to practice my social skills and confidence - yes!! And I wanted to prove a point to myself - there's always someone to talk to, wherever-whenever, and it's kind of an experiment - I want to see how people react when a stranger wishes them a great day on the phone. How can I brighten people's days the other side of the world!!!!! You are right, it is expensive!!! I really can't call the south Pacific every day!!!! last night was the equivalent of buying a round of drinks for your mates!!! It would be 3 times cheaper just phoning up people round my area. But it's so fun talking to someone the other side of the world..... I'm looking into cheaper ways of doing it, through Skype for example - but I don't know if the connection strength will be as good that way. +1! (I'm out of likes today ) It seems like a great way to practice your social skills and confidence, and is especially gutsy! I'm glad you enjoyed the experience so much. That price doesn't seem too bad, but you're right that calling people on the other side of the world really does make it that much more special. I look forward to your next challenge

yeah I keep them in my journal to have a daily reminder of my goals and the way to achieve them. Also I try to keep them SMART(i.e. with the dates). If my monthly goals are only one week away I will take them as weekly goal and create new monthly goals. The same procedere will be used if I am one month away from my 6month goals. I try to keep them consistent to stay focussed on important things but it is possible that my goals change a bit even before I reach them. I actually enjoy my c++ blog right now a lot and get a big sense of improving myself out of it. That's why I thinking of putting some goals up relating to this new thing and let some old things go on pause for some time (python,linux). Thanks for checking in btw Thanks for such an elaborate response! I think I'll incorporate that idea into my journal, as although I have some goals in my head, I'm not reminded of them daily. Updating the type of goal is also a nice touch. I'm glad you're enjoying learning C++, it is a tough nut to crack! My brother tried to learn it but found it just too difficult, so from my perspective it seems like an ancient programming language that I shouldn't bother with (I code in Python right now). You're welcome, it's the least I could do considering how often you check into all our journals

I'm not sure what it's like where you live, but if there are some public clubs you're interested in, it'd be a good idea to check those out. I'd also recommend checking out Cam's 60+ hobby ideas, which you can check out here: http://gamequitters.com/hobby-ideas/ Even if you don't use a particular activity to try and get new friends that way, you can always befriend random strangers to get to know new people. It isn't something that many would normally do, but I've made awesome friends that way. The main thing is just meeting new people, wherever they might be. The more people you meet and greet, the greater chance they'll have a common interest with you. Good luck with getting some amazing friends

Hi Mario, seems like you're doing really well! I like your idea of having short, mid, and long term goals, is it something you'll keep in your journal consistently or what will you do with it? I'm considering doing something similar myself, but I think I'd need a bit more accountability to do those things than just posting up here. Keep on keeping on

Awesome start to the day! I'd agree that the why and purpose beneath the daily habits and quitting gaming is important. For me it was about becoming the person I wanted to become, quitting gaming was just the first step. It's great you're getting so much accomplished, keep it up man!

That's great you phoned people in Auckland, I live there! Seems like you got some relatively quick responses, but it seems many of them enjoyed you calling by. If you don't mind me asking, but what's the main purpose of doing these calls? My guess is it's to boost your social skills and such. Does it cost much for you to phone overseas numbers? I think it'd cost me a lot... Keep on keeping on

Wow what an amazing trip you went on! I'm really glad you got to get out of your comfort zone in such an outstanding way, and you even got to meet Patch Adams! Keep it up man, we love your updates

Hi there, just thought I'd pop in and check out your journal. Nice job on getting halfway through the 90 day detox! It's great to see that you're keeping a gratitude journal, it has certainly helped me to stay happier in general. I remember you've tried the detox previously, so that's very mature of you to try it again. I'll try keep up with your journal, but keep it up man you're doing awesome!

Hi Chris, nice to see your journal up here! Brave step you've made to keep a journal for September, but if you find it beneficial then it might be worth considering extending that time once September is over. Unfortunately after abstaining from gaming, it's necessary to find new friends that will help you ease into new engaging activities. Additionally they won't pressure you into gaming if they don't game already. Perhaps think of it as an opportunity to grow your social skills and find people that are more like you; in my experience the best friends I have now I made without anything to do with gaming or ties through gaming. Although it seems possible, we often can't think ourselves into getting motivation for doing new activities we haven't delved into before. Like most activities, we're only motivated and excited about the activity whilst we're doing it or afterwards, so it'll be necessary to simply try new activities until you find some that you enjoy. I hope my advice helps, and best of luck with your September challenge!

Welcome Rodrigo! Without the crutch of gaming, you'll now be able to invest those 16 hours a day into more meaningful activities. Great job dishing out your goals already, meditation is certainly a great place to start! All the best for living your life to the fullest

Here are my posts for the past few days: Post-Detox Day 163 Today I had an allotted exam time for computer science, which was dedicated to report writing as we don't have exams for that subject. I got a lot done, and I thank my touch typing skills for allowing me to get a lot of content out in a relatively short period of time. I've otherwise been studying for my calculus exam that'll be on Thursday, and it's been going pretty well! Post-Detox Day 164 Today was a complete day dedicated to studying for Calculus. I completed and marked some 4 practice tests, and got teacher help for areas I wasn't sure about. Another solid day of studying. Post-Detox Day 165 Today I sat the Calculus exam, and I think I did really well in two of the three tests. I had to study chemistry in the afternoon though, these exams aren’t over yet. Post-Detox Day 165 Today I did my chemistry mock exam, and it went alright. It was my final mock exam, so now I’m free to relax… Until the end of the weekend. My work ethic won’t let me rest until the holidays, which are actually in just a week. I previously mentioned a reflection system that I developed to help with improving studying productivity and motivation in an earlier post. This has been going very well, and my brother got on board more than a week ago. It involves us defining what tasks we want to complete for a certain period of time (e.g. an afternoon) to start with. After that time has elapsed, at a dedicated time we’ll then highlight the tasks we’ve written to do according to how much/if we complete them, and then providing feedback to each other in written form. This has been a very valuable process to get daily feedback on performance and areas to improve, much more time effective than posting here. I've now got tons of writing to do as I need to respond to all my pen pals, so although exams are finished I’m still going to be busy! I’ll be back to my daily habits tomorrow, so things should be going smoothly.

@Cam Adair thank you for sending the onesie pic! I didn't think you would be grumpy about it though.

Post-Detox Day 161 Today I did well with my strength workout, and beat my record for pushups. My exercising in the past week has been very consistent, and I hope to continue this into the foreseeable future. I had a rather good day of studying, and I feel I'm very prepared for my biology exam. Post-Detox Day 162 Today I did my biology exam, and I believe I've done fairly well. I also learned to start with papers I'm more confident with, so that I don't end up not leaving enough time to answer them later on. My afternoon studying was rather poor, but I did have other pressing matters regarding my career applications so I shouldn't beat myself up about it. I had a quick run today, and so I plan to do some much more worthwhile exercise tomorrow. Thanks guys, I appreciate your encouragement! In a way I'm glad I can dedicate so much of my time and energy to exams, I doubt I've been this effective with my studies before.

Wow what an inspirational story! If you're using steam and are looking for a more permanent uninstallation of your video games, I'd recommend using the steps listed here: https://www.reddit.com/r/StopGaming/comments/2t384s/how_to_get_rid_of_your_steam_account_in_60_mins/ Give us a yell if you need some extra support, we're here to help! (Namely tagging us in a post will do the job, there's a lot of journals and such to read!) I wish the best for your journey to quit gaming

Hi Axe, thanks for sharing your story! It certainly seems that gaming has caused more harm than good, but writing it all out and identifying the issues is very helpful so good on you for posting here. Withdrawals and cravings will be inevitable, so just keep in mind the reasons why you've quit when the going gets tough. Otherwise you've made a flying start, so welcome to the community!