giblets

Do you have many 3D design skills? A gaming machine would be great not just for video editing, but 3D design. It could be a lot of fun, a creative outlet and there are services online that you could take on jobs and make a few bucks; for example I just submitted a couple of enquiries for quotes from CAD designers.

I like the cut of your jib, sailor

16 May 17 Game Free: 29 (17 Apr) It's been a while since I have posted, again mostly because nothing has been happening at all. I am still battling with this illness - I think I am going on 11 days now with the virus. I can't remember the last time I was sick for this long. The silver lining is I have had absolutely no energy so haven't been bothered to even think about games! Or anything else for that matter. Apart from working, looking after my son and maybe half an hour or so of researching things to do in Vegas other than gambling, all I have been doing is sleeping. While it sounds great - it is really putting the pressure on for my studies to be complete before I fly out - I don't really want to be studying on my trip! I am not even sure if they allow laptops on planes to the US anymore - I have been reading that they are banning everything above a mobile (cell) phone. I'd really like to get back into having goals in my journal. I was really enjoying holding myself accountable by listing them here, since the anxiety hit I have just been using a habit tracker on my phone. I'll think of a new format and work on it later this week when I get another submission done for my studies. I haven't read as much on these forums as I usually do either - so I hope everyone is having success on their journeys!

Welcome Ivvy Have you started reading about the 90 day detox? It's a great place to start and you will see results very quckly, especially if you use a journal to help with the cravings.

Yes that was me! I'm there for a week, flying out the day after your talk. I am looking forward to it.

That's unfortunate about the Jazz Good to see you have your journal up and running! I know what you mean about you don't have gaming to blame anymore about how things in your life are. My common one was always blaming it for not spending time with friends, not being productive, or not doing chores around the house. Now when I don't do any of that I just get angry at myself because I am to blame - it can be helpful sometimes. Just don't burn yourself out too quickly, especially when you have been sick. This journey of ours is a marathon, not a sprint!

That's great Moe! I used to be in the same boat, but sometimes I never reached that "I can't go any further" point, so I would just essentially just take the day off gaming. I just have to be careful not wasting it endlessly surfing the web, which is the point of today's entry. Duolingo is awesome! I started using it a few years ago and I never really got into it. I have picked it up again as part of my 90 day detox and am really hooked on it now and learning far quicker than I was a few years ago. If you do go down the Spanish path let me know as that is what I am learning, it might be helpful to compare notes. 13 May 17 Game Free: 26 (17 Apr) I am thankfully starting to feel human again, though still not productive. Today in fact was the first time I have achieved anything worthwhile in 9 days. Well, worthwhile other than keeping me and my son alive while my wife was away with work! I managed to do two submissions for my study this afternoon, and am about to start on another one when I thought I should write in here first. I am finding I am succumbing to preoccupation again, this time instead of gaming it is my rekindled passion for Raspberry Pi. I have always been fascinated by electronics since I was a kid, and in hindsight I should of studied that instead of computer science. Combine that it the possibilities of the pi and I have a recipe for disaster - me wasting lots of time and money starting (thats the key word, since I have only finished one project so far) pi builds. I was really into them when they first came out, spent a bunch of money, did my first (and only) project, then fell into gaming as that was easier. I am not ashamed of my passion for them - it is great to have a passion for something - but I need to save money for my Vegas trip (and beyond as I am wasting too much), and I need to use my spare time to either study or do chores. I am thinking I might have to use some kind of system to ensure I only spend an hour or two tinkering or reading. Maybe the Study checker app that I saw others using on here, though I found it such a chore to keep changing the activity category so many times a day. Suggestions?

10 May 17 Game Free: 23 (17 Apr) So a new record of game free days! I have been a bit quiet lately as I have been at home in bed sick for three days. Not recovering as fast as what as I used to because I can't get as much sleep with my son. This would have been a perfect recipe for gaming - being home alone, no distractions, nobody holding me accountable. But I don't care about them anymore. They don't interest me at all! I think my relapse did that for me, or at least helped focus that. The strongest feeling I have had to relapse has been some mates of mine talking about the original playstation - and the misty eyed nostalgia of "those were the days" came to mind. It's so easy to emulate consoles these days too... I haven't been constructive at all since I have been sick. When I haven't been in bed I have been mindlessly surfing the internet, which is bad. That usually turns into spending money, which I tend to waste too much of. I plan to get back to being productive today, or at least book some shows in Vegas to go see while I am there so I don't spent all my time on the tables. Broke my 13 day Duolingo streak yesterday too Whoops. Was going so well. Back to being productive!

Values. If you valued your gaming achievements then you would be proud. Now your values have shifted - for the better - and that time is not worth the same.

07 May 17 Game Free: 20 (17 Apr) Nothing new to add - spent the day over at a mate's place just unplugging from life. Was a lot of fun, but means I was not productive in any way for the weekend.

Anything that makes you more productive gets a vote in my books!

This.... is my new mantra.

06 May 17 Game Free: 19 (17 Apr) So yesterday someone asked me some questions about Raspberry Pi. Sweet in my element. Sadly though, it was about whether you could run x86 programs on it. After a quick google, I found ExaGear, which looks promising. But, then it leads to googling whether ExaGear and Steam worked together... which leads to YouTube videos of steam games working on the Pi. Which lead to me being angry of going down that rabbit hole again. So I ended up shutting down my computer and doing angry cleaning of the house... the silver lining in this cloud is the house looks really nice now! It was a good realisation or mnemonic that I am addicted. I keep telling myself it's not that bad and I could handle it I just want to go down this path to be more productive, but the way it can so easily hijack my mind and take over, next thing you know, hours have passed and I haven't done any study or anything. Scary shit. 22 days is coming up. Little bit anxious about it this morning. I might try to not even come near my desk on day 22 - which I think is Monday.

Hey Moe, even Superman had his kryptonite! Glad to see you onboard. I know that feeling of being angry at yourself for not achieving anything - especially when your wife leaves for the day and you take a day off work to do something like study or clean or something, and you begin the day with "oh I'll just play for 5 minutes before I get started" which generally ends with your wife's keys in the door and you haven't moved.

05 May 17 Game Free: 18 (17 Apr) Well somehow my days are all out here. I think it's because I have shifted when I do my daily journal from as soon as I wake up to whenever I feel motivated/can fit it in to the day. I took it out of my morning routine after the anxiety issue last week because I don't think it is helping as much as I thought. Still searching for that outlet! Yesterday was a productive day, somewhat. I managed to do another submission to my study - I would like to do one more before I start on my research essay, but the topic is so dry I think I will try to at least come up with a framework for my research essay today so it feels like I am getting traction on that, since it is 2500 words this time and is due in about three weeks. I feel a little bit trapped at the moment. Work is not challenging me and I am still searching for a good hobby I guess to replace my gaming. I have been tinkering a bit with raspberry pi, so thats what I am using to fill the void. Not an exciting project either - just setting up an install to be my primary PC, removing packages, installing apps etc. Still aiming to use it as my work machines so I have no temptation whatsoever to play games or waste time. Only 5 more days for a new record for games free.

Thanks for the headsup about Study Checker! I will test it out to see if it makes me more productive.

A really good post! A lot of the points you presented are part of Buddhism's values, which I attribute a lot of my development in self awareness and maturity to. I really liked that 40% video and it's a great concept, but I wonder how you condition your mind to not pack it in once you reach that wall? I am curious on two fronts, a) because it means I could get more out of my day, and b) I have a marathon coming up that I want to finish!

Haha this is me if I have a morning plane to catch. It's your brain stressing out that you will miss your commitments so keeps waking you up early to make sure you're not late. I always do my best to not book morning flights now! This is an interesting topic. I have been recording my sleeping habits for the last 4 years, ever since I first got a pebble smartwatch, so it would be interesting to compare/benchmark.

Is anyone a Raspberry Pi enthusiast? I really enjoy tinkering with it (or at least the idea of tinkering with it) and building little projects for the lols. I have always wanted to get my hands dirty with them and I think now is the time, spurred on by using a Pi as my computer at home rather than my gaming machine to create another barrier between me and playing games. I removed the Minecraft & python games entries tonight because I hated how they were staring at me. Anyway, it could be a fun hobby to fill the void and wondering if anyone else here likes them, we could start a group.

03 May 17 Game Free: 16 (17 Apr) Very quiet day, except for one awesome piece of news. Got an e-mail last night from Cam saying he was doing a talk while I am in Vegas - I couldn't believe my luck! After the challenging few days/week that I have had recently it really felt like a bit of a lifeline. Absolutely can't wait for the trip now, I thought I was excited before! No real urges to play any games - though a friend asked me to after work today. I declined and said I had to study instead. Not a total lie - I do have a lot of study I need to finish for this subject. Managed to get a submission done today and submitted, and that is only scratching the surface of what I need to do. I think that is making me feel more relaxed, knowing I have completed something and am progressing at least in one way or another. Plus I just unplugged my games machine and couldn't be arsed plugging it all back in again

Good luck mate! We're here to help.

It's feasible that it could be the cause of my anxiety, but unlikely. I find that I get more stressed out if I don't have any goals and get angry about wasting time. That's what drove me here in the first place. Thanks for the vote of confidence though. 02 May 17 Game Free: 15 (17 Apr) The week is going good so far, no issues with anxiety and only minor hiccups with fumbling for words, etc. Resorting to my old methods of just avoiding words that are going to be a problem for me. My memory is still shot though, I totally forgot I had committed myself to a meeting today and was only reminded about it late last night so I didn't have the correct preparation ready. I probably need to look into how to fix this too, but I think it is a smaller problem than trying to overcome my anxiety problems. Chances are they are linked as well. Unplugged games machine for good, and finally got a box to put all my games stuff into so I can put it out in the shed. Now if I can get over this stomach bug I will be able to close those goals out.

01 May 17 Game Free: 14 (17 Apr) I am still disappointed that anxiety took over me for the last few days of last week. I don't know why it came back with a vengeance either, that's the frustrating part. I thought this journal was the outlet I needed to keep it under control, but it obviously isn't working. I also thought forcing myself to stay productive meant my brain was happy that I was progressing rather than being idle and causing it to overthink everything. That hasn't worked either. Normally this would be my cue to escape into gaming to ignore all the feelings, but I need to confront them and work out what the problem is. I just don't know what angle to take now, as it feels like I have tried everything.

"Hey anxiety! Great to see you today mate! I haven't seen you for a while and was wondering how you were going? I wasn't enjoying being productive today and having effective work relationships at all until you arrived!" Said no-one ever.

27 Apr 17. Haven't progressed looking into a format I like to take my journal offline yet. Right now I am just copying and pasting it into a word document, which doesn't exactly keep all the formatting. I think a spreadsheet would be better as I could track if I have completed my goals or not and how long they are going without being achieved etc. But anyway, the reason I haven't progressed with that idea is there are too many other goals that I am prioritising over it to try and get done, primary my budget spreadsheet. I am not keeping up with inserting a budget function a day. I broke my language streak! I didn't even realise I had missed this until this morning and I saw the notification still on my phone. There is no excuse for this - I allowed myself to get distracted again by preoccupation. Yesterday I was distracted by looking for raspberry pi parts/accessories. I probably should look into a program of how to control my preoccupation, because for every situation it has worked in my favour, there is a situation like this where I am annoyed because I forgot to do something. Or to look into some memory classes? Not much else happened yesterday/today. Moving constantly all day so not much time to sit and dwell about games, which again I think is a good thing. Days: Game Free: 9 (26 Apr)Facebook Free: 1 (25 Apr)Alcohol Free: 1 (25 Apr)Running Training: 1 (26 Apr)Language Training: 0 (26 Apr)Today I was grateful for: My Dad helping me out last week with some jobs around the house. The two aspects of my house that I am really enjoying at the moment he helped me fix up. Didn't complain or want anything in return, just shared his experience and skills openly. We need more people like this.Today I learned: Never work with children and animals! Whatever actor said that is a smart man.Goals completed today: Did not achieve anything I set out to do yesterday morning. This is upsetting.Enrolled in studies for next semester; I am a sucker for punishment.Goals I didn't complete today: Prioritise my goals. Did have a quick chat with my coach after I gave him the results of an Emotional Intelligence survey I did a few weeks ago, and I promised I would sit down and go through it in detail with my goals on Friday.Have not cleared out all game accessories in the shed.Drink 500ml of water as soon as I wake up.Didn't maintain language streak.Work out how to select a date range and corresponding cells from a spreadsheet.Goals for tomorrow: Work out how to select a date range and corresponding cells from a spreadsheet.Sort all my electronic peripherals to work out what I need to order for my laptop project.Put all game accessories in the shed.GTD Tip for tomorrow: Tried out not replying to emails for 24 hours yesterday. Worked fine and my stress was a lot lower! I would like to do this again to work it into a habit.Goals for this week: Finish Respawn worksheet #2.Finish my fundraising page.Add a budget function every day. Add 10 transactions a day.Keep my spending under $100 for the week.Clear out all game accessories in the shed.Try to talk to my leadership coach. Prioritise my goals.Start my research essay.Start building a timelapse project for the garden.Start to achieve some of these goals so it's not a stale copy and paste!