giblets

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.

Such a good analogy with McDonalds, I never thought of that one, but it is so true. Tastes great, but about 5 minutes after you've finished, the regret kicks in and you start feeling like garbage. Have you tried exercising at lunch time instead? I really struggle in the mornings to the point that is not worth it, but I use my lunch break to work out and it helps overcome the struggles people generally have in the afternoon (the 2pm yawns etc). Depends on whether your schedule allows it I guess.

So true @Andre2807, I think that is what the majority of people do initially, is replace gaming with something like YouTube. The way I see it if you are replacing gaming with another time wasting activity then you're not really achieving much at all, it's the same outcome or end state, just a different path to get there. It's natural to want ourselves to be distracted by the "horrors" of real life, but why not try to use a positive distraction? For example, I know quite a few people here use learning a new language through something like duolingo to be a positive distraction, I threw myself head first in my study, or something else that will work for you like personal development or fitness. Cam gives some ideas on his youtube channel or there is a PDF of hobbies in his resources section.

What book are you reading?

Mate you're crushing it already. If you combine your self awareness with your willingness to apply tools to improve your life means you're months if not years ahead of many others. I have tempted to go back to gaming while on the move because sometimes that is dead time, but I am worried I will fall into that trap that you mentioned - games are just one tap away. Sometimes it is really good just to do nothing too and watch the world go by. I like your success rent quote. Very very true.

Congrats @Moegli! It's been a long time with its share of ups and downs but I am glad you have made it. I was quite skeptical of you going back to gaming and switching to tracking binges, but I like your graph. You've really thought about this, and it looks like it could work. I guess I found it hard to relate because I just can't be bothered playing games at all. Or watching movies or tv. But everyone needs an outlet I guess. I look forward to following you for the next 180 days!

Well done Moegli! You have come a long way mate!

Welcome mate! You've taken a very important step!

12 Sep 17 Days to go: 216 Days to the marathon: 5 So, bit of a quiet couple of days which is why when I sat down yesterday to make an entry I just could not think of anything. It probably doesn't help I am not running now either so I don't get that refocus/second wind in the afternoon which makes things a bit of a struggle. I definitely feel my legs getting better though, so hopefully all these nagging injuries and soreness I have been carrying for a few weeks will subside before Sunday. The biggest thing that has happened to me really that I am struggling how to deal with is that I think I have been banned from GitHub. Or my IP has. I was running some updates on one of my Raspberry Pi builds this morning and half way through it lost connection and now none of my devices can go to github.com when they're on my home network. As soon as I shift to another network or asked my colleagues to go to the site, no problems at all. I can't think of anything that might cause them to block me unless one of my devices has been compromised and was showing suspicious activity. Anyway it is probably the motivation I need to fix my main computer's problems that I have been putting off while I was focusing on my studies. Which that will have second order effects of encouraging me to go back to video blogging. Just me and my son the next few days so that will be a lot of fun and challenging at the same time. It is a good reality check that I have responsibilities now and I am not the priority, as well as showing my wife that yes I can still look after him. It is also challenging though as it means my productivity goes down a lot as I can't focus or enter the flow as easily due to the amount of distractions, which results in me getting agitated and annoyed. Still zero interest in gaming right now. Even "allowed" myself to join in some multiplayer with a friend online if I "wanted to", but when I sat down at the desk I just couldn't be bothered, there was too many other things I wanted to do, and that is the bottom line. Made up some lame excuse why I couldn't play and went back to spending time with my son. No matter how addicted you are to gaming; there is always something you should be doing. Direct quote from @WintergreenGrin. The power of the detox right there. I think I can officially lift the "abstinance" stance from my mind of games, as they no longer have the grip on me like they used to, which is great. I will however need to deal with the fact I keep blowing this particular friend off when he invites me to play games, I'll just have to be straight up honest with him and say I am not interested anymore. Battleplan for tomorrow 1. Look after my son and don't influence his happiness with my agitation (if any) 2. Fix up my computer problems, which may involve a reshuffling around of my machines. Just get it working, the polishing can come later, over time. 3. Stay emotion free! I have the vibe tomorrow is going to be emotionally charged with a few significant changes at work that people won't be happy with. Need to be the rock that keeps them all calm. Grateful corner I don't believe I will say this, but I am grateful for retail staff today. While I was in the post office (posting some more gaming equipment I had sold and no longer need), there were quite a few difficult customers around me getting emotional about issues that were quite clearly their own to solve. By the time I got to the front of the queue I expected the attendants to be annoyed and short tempered, but they were great. Some of those people, as crap as the job may be, have got the patience of a saint. They don't get the credit they deserve. People seem to have forgotten the ability to be kind. It's free people, don't be frugal with manners.

Good start mate! That is a big step. I bookmarked FreeCodeCamp, that looks like an interesting site that I would like to come back to! I wasn't aware anxiety makes you really tired though, reflecting over the last year it would probably explain why I wanted to sleep so much during the day but seemed fine when it came to the late afternoon. One thing I got from my therapist was don't fight the anxiety feelings, because it just makes it worse. You need to start focusing on why you have got to that point, which will essentially give you the solutions on how to calm down and move forward. Take notes or make a worksheet to help you reflect if you think it would be useful. As for your tabs, why not try emailing them to yourself? They're probably killing your battery life. If you email them to yourself they will stay nice and bold that will remind you that you would like to go back and read them. If you run an empty inbox like many productivity guru's recommend, it will give you motivation to read them as well, or at least ask yourself, is this worth my time or is there a reason I keep putting off looking at them?

Don't dwell on what you will or will not do at the end of the detox - focus on the detox! By the end of it your priorities, goals and motivations will have shifted so you'll need to make new ones anyway.

Welcome Andre! I shudder when I think about how many hours I poured into World of Warcraft, all for nothing, and I was paying them to do it! Glad to have you onboard. The podcast is a great tool and Jason is a relatable host. Another great tool is the Respawn book, or Cam's YouTube channel. He has some great videos to watch if you feel like you are about to relapse or the withdrawals are crushing.

Kalamath Knot sounds like something I might be interested in! I'm a non-fiction educational type of guy. I'll check it out!

Facebook is a cancer. Full of "me monsters". It reminds me that opinions are just like assholes, everyone has one but nobody wants to hear them.

Doing chin ups helps your back too. I used to get back problems a lot until I incorporated a set of chin ups into my schedule when it got really bad, it allows you to stretch it out with your body weight similar to the table.

You have such a free and adventurous life @MmmWatermelon, it is at a stark contrast to setting around gaming all day! I bet your stress levels don't even register on the scale! What books are you reading? I really need to get into the habit of reading, but I find it so much easier to listen to audiobooks or podcasts.

Hey mate, haven't seen you post for a few days, hope your journey is going well!

Happy Birthday mate! Hopefully it's awesome. And contains birthday sex. Also, @HappyCat I have never heard of a holy potato On an unrelated note, I could really eat some potatoes right now.....