giblets

Having a journal will help out in all of those areas, as you can sit and reflect on your words and writing. More often than not it will give you the answers you are looking for.

It will only get worse if you don't confront stress head on @Stevec2283! You're just delaying the inevitable. Google some techniques you can use in the moment and on the go! Youtube has some great clips from inspirational talkers.

I call them the "Sunday blues", and I think that lines up with your timezone. I used to get them almost every week, especially after a few beers, and especially if I had been playing games all weekend. I still get them every now and again now, which is where my struggle to be productive on weekends come from. I don't want to say they are normal or natural, but you're not unique in your feelings. An element of it is looking forward to the upcoming week and feeling like you're starting from scratch, hitting that reset button, and an element of it is looking back to the week just gone and thinking you could do more, or wanting to do something differently, or regret from not doing something at all. Loneliness is hard work, and even if you have friends and a partner, you can still struggle with it sometimes. All I can say to it is don't force it, when I have done things to try and get rid of the loneliness such as forcing myself to go out or trying to reach out to people I thought I could trust, it has never worked out for me at all, some of the repercussions I am still dealing with. Instead now I just change my environment, just completely get out of wherever or whatever you are doing and do something else to re-center yourself. For me it's simply running or going for a walk with a podcast that will make me laugh (like Bill Burr), for you it might be getting out of your room/house and going for a drive, or just getting away from your computer and onto the couch. Mentally, identify the triggers and shift what you're thinking about. Stop what you're thinking about and start working on your podcast, or looking at workout routines, or watch cat videos!

Let's do this Paulo

Welcome to the forums, ehh. Have a poke around and see what they are aboot

Scott Alan Turner (Financial Rockstar) did a great podcast on this on 17 July (279: The High Cost of TV). They've done studies that show that less than 1% of people who earn greater than $150,000 a year watch 5 hours of TV a week. I think the opposing numbers were something along the lines of those who earnt less than $30,000 watched greater than 5 hours of TV a week greater than 60% of the time. It's been a few days since I listened to the podcast, but what I took away from it is that the quest or goal to not watch TV is the right one. Edit: Found the article that Scott was talking about! It is here. I can't get the page to load in my browser to sanity check though.

31 July 17 Days to go: 259 So a bit late with my post today. I woke up at about 4.30am as my son was crying due to being unwell, so I brought him back to my bed to get a little more shuteye, and the punk pretty much pushed me out of bed! As he was taking up more and more room by laying sideways I couldn't help but chuckle to myself about the song "there was 3 in the bed and the little one said, roll over, roll over..." Oh the innocence of youth. In the end I just got up, I needed to study anyway. I got straight into my study and smashed out 2.5 hours before everyone else woke up, and uploaded my first part of my first assignment for the semester. I'll check in a few minutes to see what the instructor thought. I really hope I can get more proactive with my submissions instead of leaving it until the last minute. All about prioritisation I guess! Regardless, I'm still feeling good about life. I am surprised I am still this energetic after going to bed at 11pm last night, up at 4.30am, working all day, ran 7km at lunch time, and then cooking dinner. I am sure it will all come crashing down very soon but I am enjoying a glass of red wine I bought for $2.70 to relax and reflect with. I was about to say celebrate but there is not much to celebrate really, need to keep on keeping on. To be honest not much else happened today. It was busy but nothing else stood out. I was pretty proud of myself that I controlled my emotions when somebody got me angry today at work, as I cannot work out what value they bring to the organisation, so when they wouldn't do something for me I saw red. But rather than snapping and getting angry I took a deep breath and made myself some green tea. I got over it by calling a friend and talking it over, which is great as I kept it professional in the office, but the desired end state will be to not have to talk to anyone about it at all, to take it in my stride and move on. Baby steps. I think I am going to print this out and stick it next to my computer:

I have started using your Study Checker app @Tom2, and kept pushing myself to try and reach your score! But I only got to 4hrs 20mins, with 2hrs 30mins of chores. Next time!

@Tux, have you tried KeepassX? I am dabbling in it and from what I can gather it is accepted as one of the better managers. I wish to ditch my antique manager to something I can use across all my devices (phone + RPi).

Use what you have learned in your last attempts to make this one more successful. Find out why you want to play games and why you want to give them up - that will give you the motivation and tools to get started. Jason started his detox by writing down all his values in a big list, which helped him focus on what he was trying to achieve and to look for the traps of distracting him from that - this might be useful to you. I used a timeline of things I wanted to achieve, which identified that I don't have any time to waste!

I have also spent time thinking about this, and I put it in my "tables are flipped" bucket. For actual board games like scrabble, you play them to be social. For when you're playing online with randoms, you're being social to play them. Therefore I think it's just an avenue to play games.

30 July 17 Days to go: 260 So I missed yesterday's journal because I decided to sleep in, and then the day got so much momentum that I didn't have a chance to sit in front of my computer and come back to it, which is bad on a few levels but ok on a few others. It reminded me how important the hour I get up before everyone else really is - it really helps me get into my flow state by taking some quiet time, a pot of green tea, and hitting the website (and a few other digital chores). It is a form of meditation in its own, reflection, and catching up with how everyone else is doing. I really struggled to get out of bed early again today, but that was not through lack of trying! I am still recovering from my long run yesterday so had no energy to get out of bed, and it took about three or four attempts. My mind was telling me it's fine, just lay here, you will have time to be productive later, but the other side was saying it didn't work out yesterday mate, the most productive people in the world get out of bed at the same time every day. Finally, the productive guy won in the end. Finally broke the 20km barrier in my run yesterday, which I am super happy about. I tried out gels to help when I started hitting the wall, and they worked a charm! I was worried I would get a massive sugar headache or have the gritty sugar feeling on my teeth afterwards, but it was fine. I think maybe because it's not actually sugar they use in them, it's more of a glucose/caffeine base. All that means is next weekend I want to push for 25km though! I am getting more and more confidence that I can do this marathon after I survive these long runs. I need to beat 8 minute kilometres in order not to be scooped up in the 'slow bus', and I have been averaging 6-7 minute kilometres on the longer runs, and 5-6 minute kilometres on the shorter runs during my lunch break. In the end I am not going to be upset if I don't finish the marathon I think, because I am thoroughly enjoying being out there regularly doing exercise, whereas the last couple of years I was so inconsistent and always ready to find excuses. As a result I have been carrying a bit of extra weight around my belly and finding it difficult to do basic tasks, like walking up a steep hill. Now I look forward to them. Have not done any study for a few days, which I need to sort out right now as I am the lead for the debate on Monday. I don't plan on moving much from this desk today as a result, but that's fine with me, as I need to recover from yesterday! Hopefully it wont be too hard to get through a lot of content with my family around. It might also mean I will not be able to do any tinkering with electronics this weekend which is a bit sad, as I wanted to have a few projects finished this weekend. I find it difficult to work on them during the week as it gets dark before I have finished with work, picked up my son, and started preparing dinner. It is what is is, and there is no hard deadline on getting them finished, I just would like to give them as gifts to people. I have sent some messages to friends and family asking to Skype this week, so hopefully that will make me feel social instead of trying to line up some time in person, and lose travel time etc. Alright, time to get on with the day, can hear movement in the house!

The great thing about yesterday mate is your self awareness of your triggers! If you know what is going to trigger you to relapse then you can come up with a strategy to combat them. This is one area where I see so many people (including myself) fall down is not having self awareness. Are there other meeting spots that are just as convenient that you could see people without being at McDonalds? If you get on the front foot and suggest a place rather than allow them to, I bet they wouldn't even notice that you were trying to avoid it. What other things do you like to drink other than sparkling water? Juice is another good one if you are trying to find something more interesting than water. What about really cold water? I find I am more motivated to drink more water during the day if it is really cold for some reason, so I always make sure that I have small bottles of it in the fridge. Sure am @Hitaru, episode 14 the "Detox Survival Kit". Lots of really useful tools on there on how to get through the detox and kickstart personal development!

On a long enough timeline, everything is ephemeral.

I can second your idea of a timeline. I struggled with working out what I was trying to achieve and what I wanted out of life until I created a timeline, and it really helps you prioritise. I think there are so many ways you can do it and choose whatever works for you, it can be as simple as an excel spreadsheet. At the top of the timeline, or the first row, put the year, and directly underneath that put your age. As you start to add tasks or goals and how much time they will start to take up (such as learning a new language takes a year) and add milestones you are aiming for (such as a trip to a country where they speak the language), it really shows you when you need to be starting something. For example, using the language as an example, if you want to learn Spanish and want to travel to Spain before you hit a certain age, it might show you that you should start making it a priority now. I found it to be a huge help for kick starting motivation, especially when you keep looking at what age or what year it will be completed in at the top. You will quickly realise there is no time to waste and need to start working on some of these goals!

28 July 17 Days to go: 262 So the Episode 14 podcast is up! This is a super-special episode because it features a very attractive, charismatic, handsome, smart, striking, likeable young man.... oh and me I was a bit nervous about how I would go having never done a podcast or anything like that before but it was a lot of fun! Jason was really easy to talk to, he's obviously got the knack for doing these things and helped me along. I wasn't sure if I wanted to listen to it or not, but just like when I hit day 90 I turned out to be excited and listened straight away. It turned out great! I recommend checking it out here, hopefully some of the tools that we talked about will help at least 1 person continue down the path of personal development. So yesterday was my study day and it didn't really turn out as well as I had hoped. I ended up having to work right up until my leadership coach meeting which means I missed the opportunity for lunch, then I didn't get back home until late, and as soon as I logged onto the university's website to get started on this week's content something came up and I headed to the hospital to see my family. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not angry or upset by not studying by any means, as the day was lost by productive tasks rather than me sitting here playing games or messing around in the house. I am the lead for the first discussion which is due on Monday though so my hand is forced to really knuckle down and get a large amount of study done, but I am ok with that. Until I work out my issue with weekends this will make me be productive and have a clear target on what I would like to achieve. Today is going to be yet another crazy day, to finish off a crazy week. I kept on task for almost the majority of the half day at work so I managed to progress a few things, but today I have a lot of deadlines so I will need to up the ante. Usually I would be anxious about looking at so many deadlines but I am relaxed and ready for it. I am hoping that is a good sign of things to come.

You get siestas! So disappointed that did not catch on down under! I know that feeling about fasting @Mettermrck, I am off for a blood test this morning and my morning routine is totally thrown out of whack without green tea and cereal! I seem to not be motivated as a result! Fingers crossed it will all be worthwhile in the end.

Good job of just "sitting with it"! That's a great habit to have and you fill find yourself more productive in the long run. Are you finding that time is getting faster than before because you are paying less attention to it? For example, when you stop gaming you feel like you have so much time to do things with but also end up "clock watching" constantly so it feels like it is going very slow. I felt the same way with my studies and training - but there is a light at the end of the tunnel mate. Once you get to the other side, you gain so much flexibility, both financially and mentally. It's like when you're running, the more you sprint and the harder you sprint at the start, then the more you can walk later and enjoy the moment.

27 July 17 Days to go: 263 Today is my first half-day at work so I can focus on my studies in the afternoon. I am super greatful that I have the flexibility to be able to ask for this time, and appreciative that they agreed and released me for it. I initially was worried/concerned that it wouldn't sink in though and I would either find myself being asked to stay at work or start getting calls/messages wondering where I was; but the biggest hurdle seems to be myself! I stupidly made an appointment this afternoon in the study window and agreed to a meeting next Thursday afternoon as well. I am hoping these are the only two slip ups. Even though this afternoon's meeting is only an hour and is with my leadership coach so it will be constructive, the fact is I need to travel to go see him and travel back, which will diminish what time I have. Oh well, I will learn from these mistakes and get better, my study time is now in the calendar both at work and at home so they shouldn't program anything in that window and it should remind me to keep the day clear. Yesterday was very productive, managed to get a lot of paperwork completed. Not as much as I wanted as I still feel like I am behind the eight ball (and I wanted to go over some leadership notes before today), but at least I feel lately that I have a purpose at work and that I am getting somewhere with all my efforts, which is a stark contrast compared to the start of the year. Now I just need my personal life to fall into line, and I am hoping my study habit will help kick that along. I never thought I would be happy with my professional life but unhappy with my personal life! It's all topsy turvy land over here. Yesterday I started thinking about WoW again. I was driving to go see my family in hospital and the thoughts of playing it came rushing back. I think it was because I was trying to think of activities I could suggest to friends online to do in order to still be social but without the barrier of needing to catch up in person. Oh man, I got such a huge dopamine rush just for thinking about it, which felt good straight away so I let myself dwell on it a little bit, then then I started to get frustrated. I thought I was through this, when I have trailed off thinking about other games at other moments I did not get the rush like I did with WoW, so I thought I was on the other side of gaming and it was in my rear view mirror. Obviously this is not the case. WoW is clearly my archilles heel. I accepted that I was thinking about it but started forcing myself to think about why it was bad for me and I couldn't go back to it, and I came to the following realisation of how I started playing in the first place. Games are a lot of fun, I get that, and when you play them with friends it takes it to a whole new level because it adds social interaction. However, it is not always easy to get timetables to line up to play it together, as I have experienced this week by trying to spend time with friends. So, we resort to going online where there are thousands of people in our position wanting to play with the element of social interaction. But that's the kicker - the social interaction isn't real. While we can group up with these people and start some games, the social discussion isn't there. You're not joking and laughing with your mates, there is no healthy banter. Instead the social "interaction" is about the game itself, and only about the game itself. So the table is flipped, rather than playing a game to be social, you're now being social to play a game. The social element becomes smaller and smaller and you'll soon find yourself barely talking to other people at all, instead seeing them as single use AI substitutes. When I thought of it like that, I suddenly became disinterested about WoW.

Don't worry about me @Moe, you're the #1 priority here. I had the vibe you were hurting mate but I didn't have any other contact details so I could reach out to you. Latch onto the good things happening right now, like you have finished your move, the new place is awesome, and your wife has still been awesome throughout it all. Have you suggested a different activity to your friends to jam with other than gaming? If you get on the front foot and suggest something else your mates might be interested. Once you hit that 90 day mark you'll be so proud of what you have accomplished and see that there is so much more to achieve that you will want to double down on your progress rather than go back to the beginning.

26 July 17 Days to go: 264 That's a good point about not limiting myself to catching up in person @Cam. Once of my goals recently was to call or skype my friends and family a lot more, but I only did that for a few days. Time to up the ante and put it into action. Looked into my studies last night and wow, so much work to do. I am certain the content is going to make me so paranoid about being on the internet and what I do, hopefully not to the point that I bury all my computers and start wearing a tin hat though! I tried to frontload my commitments this time rather than leaving my chosen topics right to the end of the semester and then stressing out. Time to get me a good grade. There is going to be a lot going on again today, it is going to be very busy and I will need to stay focused and productive to make a dent to my to do list. My drives are mapped across the network successfully so there won't be an issue of having more than one version of my notes going at once. The next step is to set up a resilio sync so I still have access to them when I'm not on the network but I don't need that in the short term so it is not a priority. I wonder what @Moe is up to, I haven't heard from him for a long time! I hope you're doing well mate. A bit tired this morning so the thoughts/ideas aren't rushing to me as quickly as they usually do, either that or my mind is nice and clear for a new day!

11g of sugar per can is a step in the right direction from 38g of sugar per can!

What are you painting? You should share some of your work here!

25 July 17 Days to go: 265 I assume it's the same reason I was getting frustrated and angry at work @Cam, that I didn't have clear goals or intent for what I was doing or aiming for so it felt like I was going around and around in circles. I now feel like that (or similar to) on the weekends - that while I am probably doing a lot of things, that I am going around and around in circles. I thought my notebook with the personal targets would solve that but I am not in a habit of using them on the weekends yet, even though I have attempted a few times. So if there is 265 days to go, that means today is day 100. That's absolutely crazy that I am into 3 digits. I did have a lot of urges again last night though so who knows when I will ever be out of the woods. I was a bit down last night because it seems so hard to try and catch up with mates these days, work and family commitments just mean that I'm forever being turned down for get togethers which makes me feel rejected. That got me thinking about games, because this wouldn't be a problem if I was playing online and being social, I thought. That would not solve my problem though of being able to get out of the house and catch up with mates to forget about the week for a little while - it would still have me in the house and I would still feel lonely, as the "social" aspect of the games I used to play usually involved just finding a certain role for a dungeon or boss, spending time with them for a few minutes, then moving on. Even the friends I played online with seemed to be busy all the time towards the end which made me give them up in the first place because it felt like I was playing by myself. Anyway, so moral of the story was I was a bit down last night about not being social lately. The fact that I am so tired and still haven't recovered from the weekend run probably is a contributing factor. I went for another run yesterday to try and stretch my legs out and keep moving which was good, it was slow but I don't care, I just wanted to get out there and hit the road. Going to go pick up some gels when I go see the doctor this afternoon and start giving them a try. They are absolutely loaded with calories so won't help with any weight loss I might have been experiencing, but will keep my training consistent. Haven't looked at my studies yet, yesterday was a little hectic and I priortised a few things over getting into my study, the main one being trying to get my computer set up just right so I can be super productive on Thursday afternoon when work has given me 3 hours to work on it. The good news is I got my drives working again so I can access my documents, but I haven't shared them across the network. It might sound like it's a bit complicated or I am wasting time, but I found last semester when I was switching between my laptop and my RPi I was always losing time transporting the documents across or I kept using an out of date version of my work. This should solve this so it is an investment in my productivity. Here is to today being an improvement from yesterday!