NEW VIDEO: Why You MUST Quit Gaming in 2025
giblets
-
Posts
815 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by giblets
-
-
Yo I for sure have to switch up my working posture during a long day. Morning/Afternoon in a chair, late afternoon/evening on the couch.
Do you find that it is duration based (after X amount of hours) or time based (when the 2pm struggle comes around) that you have to change your posture/position? Something I want to look more into, and just adds fuel to the fire to try and get a linux laptop running so I have more freedom.
69 days! Awesome!
Life as an engineer looks always tough... Work (or study), going home(or staying at a lab or company), making dinner, then sitting in front of the computer and desk... Sounds like you're doing great. I hope I could be more patient person like you... I'm going to live like that gradually.
Maybe changing environment affects our mind in some way... I don't know what exactly happens, but I should change the place where I am, when I can't focus more.
My brain is single core... so I can't do multiple things at once... Besides, it was surprising to hear that you have 3 computers! Does every one of them usually work really hard? Using a lot of CPU? Just wanted to know what happens to computers owned by people who related to computer science..
Keep it up then! Looking forward to reading your next story.
I am one of the most impatient people I know! I have just learned to use that to my advantage, pushing myself in certain areas etc. I think if you are impatient or emotional over things you just need to learn how to harness it and use it to your advantage. Turn a weakness into a strength. Reading about all the big success stories in the world shows that they never shied away from their weaknesses, they attacked them head on.
I used to have 3 computers working really hard all the time! I was proud of it. These days I don't need that kind of power, so I only have 1 desktop and 2 Raspberry Pis. The main desktop I do the majority of my work or tasks, and use the Pis to display webpages or PDFs, play media or to tinker with if I am a bit restless. I find it very useful for studying since I don't have any physical textbooks so I don't need to switch between programs, but I have to be careful that I don't allow myself to be distracted by extra screens (eg having one playing a movie or something). Pis are really good for doing very simple tasks like that, draw little power, and are cheap.
25 June 17
Game Free: 70 (17 Apr)
It's been a very hectic day, even after the assignment being submitted! I did have until tonight to go back and work on it again but I don't think I will. I'm not in the right mind space anymore. I am proud that I have not been tempted to play games once since I submitted the assignment, which is a big achievement for me. Usually that is the first thing that happens after a test or exam or assignment, I reward myself with too much gaming. I don't think I have had the time to think about it anyway really since it is still just me and my son at home for a few more days. He has been keeping me really busy! But it has been a lot of fun. I even started up my hobbies again which was an amazing feeling, last night I soldered my first circuit kit thing, a siren with flashing LED lights. It was designed for kids I think but I still enjoyed it regardless and let me work on my soldering skills. Tonight I am turning a cardboard box into a car that I can push around the house. Having kids is a great excuse to be a kid yourself without feeling guilty
All of these hobbies are going to be shortlived I think until the next semester starts, but it is still a blast nonetheless.Haven't done any exercise for three days, but I am back into it tomorrow. Planning to run for 15km if I can handle it. I'll need to stock up on podcasts as it will take me about two hours; I have been 'pruning' a lot of podcasts from my queue, it has been hard to keep up when I have about 50 shows in the list. I have been removing all the comedies and topics that I am not longer interested in, and just keeping current affairs or motivational/productivity ones. And the occasional tech show. I am about to pass 900 hours listened this year; I can't even remember the last time I listened to music on any of my devices.
Can't believe I am up to 70 days already. Feels like yesterday I had my relapse over Easter. Only 20 more days to go to finish the detox! Of course that is just the beginning. Someone called me Tony Robbins yesterday as I seem to be throwing out a lot of motivational one liners lately; I guess that is better than negativity!
Bought a diary/organiser PDF to help structure my day, so that might influence my posts going forward. I look forward to it. Try anything once!
-
Hah, I'm the last person to call anyone old. Now if you start talking about DOS and floppy disks, then yes I will call you old. ?
Haha I remember those!
The struggle of installing a program spread across 11 disks. Couldn't go anywhere because you didn't want to come back to the "Insert Disk 3 and press enter" screen!
-
Good to see some royalty amongst us, Sir
You've got this mate - the first step was identifying the problem, now start taking action on your 22 step plan for success!
To quote Cam, you'll be crushing it in no time! If you start to feel urges or struggles, head here to the forums to write about it, I found it was a great outlet, and a lot more effective than having a gripe to my mates. Alternatively bookmark a few of Cam's videos, especially the one called "If you're about to relapse".
P.S. I didn't know ICQ was still a thing!
-
It's not about the mistakes you make Tom, but how you recover from them!
I found I learnt a lot during my relapse, and it helped me make a more centered and focused attempt the second time around, so as long as you can learn something from this experience then it is not a total loss. You might find that even if you get Fs this semester, that next semester you might get As after the break and subsequent reflection!
For the way ahead; just consider the alternatives. If you don't refocus on school and reattempt your studies, what will you do instead? What options are available to you? Will you still be happy or achieve your goals by following that path instead? It might put it in perspective that while it is stressful to study right now, you will start reaping the benefits in the next few years and have a lot more freedom.
-
Hey Moe-gli. Glad to see your detox take 2 is going so much better!
That's really interesting about the school listening to you. I haven't been told to take a leave of absence before but I have had my name put before a similar committee. It was devastating, going from a member of the Dean's merit list to being considered to being removed from my program. And I only had one person to thank for it - me. Well that and Blizzard
Are you studying remotely or attending classes? Attending classes might help a lot with getting back on track as you can ask questions and get answers straight away rather than waiting on forums or emails from staff. It might also help form a study group as well, as people understand things differently and use different thought patterns to get there, so hearing it from them rather than the lecturer might help.
I'm curious to hear the outcome!
-
24 June 17
Game Free: 69 (17 Apr)
And.... I'm back! From outer space.... ok not really. But I hope at least one person how is humming that tune. Well, what an intense week that was, and as I wrote above, it felt like I was back in the throws if being addicted to gaming again. All I was doing was going to work, coming home, making dinner, then sitting in front of the computer until I was too tired to concentrate, going to bed, and then repeating all over again. I started having the feelings of regret and frustration exactly like when I was gaming too much; feeling like I wasn't living my life as I was just channelling everything into the computer (and not even a Raspberry Pi either!). Right now I am struggling to see the difference, but I guess it will all change if I manage to get a pass for the semester. I will honestly be surprised if I get a pass, that was the most intense subject I have ever taken, not along the lines of anything I have studied before or be interested in, and I am not sure if I displayed a thorough understanding of the concepts. If I don't pass it is not the end of the world, as I think I will restructure my degree to be less intensive so I can spend more time with my family.
So what did I learn over the last few weeks? I have learnt my flow states are at their strongest as soon as I wake up and about an hourish after a run. Subsequently I have been running every day, even if it was just a "hot shoe shuffle". At least I was getting out there and getting in the zone. Caught up with all the Gamequitters podcasts, listened to some linux ones (and learnt quite a lot), and some anxiety ones. I found that if I speed up the playback, I have to concentrate more on listening and retaining the information which distracts me from the burn/lactic acid, and next thing you know I am starting my cool down.
I also learnt that I don't like sitting at my desk anymore. I found I was most productive when I was away from my desk; taking my trusty $180 3 year old laptop outside to the balcony, on my hammock, the dining room table or even the couch. I am curious about this one, especially when I became self aware of it. I'd like to dig a little deeper and find out why, my gut feeling is it has something to do with being at a desk for a lot of the day now with my current job, or maybe its because it is where I used to sit and play games and have the same feelings of regret or frustration. I think I might start taking notes on why I have chosen to sit somewhere else and what I enjoy about each of those areas and see if I can identify a pattern.
Finally, I found that my productivity goes 'through the roof' when I stop trying to multi task. I always took pride in my ability to multi task, but I found that if I shut everything down and focused on one topic only, I would get into a semi-flow state as I found it so easy. For example, when I started studying I put my phone somewhere else, either in the bedroom or in the kitchen, I closed all programs (web browsers, file managers, everything), turned off all extra computers (don't need 3 computers just to write in a document!) and full screened what I was working on, I would power through what I was doing. I also started trialling listening to alpha waves for focusing/productivity. Not sure if these are a placebo or not, but I think it helped (apart from making me melancholy a few times), so I need to do some more research into the theory of them.
Where to from here? Well I am immensely proud of myself for getting through last week. There were several times where I was so stressed out I couldn't sit still or focus or really string more than a few sentences together - this would have been my cue for gaming. But I powered on. It made me realise that gaming is going to be a vice for me for some time, no matter how much I think I am not addicted or how I think I am doing ok. I have been having crazy dreams as well, which have curiously been about games. Usually they are about whatever topic is causing me grief, but this time it was all about games - ones that looked like Age of Empires or Civilization, but I can't entirely be sure as I haven't played them for years. Hopefully that stops now. My focus now will be spending time with my family to make the last few weeks up to them, prior to starting it all over again next semester! C'mon only 3 semesters to go mate, you can do this. I do have 48 hours to still make any revisions to my paper, so I'm not completely out of the woods yet, but I'm taking today to go to the park and just do random stuff with my son, even if it is not productive.
I do really want to start on my electronics projects as well. Wiring up Raspberry Pis to a few things and tinkering around with them. Try my hand at a bit of soldering! I also want to get back on here and see what everyone has been up to, I have missed that a little bit!
-
All this studying makes me feel like I am back addicted to games again.... turning down invites from mates, forsaking chores, forgetting anything I don't write down, endless hours in front of the computer... makes me feel like garbage... you can do this man, only 3 days to go, keep it up... this is where I would turn to games to forget the stress, only to cause more stress by not having any time left to study! Argh... back to it...
-
Hey Giblets,
59 days! Hell yeah man! That's super cool! I'm on my new Day 2, so I'm a little envious. But, I'm also excited to reach that space for myself as well. It sounds like there are a lot of great things going for you right now as you're settling into the new routine for yourself. This time around, I've decided to give up all of my vices gaming, t.v., porn, and alcohol. By removing all of those for myself, I'm finding that I've been feeling a little naked and slightly without purpose for the last 2.5 days. That being said, however, it's nice to see what I'm truly dealing with without any of those things influencing my life. It's been a pretty short time since I started up again, but I feel like I've got the best chance that I've ever had in my life to see this through to the end now.
So! Long story short, I think it's a great idea to pull alcohol out of the equation as well. I hope it goes well for you!
Glad to hear you are back on the path Moe! That's an awesome idea of throwing it all together to give up, but wow that would be tough. Talk about cold turkey on steroids! I'm inspired buddy, I look forward to following your journey. I have already given up TV a long time ago - it does not value add at all. I gave it up when I saw thats all that people talked about. It's like they were watching it for the sake of watching it. Same for facebook, I have abandoned facebook because it has enslaved people into checking facebook for the sake of checking facebook. I do still watch sports from time to time which I still enjoy a lot - but it is probably one game every one or two weeks. While that isn't productive, I do really enjoy it still, and its something that I look forward to doing with my boy like my Dad did with me many moons ago.
16 June 17
Game Free: 61 (17 Apr)
Today has been brutal. I woke up and instantly had a gut feeling like today was not going to be a good day. It started manifesting itself straight away. I tried to follow my adjusted morning routine to distract myself from it, that is getting ready for the day immediately after the alarm rather than start surfing the web or pottering around the house. But after about thirty minutes nothing had changed. So I saw this as an opportunity to try out my trusty new template that I talked to Cam about. And while I think it needs some tweaking, I think it really did work. At the top of the template I had in bold capital letters "Stop. Pause. Reflect." That helped a little straight away, and then I started breaking down what was going on yesterday and what was going on today, and then the steps where I could solve or attack these issues. I quickly was able to identify that I was just feeling quite stressed about trying to do so many things today on top of trying to submit my assignment, which was being compounded by not being able to spend as much time as I wanted to on it this week because of looking after my family. I have been trying to study late after they go to bed but I am usually too exhausted that I can't focus. I can do menial tasks such as chores and cleaning etc but I can't get the old brain working. Anyway I broke it down to steps which made me feel a lot better and gave me a course of action which I focused on. In the end the stress/anxiety did not go away all day, but I knew what was causing it which made me manage it a bit better. Now I just need to overcome how it basically turns me into a social retard when I am feeling like that and I would feel like I am having progress! I don't think I have achieved any progress in dealing with this anxiety over the last few years, but I think I am getting better at recognising it and trying to find tools to deal with it.
So in the end, I survived the day without trying to hide under a rock (which is usually what happens), and I have submitted my assignment. Only one assignment to go! Unfortunately this one is McMassive so it is going to take a lot of work, and I think I am maybe about a quarter through it. It is due next Friday so I really need to continue hitting it as hard as possible. I will need to find out some methods to stay awake at night so I can get more study done! I can't wait for that accomplished feeling that will come after hitting that submit button.... which only lasts a few seconds as I stress out about the result
A bit of a mumbled post that is all over the place, I guess thats an indication of my mental state right now. Time to hit the road and get in my flow state!
-
I wish!
Don't wish; do!
-
I noticed Kei Dou used to organise meetups on the forums for Sydney. I had a quick look and found -
https://www.meetup.com/Sydney-Quit-Gaming-Meetup/events/cwftrmywjbbc/
Kei Dou's last post was over a year ago though. Does anyone in the community head to these?
-
14 June 17
Game Free: 59 (17 Apr)
My mindset is definitely in a better place now. I did some reflecting (is this a form of meditation?) on flow states, what Cam talked to me about, a few podcasts (Deep Dive) and some YouTube videos. While I don't really feel none the wiser, I have stopped trying to "force" myself to do things and instead look for ways to get myself in "the zone" when I am feeling uncomfortable or are having issues. It has started with running again in the afternoons, even though my brain was trying to throw up excuses about my back and how I should rest. In the mornings I have changed my routine, now getting ready for work as soon as I wake up, then getting on with study afterwards instead of the other way around. I am not sure if it has made me more productive (a little bit perhaps), but it definitely has made me feel better and more prepared to tackle the day.
Another great by product of this is that I haven't had any urges to play games the last 48 hours, I have just been purely focused on what I need to get done. Which right now means study, getting a few processes moving at work and looking after my family. I think I need to put about 3-4 hours or so into my assignment to have it ready for submission by Friday, then that will leave one assignment left for the semester, due the following week.
I am considering giving up alcohol entirely as well. While it is a relaxant and social lubricant, I think it is detracting from what I am trying to achieve right now, and I generally tend to regret it afterwards anyway, whether that be something I have said after a few beers or the fact I lost 3-4 hours away from my goals. Might be a good experiment anyway to see if I can still attend a social event and stay relaxed without it, because that's how addiction starts anyway right?
I ordered a copy of the perfect notebook pdf which I should have in a few weeks. I am hoping it will help me structure these journal entries a bit more, back to when it was really forcing me to be productive before my big anxiety hit.
-
12 June 17
Game Free: 57 (17 Apr)
So I am still having massive issues focusing. I always blamed this on gaming so I don't know what the problem is now. I have decided to not look at RPi projects or tinker with my setup like I usually like to do at least once a day until I have finished this semester. I think the more I tinker the more I tend to spend money on new projects when I already have too many going anyway, and the more I get frustrated when things don't work out exactly how I want them to, which makes me agitated towards my family or makes it harder to focus on study.
I think maybe this might be the nudge I need to look more into flow states. Maybe I need to tap my flow state before trying to study, whether that be by a run or something else. I might try to find a short youtube clip on it to give me a bit of motivation and then get on with it.
I am really unhappy with how many urges I have been having to play games since I got back from my trip. It feels like I am starting out on the detox all over again. I honestly can't think of what triggered it apart from how much study I have to do in the next two weeks. The irony is the study is not going away because I can't get focused, so I am in a chicken-and-the-egg situation. Is it having so much dopamine from how much fun I had on the trip?
I might space out my entries over the next two weeks so I can somehow work out how to get these assignments out of the way. Only 2 left to go for the semester - one this week and one next week, but if my current struggles continue it is going to be two very long weeks.
-
11 June 17
Game Free: 56 (17 Apr)
So I missed yesterday because the jet lag hit me like a freight train. I slept for about 10 hours on the flight so that when I landed I could spend the day with my son, which I did and was a lot of fun. But as soon as it hit about 7pm, I almost fell asleep standing up instantly. It was crazy, I can't remember the last time I was hit with something like that. So my plans to potter around on my computers, do my daily entry, some duolingo and get a lot of my ideas and plans out of the way that I had thought of on my trip went out the window as I went straight to bed. The other side of that is when the clock struck 4am - zing! I was awake. Turned out to be advantageous though as my son woke up about half an hour later and wouldn't go back to sleep so I went and took care of him while my wife rested. So I guess things happen for a reason.
Since I have been back though the urges to play games have been intense. I can't stop thinking about them. I think it is probably because I have so much to do for study and work and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind, and my usual escape when things became too hard was to play some games. I am thinking I might make a little work sheet similar to what I have created for anxiety to try and work out the causes for the urges and give a moment to stop and recentre. It is probably something covered off in respawn if I actually dedicated some time to finishing it.
Today I am going to minimize my time on the computer though and maximise it with my family. The train smash of my study can be dealt with later, and I fear if I sit here and try and force myself to get on with it I will not be very productive, and will end up with me looking at game pages or something.
Congrats to Mhyrion for getting to 90 days! That must feel amazing. Here is to the next 90.
-
-
Well said. I try to not think about the money I have poured down the drain for my gaming habits, it's worse than the time I have wasted. I could probably retire by now!
-
The first week is daunting, but by week 2 you will be seeing huge results, or at least your family will. My family noticed I started doing the dishes every day instead of heading straight to the PC after dinner which let them relax or do a different chore... it all starts somewhere!
-
Hey Paul! Sounds like we are at similar positions - I am in my mid 30s and need to give up gaming to try and spend more time with my study and family. If you find trouble forcing yourself to keep studying, Cam talks about "sitting with it" in the GameQuitters podcasts, as well as Getting Things Done podcast talks about minimising distractions while on your computer (using full screens, do not disturb modes, etc).
You got this
-
Welcome mate! It is honourable you have started this journey. We're all here to help!
-
Almost 90! You got this! You're on the finishing stretch, you can see the finish line ahead of you, but your feet hurt and you are out of breath, but you know it will all be worth it and push on!
-
08/09 June 17 (depending on your timezone!)
Game Free: 54 (17 Apr)
I'm back! Trip is almost over, I'm writing this sitting in the Toronto airport, which I think so far is the most unclean airport I have been to in the world. That may say something more about where I have been more than the actual state of the airport though! So many highlights of this trip, it would be too hard to list them all, but meeting Cam in Vegas was a blast! I am so thankful of how those dates lined up, and the statistics in the presentation was mindblowing - if you haven't watched his keynote yet, I do thoroughly recommend it. I felt quite chuffed that I recognised a few quotes that Cam used in his speech from some of others journals on here. We are a tighter knit community than I realised. I got a selfie with Cam in Vegas that I will try to remember to upload when I get home or in my LAX layover - hopefully I don't accidently upload the myriad of selfies I took with random reality tv show stars there in Vegas. The coaching session was great, if you are able to have one with Cam I do encourage you to do so, I have got a clear and easy tool that I am going to try and identify some patterns of my anxiety and/or control it. I might try and create the template on the plane so that it is ready to go when I get home. The keynote almost hit nicely on the 45 day mark (not including the relapse and 22 days) so that was a nice touch.
I don't really have much to update here. I haven't been able to do study as much as I wanted while I was travelling. Even though I forced myself to find some time during the day (my getting up early routine), I found that I was too distracted that it was impossible. I guess the real test now is how much I can get done when I get back home - I will have a train smash of two assignments and a few work deadlines to balance with spending time with family. This trip has given me a new found appreciation for my family as I have missed them so much, so I need to spend more time away from my computer, whether constructive or not, and spend more time with them. This will be a challenge, but one I think will be worthwhile. It might not be as tough if I didn't want to train so much now I am healthy again, but after putting on 6kg on this trip, I need to get out there and hit the pavement!
The last-minute trip to Toronto paid dividends. Not only did I get to attend my first ball game where Donaldson crushed a HR to beat the Yankees in the 8th (look at me talking baseball lingo now), but I got to spend five days with a good friend that I had met through World of Warcraft ten years ago. I was a bit worried that he would want to talk about gaming or play some, but it turns out he has quit too, so we ended up talking a lot about life after not playing games. I think he is a lot further down his path than I am, but it was really refreshing to talk to someone who I had met through gaming, and our relationship was built around gaming, to now be talking to him about how enjoyable life is without them. It was fantastic and I really feed recharged.
I survived the flight over here without games too. Turns out there was nothing to stress out about after all - I slept for the majority of the flight, watched a few tv episodes (I try to avoid this generally because I think its a waste of time) and doing some study. So much more needs to be done though. My return flight (15hrs) is overnight so I am hoping I can get as much sleep as possible on the flight so when I get home at 6am that I will be able to spend time with my family straight away. I have two more Gamequitters podcasts downloaded and ready to go as well.
I hope everyone else is going well with their journies! I look forward to reconnecting with everyone over the next few days.
-
26 May 17
Game Free: 39 (17 Apr)
Alright, last day before Vegas. I feel a little bit more organised but still not excited. Maybe I will get excited when I go through customs. I still am a bit depressed/flat and I can't seem to pinpoint why - I can only really put it down to how unproductive I have been this week and how none of my projects have really had any progress. Work has been a bit crazy and meh at the same time. Maybe it's a combination of all of the above. I can solve the productivity piece by "sitting with it", but I am not sure how to solve the other two. Maybe the break is what I need to pause and recenter.
Have a few books for the plane and of course a lot of study to do, as well as I am planning to sleep as much as I can. I think that should be enough to keep myself occupied for the trip. See how I go. Not sure how/if/when I will continue my journal entries during my travels, but I will do my best. There wont be as much content but I should maintain the habit, and I could at least document if I am feeling a bit better.
Preoccupation is being a challenge again - this time it is about my failed RPi project. Can't shake it and focus on something else. Maybe I should do some research on how to overcome preoccupation in general, not just with games.
-
25 May 17
Game Free: 38 (17 Apr)
I really don't have much to add today, I have been so busy with work. The good news I guess is I feel a bit more productive and upbeat than I have all week, but the bad news is I still haven't had the progress on my study like I have wanted to. I saw someone today who said "How do you balance your study with your work? You're crazy." It made me laugh and put what I am trying to achieve in perspective - but I do need to try harder.
I have officially abandoned my RPi laptop project - there is not enough space in the Droid Lapdock to mount it, even with all the modifications I have done to the case, and when I was thinking about putting it inside of an Eee Pc 900 case, I can't find any screens that are a suitable size. I did waste some time this afternoon looking on eBay and Gumtree for netbooks etc that I could get on the cheap but nothing that either I want or that are nearby that I can pick up. Depresses me a little bit. I am not feeling overly positive this week and I think this is a contributing factor - but I must keep plugging on. I did break my Resilio server today when I tried to change some settings to get it to boot - so now it doesn't work at all and I have no idea how to fix it. Oh well. It was fantastic while it lasted, I don't want to waste any more time bumbling around in the dark with it right now.
The only goal I had for today was to survive work and not look like an idiot - I think I managed that relatively well, I am feeling more and more like myself again and not seeing the social barriers that I had been battling with for the last 18 months. Study has stagnated.
-
What did you build it into?
I am searching high and low on how to make a portable RPi. I have tried building one into a Droid Lapdock, but there isn't enough space. I am currently contemplating either building it into a shell of an Eee Pc 900 or just using the official HDMI case and taping a battery to the back. There are pros and cons for each; the con for the Eee Pc 900 plan is I can't find either a HDMI/composite screen that size, or a driver board for the current screen; the con for the tablet plan is I won't be able to type on it.
-
Nice job so far!
Good luck on the plane. I love plane rides
I would suggest reading a book or doing a crossword (something hands-on) if you get bored. I'm getting on a plane pretty soon too but I'm trying to cut down on screen time, so I'll try not to watch movies. 14 hours is cruel though, good luck.Pro tip: Ask for extra blankets/pillows after takeoff.
Thanks mate! I am a bit scared to be honest with the flight and trying not to play games. This will be the first time I have tried it. The other international flights I have done (the last one about 18 months ago) I did have some emulators on my phone. Admittedly I don't think I played them very much as I got bored and I did other things, but it was a security blanket to have them there, which I don't have this time. Part of my brain keeps thinking "it's ok, you are allowed to play some games on the plane, people would understand, everyone else will be doing it" but I don't want to give in. I am going to fight it. My solution so far is to charge up my kindle and load up some books I have been meaning to read for years but never got around to it because I was gaming instead, some audiobooks I downloaded before cancelling my audible account, catch up on podcasts, and I do still have some study I need to do so I will force myself to work on that on the plane. And of course there is to get lots of sleep to minimise the jetlag. I'll see how all those go. I'll keep the puzzle idea in mind, the only real puzzles I enjoy these days are pixel puzzles, and they tend to be a bit hard to find.
24 May 17
Game Free: 37 (17 Apr)
Well the above paragraph pretty much covered off what is on my mind yesterday/today. I did not waste time on retroachievements which is good, but I still can't shake the feeling that I have picked up this week of being unhappy with not being as productive as I would like to be. I didn't get any study done yesterday again, which is bad, I was focused on sorting out some stuff for vegas instead, and trying to shift my calendar from Google. Both those tasks are done now, but it is worrying with how little study I have completed because it means I am going to have to do some study in the US - and I really don't see that happening! I am just going to have to force myself to sit with it, at least an hour or two a day anyway. Just get some momentum on it.
Got a lot done at work though which I guess is good, or at least would be good if there wasn't so much to do there since so many people before me did absolutely nothing. Well, that's a bit mean, they probably did some stuff, I just can't find where it is.
I finished modifying the HDMI/USB flap on my RPi laptop and got really excited that I was almost finished, so wanted to keep pushing on to work on it some more last night with the notion of being able to take it with me on the trip next week. This was part of the reason I didn't study. Unfortunately I had forgotten about needing to modify the screen to fit the cables in as well - so still a few hours of work to go. I'll do another some more during lunch today, but I will have to force myself to not do any after work so I study. Achieved 2 out of 3 goals from yesterday, the one that fell by the wayside was the study one again. I need to fix that. Today is the day.
Today's Goals:
- Complete 1 hour of study, right after putting my son to bed.
- Only spend 1 hour tinkering on the RPi laptop - cutting the screen to fit the HDMI/USB cables.
- Move contacts from Google.
Happy to be here
in Start Here & Introduction
Posted
I know what you mean - there was a great podcast I listened to toward the start of my detox that talked about people "being in the moment". I think it might have been the Minimalists. The fact that everyone doesn't want to be in the moment without their technology these days, whether that be in a queue, waiting for a bus, or just sitting outside, means that they will never really be satisfied with their surroundings. It definitely influenced me and my goals, and I now spend as little time on my phone as possible. By spending more time in the moment not only do I find myself more relaxed in general and less anxious about not knowing what is going on every single second, but it has made me notice that a lot of people around me are slaves to media consumption. It grinds my gears a little bit, so I am glad to see you are trying to give it all up!
Podcasts can be very useful though. Listening to some motivational ones first thing in the morning and news after work really helps me round out the day and keep me going. I guess if you can't moderate it and it is a vice then remove it, but maybe you just need to find different shows!