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25 Sep 17 Days to go: 203 Days to Marathon 2: 18 So I totally missed yesterday's post, and I have no excuse, my morning routine is/was still not right and compacted by the fact it was the weekend so my foot was off the gas a little. I ended up getting out of bed and compressing a bunch of files on my computer as I am really struggling for space. As I am using an RPi 3 as my desktop, that means I essentially couldn't do anything else for an hour or so, and fell back to watching videos on my phone while I waited. Lesson learnt, because I didn't realise until about lunch time that I hadn't posted yet and by then it was too late. Today it's the first thing I am doing after making some tea - that will be the new routine. No checking the phone yet either which is good, I have now put it into alarms only mode and only take it out when I am expecting a call or something. Lets see how long that lasts. The reason I really need to take control of how much I look at my phone is I listened to a great TED talk yesterday on boredom by Manoush Zomoroni. For some reason I can't insert links so it is here - Even just the statistics alone is scary and puts phone usage into perspective. I have been having a love-hate relationship with phones over the last few months ever since entering the detox, where I became more aware of everyone using their phones constantly and not just enjoying the moment. I like to think I have a head start by already deleting all social media off of my phone, but I still respond to notifications too freely. I am going to keep my phone in this "do not disturb" mode all day again and see how we go - I have tried similar things during my detox, I remember talking to Bob about it. If I could find an alternative to listen to podcasts on I think I would go so far as downgrade to a feature phone similar to what CG EYE did. Not a lot else happened yesterday, spent time with the family and had a few beers to celebrate the last week before picking up more family to stay for the week. Last week was a great one, got a distinction for my online debate essay, recovered from the marathon without being too badly injured and I think I am getting on top of my finances for the moment. I did do a lot of reflecting as well which was good to do, I do not think I do enough of it. I probably spend too much time listening to podcasts during my quiet time rather than just sitting with the moment and reflecting on how I am going. Definitely addicted to podcasts - there is too much to listen to out there and to help me learn, as well as audiobooks, that I don't like being without one for even a few moments. I cannot remember the last time I actually listened to music - I don't have any installed on my phone anymore. So what is the plan for this week? With family staying over it is going to be challenging, but I do need to get back ontop of my productivity. I have taken my foot off the pedal, and now rather than sorting it out I seem content with just talking about it. That will stop as of today, and I will take charge of this beast. What is going to force my hand to make this happen is that I am going to be teaching for the next 8 weeks as well as attempting to manage work admin and study and all the rest. No time for dillydallying! Unfortunately with having family staying this week I was hoping to finally finish off my noise maker for my son, including cutting and grinding the mint tin it will be stored in, but that will not be happening. It will need to be a next weekend job, and I feel bad that I keep putting this off rather than getting it finished. The soldering is done, that is the hard part, now just need the software to back it up and the casing for it. Again, just allowing myself to be distracted from my goals and not coming back to them, need to take charge. Battleplan for today 1. Contact my lecturer to talk about the consistencies between the feedback for my two assignments. I need to make some improvements to my writing style not just for the third and final assignment, but for the next semester and beyond as well. 2. Enjoy teaching for at least today, and for the next two months. Last time round I really did not enjoy it, it was during the detox, and I was battling anxiety really bad. I feel a lot more relaxed about it all this time around and more in control in my emotions so I am optimistic. What do I have to lose anyway? 3. Get back into my studies, or a routine that will aid me in doing my studies, which will generally revolve around getting my morning routine under control again. Do some research on ideal morning routines, look into the Miracle Morning. Grateful corner My house. I was spending some time yesterday on the floor in our living room with my son just playing around, and then again last night talking with my family. I am truly thankful for the opportunity of the house we are in, it is a once in a million once in a lifetime house and I was in the right place at the right time for it. No wonder it has a history of people not wanting to move out from it! I have another year here before we move into my next job so I need to enjoy it as much as I can, I doubt we will have such a spacious house like this again.

#represent

You can bounce ideas off of them on how to abstain from gaming, and they can bounce ideas off you of how to grow such a full beard

Think how much you will enjoy other aspects of your life if you continue to live deliberately. Be wary that returning to gaming doesn't impact development of your self awareness.

There is some great training apps out there for free @Hitaru. You might need to hit the road hard after relaxing and having so much fun hanging out with @Cam

Tomorrow sounds like an awesome day @imquitgaming. Don't get sucked into staring at your phone and just enjoy it!

Would you consider investing your spare money in something that would help these other hobbies you want to achieve? I don't know anything about Go, but is there something that would make you better? I think any investment in technology if it is new seems to be a waste, as it depreciates so quickly. For example, a laptop I wanted to buy about three months ago for $800 but didn't because my credit card bill was too high, is now down to $580. That is a big loss in less than a year. You'll get more value out of buying something second hand or a year or so older. In this case, the Switch, it is only going to go down in value, so I think buying it won't be a good idea.

23 Sep 17 Days to go: 205 Days to Marathon 2: 20 There is about to be a third @SlackRamen, with @Zeeko about to move here as well! Was the obstacle course like the American Ninja Warrior show or more like the US College races? Both look like a lot of fun but require a lot of practice. I remember doing obstacle courses when I was a scout way back in my school days and it was a blast. Because I was the smallest they used to throw me over the obstacles and walls. The red counter is how many days until I have gone a year game free, so I am up to day 160 today of not playing games. I like goals and targets and seem to work better with them so I figured why not make a new target after the 90 day detox was up, and there were several people talking about a year game free at the time, so I chose that. My morning routine still needs some work. The part that is annoying me right now is I know a few improvements I could make but I don't implement them, like drinking a glass of water as soon as you wake up and not touching your phone immediately in order to get into the creating content mindset rather than consuming. I just can't motivate myself to do either task, though I have really overhauled how I used my phone, and generally now I just check my notifications before getting on with the day. I should be at a point where I get on with my day, do my morning routine, then check my notifications. The drinking water would really help though as I tend to be dehydrated most of the time (as the majority of humans are these days) and with the heat we are experiencing I sweat a lot more. I'll try again tomorrow to start forcing myself to do that. Well I chose a bad time to try and go back to daily posts with the work trip, but at least now I am back home with the right intention and ready to get this sorted. Some good news too, got my results back for my last assignment and I achieved a distinction - that's the highest mark I have received in years! So I am super happy with that. More evidence of how much I was wasting myself prior to the detox. There are some consistencies in what the lecturer has pointed out I did wrong though with the first assignment, so I need to contact her for some tips or direction on how to sort that out. I have identified the marathon re-attempt, there is one in the Melbourne Running Festival next month on the 13 October. So I have registered, flights booked, here I come! I think it is going to be a lot of fun, and will get the family away on a mini-holiday so will kill two birds with one stone. A lot of my wife's friends live in Melbourne so they can go hang out and do whatever they do while I run around scenic Melbourne and finish at the MCG (if I avoid the time cut offs). I have also found out it is not called a "slow bus", it is a "slow band". If you are not running fast enough when you pass through several check points then you're given an armband which basically means you can't finish the whole race as you will take too long. The aim is not to get one of those! This marathon is a bit quicker, the slow bands are given to 7:30 min/km instead of the Sydney 8min/km, but that's ok. I feel like I have been wasting a bit of time this week by watching a lot of Youtube on various subjects, so I need to wind that back a bit. I haven't been feeling that great so it has been an easy escape while resting, either from the flu or still recovering from the run, I don't know which. That shouldn't be a problem this weekend though, it is just me and my boy and some fantastic weather - so look out playgrounds and maybe the zoo, we're going to have an awesome weekend! And no frustration from wanting to just stay home and play games! Battleplan for today: 1. Have a lot of fun with my son - maybe the park, a playground, who knows. Whatever we feel like. Apparently right now that includes drawing on our face with a pen. 2. Drink lots of water - this might be a source of my problems as well. 3. Do some cleaning of the house to catch up on some chores. Will need to come back to my grateful points later, the keyboard is being hijacked by a small human.

Welcome mate!

Monday Morning Podcast (MMP) with Bill Burr. He calls topics how he sees it which others are too scared to talk about, plus he is hilarious! Some other ones that people haven't mentioned so far: The Anxiety Guy James Aldricher Show (not sure if I spelt his last name right) The Minimalists Skeptics Guide to the Universe

Welcome @Aeryes! I am impressed you have achieved 44 days cold turkey!

Love the Blue Mountains! I want to do the ultra trail in may next year so I need to spend more time up there training. We might have to compare notes on good spots!

I was committed to going back to daily posts starting today but it hasn't worked out! Been on the road since 4am for work so I'll need to set aside time for a post this afternoon. Intention for today is to note down things I'm grateful about as I go along. The fantastic weather today in Sydney is a good start! Edit: since I'm on my mobile for the first time ever I'll try uploading a photo of the weather I'm taking about, and I'm outside to enjoy it!

Just listened to his podcast where the dates were mentioned so it's in my calendar!

You've got this mate

The two themes that always seem to occur in every self-help/productivity/motivational speaker/book/blog/podcast @Parkreiner is - 1) meditation and 2) journalling. If all these entrepreneurs swear by those two steps at the beginning of every day regardless of the situation, then it must be effective and the "silver bullet" for getting in the right mindspace. I initially found it hard to get into meditation, probably similar to what you mentioned, but also because I tended to fall asleep because I don't allow myself to slow down that much usually, but if you set an alarm or timer or use a podcast to help you get started, you will find it beneficial. Now after some practice I can meditate several times during the day, even if it is only for a few minutes, to help me stay grounded. What usually spurs me to do it now is if I am faced with a difficult decision and/or feeling anxious, and meditation allows me to not only calm down but find what the root cause is. Journalling in the morning allows me to do a "mindsweep" of my problems, come up with a plan for the day, and attack it.

They are the best type of vacations @Manun!

Keep going @Andre2807! It's those rough days that identify the self coping tools that will work for us continue to progress our development.

This is what got me started on the detox. I kept getting angry at my wife and son for interrupting me when I was in a raid or building something or doing a puzzle. I realised my priorities were all wrong. We should be getting angry from being distracted from spending time with them or doing tasks to progress ourselves!

20 Sep 17 Days to go: 208 That was definitely me @Hitaru! Only less elegant than the silverfox Rowan Atkinson I think I am finally starting to recover from the run! I was so drained that the last few days I really struggled to think properly, which only really became apparent when trying to explain or talk to people at work and I was struggling to be coherent. I loaded up on calories as much as I could the last two days and took naps to try and speed up the recovery process and I think it has worked, I feel back to being normal today. My previous post was a bit of a shambles as well. Quite a lot of people have asked me whether that has "put the fire out" for running now I have achieved the marathon or whether I am geared for another one. I have been spending some time reflecting on this and I don't think I had made my mind up until now; which might have been an answer in itself. After much thought and talking to people about it who were congratulating me on getting through and telling them what time I achieved, I think I need to run again. In the end while I said that I just wanted to finish and avoid the "slow bus" (I have since found out there is no slow bus, but "slow bands", you get given a wristband which results in you being redirected to a shorter/different track), I did have a time in mind that I would like to finish it: 4 hrs 30 minutes. This was based on the times I was getting while training and what I thought I could comfortably run. Well turns out I did keep a 4 hr 15 minute pace for the first 25km before my legs really started to struggle, and I think my legs really struggled because I was over-regulating my speed so I didn't wear myself out. Once I reached the 25km mark it became a real battle of willpower and I ended up doing it in 5 hrs 3 minutes. I don't like telling people that it took me 5 hours, and this is why I don't think it is inspiring at all @Cam! So, as a result, I think it's time to lace up again and get back out there. What is adding to this thought is that by 3 days after the race, I feel fully recovered. The people I was talking to for advice prior to the run said that if I have recovered this quickly, then I still had more in the tank during the run and didn't go fast enough. I think I need a different approach next time, and since I did the longer runs during training via intervals, then maybe I need to try doing intervals for the next one, that is run at a 4:30 or 5:00 pace for 5minutes, then walk for 1-2 minutes, then rinse and repeat ~45 times. Imagine telling people that I got out there to inspire myself, now thats a good story that I would feel confident telling people. A combination of being worn out and having a messed up morning routine is resulting in me being not as productive as I wanted to be, around the 50-75% mark, and resulting in some frustration and not achieving all my daily targets/battleplan. One of the contributing factors that I can control (focusing on those first) is my morning routine. Over the last week I have been getting up an hour before everyone else (about 5am), and working on my to do list starting on the recurring tasks that are smallest and easiest to do. This has been incorrect. I have been working on the smallest ones first because I have taken my foot off the gas somewhat after submitting my last big assignment for studies so used that as an excuse to take it easy, but now it is impacting the other areas of my life. So, starting today, back to reprioritising my tasks, focusing on what needs to get done first or what is important to focus upon while my mind is fresh in order to set myself up for success during the day. First things first, this journal, going back to daily entries rather than my one every two days, then reading online debates for my studies, and updating my budget. I might have a read of the Miracle Morning as well to see if there are any other tips in there to help shape my morning routine. Turns out my hobbies aren't so much of a waste after all! When I have shown people my RPi builds they have all asked for me to build similar ones for them and they would pay me to do it. I might be able to start making a few dollars on the side which is what I was going to switch my hobbies to. Battleplan for today 1. Have a 3-star productive day. It's been over a week since I felt I could award myself 3-stars. It all starts here with today's journal entry, and will push myself all day. 2. Identify a new marathon to be able to redeem my time (and/or pride). 3. Get back out on the cross trainer to see how the ole legs are feeling to start training again. This might be a mental battle more than anything. Grateful corner It's a bit challenging to think of something I am grateful for today as I haven't been in the right headspace. I need to get better at noticing this, even if it is something small. Maybe I should write them down during the day. Any tips?

The morning is the best time to do a lot of tasks that require heavy cognitive work, such as journalling, writing, essay writing, learning a new language, etc. Your brain is fresh, there have been no distractions during the day and you're generally emotion-free (depending on how traumatic your dreams might have been). If you get up earlier than everyone else (even if it is only 30 minutes), then you'll find you have no distractions or responsibilities either and you can be hyper focused.

Welcome, fellow Aussie! The fact that you have reached this realisation at 21 means you have so much potential ahead of you.

18 Sep 17 Days to go: 210 Days to the Marathon: Finished! Well I am wrecked, that's really all I can say. Ran the marathon yesterday. It was a pretty intense day, woke up at about 5am as my friend that I was staying with was doing the half marathon started at 6. I couldn't sleep anyway from a mixture of being tired and excited. Then headed on down to the marathon. Took me 5 hours and 3 minutes, I was aiming for 4 hours 30 minutes in the end, because that would of been the splits I was getting while I was training, but it was not to be. I managed about 5:45min/km splits for the first 25km and then thats when all the problems started! From then on I averaged around 8:30min/km splits. I started having knee troubles which when I was zoning out meant I was changing my running style to accomodate, which was causing other problems, like my hamstrings or my ankles, so I had to keep forcing myself to pay attention to my running style. The 25-35km were the absolute worst, and I really started to doubt my ability to finish. My brain started telling myself it's ok, you have come this far, nobody would mind if you dropped out. Probably wasn't helped by seeing so many other people drop out in front of me or seeking medical attention. But I refused to quit. I responded to myself by saying "you're right, you have come this far, so another 10km won't hurt". My personal struggles must have been interesting to see as a lot of people that were watching started cheering me on and a few other runners encouraged me to keep going. Tried to have an ice bath afterwards.... nope! That is intense. I have the utmost respect for athletes that incorporate that into their daily routine. So today I will be walking around like John Wayne, if at all. I should of taken the day off to rest... oh well. Very little has been happening outside of that, a few friends have started to talk to me about playing Eve online. I am thankful that I have sold everything now and can't do it. I think playing with them in a social environment over their house or something would work because I would be going into it with the right intent, but the problem is the amount of preparation you have to put into those MMOs. House and hours of prep just to be able to do a 15 minute mission or something. I'll focus on staying productive for now. I need to reflect on my hobbies at the moment and see if they are working. A friend has been using his spare time on hobbies that are going to make him money in the long run (possibly), where I can't say mine will. Battleplan for today 1. Try to stay mobile so my knees don't lock up! 2. Post contributions to the online debate. 3. Think about some new hobbies. Grateful corner My friend that I ran with yesterday. Let me stay at his place which was less than 100m from the starting line, then afterwards kept my son occupied for an hour by playing ping pong with him, or at least the best a toddler can play ping pong. Patience of a saint. Amazing guy. Hope everything with his family can get sorted out, I wish him all the best.

Welcome mate!

15 Sep 17 Days to go: 213 Days to the Marathon: 2 Lets start off with some good news, it looks like I have been unbanned from GitHub. I still don't really have an explanation for it but at least I can go back to doing my updates and reading the user documentation for some addons. I can only assume I received a 24 hour ban for something that I did. I'd like to work out what it was so I can avoid it in the future but I have honestly no idea. Other news - I am still struggling with the flu, which means I will be taking it with me into the marathon. I am not too worried about that though as I know my determination will overcome that adversity, but what I am a bit worried about is carrying a sore ankle. I have had physio and asked whether I keep running on it is going to cause any damage to it or not, and the result is no it is nothing serious, it is just a symptom of running too much and not allowing it to rest. Makes sense since I have been running up to six times a week, and the physio seemed quite surprised/impressed with that. I'll see how I go. I have been given a ticket to go see the show "How to not give a f*ck" by Mark Manson the night before, so hopefully that will take my mind off it and not let me feel sorry for myself and/or make excuses. Am struggling to keep up with everything I want/need to do lately. Or at least, it feels like I am struggling. I think I am realistically going ok but I probably just need a break or reset to bring myself back down to a baseline of my mindset/mental state and what I am trying to achieve. I have talked to my wife about this, we are looking at options to go away for a few days for a reset/mind clear and relax for a little while. I have been invited to be a part of a work team for the Melbourne marathon at the end of next month, so that might be an opportunity to go relax in a different state for a while, even if it won't get us out of the city. Needed to find some documents last night for my real estate agent and spent almost two hours searching through my folders on my computer. I reminded myself this is yet another reason that I can't allow myself to go back to gaming just for a little while - there are still so many areas of my life that are neglected from when I spent every spare second gaming. How long was I going to let my personal life go into disarray while I just sat there in a stasis? It is quite embarassing really, especially when I talked to a friend about he and he said "mate you are one of the most organised people I know". I obviously have been keeping everyone fooled. I have added sorting documents out to my habit tracker, so I will now do a little bit every day at a minimum. More context for @WintergreenGrin's statement he made so long ago. Finally emailed my lecturer to thank her for the online debate format, I hope it doesn't come across as trying to get better marks. That element of it must have been weighing on my mind though, as when I went to sleep I dreamt that I had failed the subject and couldn't graduate next year. Hopefully that is not a sign of things to come! Battleplan for today 1. Don't get emotional. I sense another day of emotion coming in my direction 2. Collect everything I need for the marathon - my racing bib, some gels, and hopefully a new hat for this fair skinned redhead. 3. Drink as much water as possible. I have not drunk any alcohol this week to help, but I probably should cut down my tea consumption today and drink more water to help for Sunday. Grateful corner My wife cooking a lot of different meals for this week so I wouldn't have to stress about it while she was away. They were all really healthy ones too to help me stay focused for this weekend, a lot of seafood, pasta/rice, and then I just heated up some frozen vegetables to go along with it. My son loves his vegetables so it was very easy to manage and get him to eat as well. This reminds me of when I used to live by myself after I had shoulder surgery almost ten years ago - I used to spend half of my Sunday just cooking and cleaning all day so then during the week I didn't have to worry about anything after work, I could just relax. Unfortunately I used all that extra time for gaming, but the concept was there. I should try and do that more now.