Django

I'd replace family shit by another, more beautiful word

Well I rested for 4 days. I only resumed my fitness yesterday, and "only" did about 10 miles instead of 17. I didn't feel tired and maybe that's the rhythm I have to set. I'll see how I feel and I'll make sure to have one or two day's off. I still have to make an appointment with a cardiologist to check if I'm fit to do all of this because even after 10 miles, at about 60 rpm, I don't feel ok at the end. Not really exhausted, but also not ok ^^ Had another hard week at work although in hindsight, it wasn't that hard. It just feels hard to hard with someone negative all the time instead of getting the work done. But I take a lot of pleasure doing my work. Yesterday I felt empty and sad without knowing why. I had a coke and 1/3 of a pack M&M's. Here goes the diet! ^^ Maybe that's why I didn't feel happy

Hi Daniel, Great step forward selling your PS4 and all the games. 6 months ago, I left gaming for the first time, but didn't do it 100%. I still had my PS4. A few weeks later, I played it again, selling only the most addictive games I was playing (Diablo 3), and keeping casual games. It didn't take long before I bought other games. A few days after joining this community I also sold my PS4 and I felt great about it.

Hi Mario. Welcome. I've never read tons of books but like you, before the age of 13 I played a lot outside, though I had consoles at home. I actually became more and more addicted when I got an internet connection in 1998 or 1999, I'm not sure anymore. I also remember that I spent all of my holidays playing warcraft 3! When I think about it, it was just awesome. Good feelings thinking about it. It's like I don't even regret it. Not sure why, maybe because then I had no family to take care of, and it was the holidays! After War 3 came some MMORPG's ... Well I won't actually talk about them, it's not the objective ^^ We can have those nice feelings again doing something else!!

Hi Paul, Yes, we have to move past that and find something we are good at. Not being good at gaming isn't important! It has saddened me a lot though, and I couldn't really find things I was good at (like sports, playing an instrument, etc ...). But I think it's all the same, it takes practice to get better, but with a method. Gaming was the same. Just playing another game without focusing on getting better didn't work of course.

Hi Paul, and welcome! I find it amazing that at 13 year olds, you are conscious of the addiction gaming can be. It must indeed be hard to stop while your friends might all be gamers. But changing direction from now on and focusing on other hobbies but certainly on your studies and family, is great. Do you read often? I started reading only 2 years ago. I bought an e-reader to do so. While I don't read much, each time I do I like it! It's kinda weird, I'd much prefer to be an addict to books than to games. Well, can't call myself an addict to games either as I don't have any cravings or interest in gaming anymore, since I quit everything. It's only been a month, but I feel solid about it. Keep on the fight!

My performance on the bike increased after a day off. So it's actually positive to have some to let the body rest! Still have to check out a cardiologist knowing my family's medical histories. I had a very busy day at work and I brought back some work home. It's the first time I do so, and I'm glad I did because I enjoyed working on a few things from home. My busy week didn't permit to come and post or read a lot on the forum. With the amount of new members and new journals popping up it's going to be really hard to follow everyone. That's why I might keep journaling to myself and just discuss particular subjects on dedicated topics.

Today I came back from home later than usual. Because of my hard day at work the first thing I did coming home was eating, I was so hungry. This meant I wasn't able to do my fitness session asap, and had to wait. But because I'm so tired, I just decided to take a break. I'm a bit depressed, I guess it's fine since it's been more than 15 days that I do it each day. I guess my body deserves a break. But I enjoy it and I guess it became a habit, so I'm a bit dissapointed. I'm also feeling a lot tighter in my shirts and pants, and while I know I still have to start reviewing my diet, I just feel like I'm gaining fat instead of losing. I know that I can lose fat easily, I have the willpower. Just don't know where to start. Keto again, or the paleo road, low carb and eating healthy. I also feel stressed about my new schedule. A day like today, I'm home at 05:30. If I plan to put my son in bed at 08:00, this leaves me only 02:30 time of doing something. And today I just did nothing special. Normally I'm home at 04:00. That 01:30 extra is just HUGE! Well, I guess I'll feel better tomorrow! Oh and BTW, not wanting to game at all since I quit. Today I had a talk with a colleague about how stupid it is to buy virtual items in games. It's good I also have non gaming colleagues, without them knowing anything about it, they are helping me ^^

What is Entertainment? From the dictionary: The action of providing or being provided with amusement or enjoyment: everyone just sits in front of the television for entertainment So I guess it is subjective or are there things cast in stone, like gaming & movies, that are regarding as pure entertainment and nothing else? How are you now entertained since you left gaming? I still watch series, and while I would binge watch them after I first quit gaming, I know only watch one episode a day, while moving on my bike. I really like it. I also like to read self-help books. I'm only reading my second but I enjoy it a lot. I guess fiction novels are entertainment, but what about those self-help books? Is it also subjective like the dictionary says? Everyone finds entertainment in something different. Do we need Entertainment to function in life? What is the right balance?

Back at work since today. A few new challenges on the profesional side of life. That's all good though, because one of my objectives/goals/dreams there is : Being a successful professional at work. This means positive thinking all the time! It's an even bigger chalenge when my direct colleague is a pessimist and wants to leave the job every day (but doesn't do it ) I finished The Slight Edge saturday evening and started the Power of Habits. I read about 10 pages saturday and 90 on sunday. Like it a lot! My habit of waking up at 5:30 kicked in again. I guess the cue here is a working day, the routine is to wake up at 5:30 and the reward ... happy, not stuck in traffic, being able to leave work at 3:00? I guess that would be it ^^ I'm still doing my fitness sessions each day, but will have to do a medical just to be sure I'm on the safe side. I do my fitness sessions one hour earlier now, this gives me time to breath in the evening. First I thought this would give me time to watch a movie, but I don't want to. One episode of a good show is enough while being on the bike. I enjoy reading the Power of Habits and it's not fiction! I really hope I'll enjoy a lot of more self help or self develoment books. What is entertainment then, if we enjoy things that aren't classified as entertainment? It's sujective, right?

That's right, indeed! I have an e-reader (Kobo Aura HD) to read books. And unlike a phone or a tablet, it's an e-ink device without a backlit screen. So no short-wavelength light! If I use my phone, it's mostly (and this is new since a week or two) to listen to an audio book. So I don't look at the screen. There is an app that could help a bit with the light of computer screens, phones or tablets. It has already been recommended on the forums by a few : f.lux. https://justgetflux.com/ Never used it but I might take a look as my son is watching some stuff on the notebook in the evening ...

Today has been a weird day. Weird on the positive side. I didn't succeed to wake up at 5:30 although I had already slept for more than 7 hours when the alarm rang. I even had to go to pie at 04:30, which never happens! I usually never pie at night. But for a reason, I stayed in bed, with a positive attitude. I knew for sure that I wouldn't have done something useful in these early hours and I guess my body needed that extra rest. This doesn't mean I'm not going to wake up at 05:30 tomorrow. I will not try, I'll just do it. For the rest of the day, I have been mostly active, applying the slight edge. I went to the grocery stores with my son, we picked up healthy food but also a few treats for him. We were decided to go to the park afterwards but the dark clouds made us think otherwise. Well, in any case, I was prepared to spend some quality time with my son there and also let him play alone or with other kids. I was prepared, I had my earphones to listen to the audio book. Well, I listened it at home and wrote down my dreams in detail. Something I'll have to print and read every day and work on those dreams. Well, I prefer to call them objectives actually. Because they aren't big enough to be dreams. Did my daily fitness session while watching Homeland. Finished season 2 of The Leftovers yesterday, so I'm finishing season 5 of Homeland now.

Hi Thomas. It's funny you post this, as I just created a subject about sleeping habits. And you are right, except for people working night shifts, I think going to sleep early and waking up early is really important. Not only can you be more productive at work starting before everyone, but also for personal development in our hobbies etc ... I'm doing in the other way around, I'm listening to the Slight Edge and will read Power of Habits when I'm done with it. What I like about the Slight Edge is that it's not only motivational theory. In a particular chapter the author asks something of the reader/listener, it's kind of interactive and while I didn't do it last night in bed while listening to that chapter, I did it right now listening to it again. I'll certainly write a small post about it as it can be useful for all of us, and if I could only recommend one chapter out of it, it would be this one (Chapter 10). Why not take your shower, go to bed, read, and fall asleep? It could be a good way to introduce a new sleeping habit and who knows how many good things could come out of that simple step!

How many of us traded sleep to spend on more gaming hours? I have been at both sides of the night. Either I was playing until very late at night, even sometimes playing all night in the holidays when I was still at school, or more recently (2 or 3 years back), waking up early to game in the morning when everyone was still asleep. This was an illusion I created, a system I believed would make it possible to enjoy gaming and spend quality time with the family. I was dead wrong. What sleep habits do you have or would like to have? Right now, I'm trying to get to bed early at all time, not only when I'm working. When I'm working, I have to wake up at 5:30 because I want to leave a 06:30 and be at work around 07:00. I'm working on making this a daily habit. While going to bed early (08:30 - 09:00 PM max) I don't force myself to fall asleep. I'm either reading on my e-reader or listening to an audio book/podcast. I have been watching YouTube also but I won't do it again and I highly recommend against doing that. By doing this, I doesn't take a while before I fall asleep. If I fall asleep at let's say 10:30 PM, that's still 7 hours of sleep which is fine. It seems some successful people can do with less. The thing is to have a good balance between fatigue and the ability to spend the time not sleeping by doing something useful and productive. This week has been trial and error. One day I woke up at 5:30 am, the day after I did the same but just slept on the couch for two more hours, then I woke up at 08:00 am with guilt and today, while sleeping before 10:00 PM the evening before, I just slept until 08:00 am but without the guilt. It is weird, I could easily have done it, but I just laid in bed, because I felt good and knew I wasn't ready to do something productive in those hours. What's also funny, is that I can do it without a problem, going to sleep early or not, when I'm working. Waking up late is not an option while working! It's all about the traffic and it can be a pain to be in it while going to work! So if I could fine something like that traffic excuse for on day offs, It'd be more effective!!

What's the interest rate on your newly created savings account? Here it is 0.10% annual interest rate. That's just stupid. No fees, so I might create one just to seperate the money and have a quick overview of what I saved, but the account itself isn't going to generate anything significant on his own. So even with a penny (the slight edge :D) I'm nothing with this kind of savings account What kind of business are you creating? Also great initiative to plan to go to bed earlier. You might read in bed and just stop when you body starts to fall asleep. That would also apply an important lesson from the slight edge, like reading 10 pages (or more) of a good book. This would be 2 good habits into one : reading and sleeping pattern.

I'm ready to join. What is your commitment? No games? No streams? Anything else? No games, no streams, and actively limiting the mindless browing on the internet. How long do you want this challenge to last? By default it is one month, but 90 days is recommended for your detox. One month every month or 90 days every 90 days. Right now I don't see myself playing games in the future. Nothing positive would come out of it. What are your goals? Not to game anymore and use this to settle new positive habits in my life to be able to focus on mid to long term goals like managing my finances better, owning a house (goes hand to hand with finances ^^), better heath (food & fitness) and being a real profesional at work. Why are you doing this? At 30 years old, I have a family (wife and kid). I realized I had an addiction to video games but I didn't take concrete actions until about 20 days ago. I want to be happy in life and make my family happy and stop procrastinating.

Hi Adel, welcome! Do you think that your family introduced video games too early or do you think you would have become addicted even if the games were introduces 10 years later? Great move getting rid of all the consoles. How much hours did you spent gaming these holidays? And how are PC games any different than console games for you? Do you think you'd be able to somehow moderate? A little advice : Don't buy a desktop pc for gaming. Save your money

Yes, Leechblock is great at what it proclaims to do : LeechBlock is a simple productivity tool designed to block those time-wasting sites that can suck the life out of your working day. All you need to do is specify which sites to block and when to block them. Even if I go a lot further and block sites 24/7. There are a few tabs to customize so you can also block some websites only for certain hours etc ... Regarding a down payment for the house, right now there is none. And if we have to save, we will have to save for a long time to have a significant down payment ready. I already see one positive and one negarive point regarding finances. When I was playing MMO's, I'd only spend the monthly fee, the expansions, and that's all. I wouldn't invest in other stuff to keep me busy. So it could have been the moment to save. But here comes the negative point : I just didn't think about anything at all but gaming. Do I regret all of that? Honestly, I don't even think about it. I'm just glad it's over and I'm positive for the future, knowing nothing is impossible. But regardless of all that, saving is still important. If only for the furniture, etc ... We already have loans for both our cars. We aren't struggling, but expense are there for sure. Would have to make a budget and see what is possible, because buying a house / appartment is a big project! Today I managed to wake up a 05:30. Slight difference with yesterday is that I went from the bed to the couch and slept 2 hours more, haha! Surely, I went to sleep way too late, that's the problem. Will have to work on my sleep pattern and avoid youtube on my smartphone in bed in the evening and just read or listen to an audiobook / podcast.

I might not post long posts with much content of my days. Like I said, I'm strill in transition, I don't want to rush. I have to prepare myself for the better things to come. Gaming addiction was only the wrong cure to other problems that I can't pinpoint, though one of them is slacking, being lazy, procastrinate, ... call it how you want. I'm proud I'm still doing my daily hour (average 50 mins) of fitness / cardio. And, I did it! I woke up at 5.30 am today. It wasn't easy, I put the alarm on snooze, but that inner voice told me, you can do it, don't get back to sleep, wake up now, it will only help. So I have been drinking my coffee and surfing the forum. On a working day, I would have arrived at work at this time and probably drink my coffee there! Yesterday, I surfed a bit and looked at a few properties on sale. It's one of my goals. I'm 30 and my wife and I would like to buy a house/appartment in the near future. While we don't have any savings, it's either the time to start now, or to find a bank that is willing to give us a loan for the complete amount, if not more (count +15% of total costs, this includes notary costs, registration costs, etc ...). But here also, I will take the time to inform myself, learn about all the costs, and see what we can do. It would be a major change, one that I welcome a lot. I'm sure it could free myself as a person to own a house.

Congrats Tom! And don't forget, congratulate yourself each day! Each day without gaming is a win (if repalced by sane and productive activies)!

Talking about Qunetin Tarantino, I just watched From Dusk Till Dawn yesterday. I don't remember seeing this movie before. I didn't expect it to be such a movie, ... well, what can I say. I enjoyed it, but it's special

Hey Alex, I think this relapse is someting you needed. I can't speak for everyone, but I believe that for the most of us, moderation isn't possible. Because moderating is something we don't know. And even if it would be possible, would it be worth to invest so much time and energy in a new habit of moderation when we could put the same time and energy in a glad new and better habit, a lot more constructive and NOT related to video games? I'm using this quote a lot these days, but it just applies to our gaming addiction so well:

Congrats Adem! This will take a lot of your time I guess, so better be prepared to doing productive things for yourself when you don't work. So no gaming, no mindlessly surfing the internet, etc ... it doesn't happen overnight and isn't always easy, but if you start working on that, who knows where you can get in life?!

Great post indeed Travis. And thanks for sharing what you are reading, recommandations are always welcome. Congrats for the 100 days. I actually didn't read anything about the 90 day detox yet. In my mind, I don't want to do a 90 day detox, I want to do a lifelong detox But maybe it's just an introduction to this, I should read it! In your post, you shows that no matter what, we will always have doubts and fragile moments. And with what we read and experience in life, instead of sitting in front of the computer / on the couch with a controller in hand, will only make us stronger. I start to believe that these good books are here to strengthen our foundations. And these need to be fortified, because if we were addicted to gaming, it means they were very weak!

Hi Mark! I hope you won't be ejected from your school next year. Is there a way of you coming forward to the school's authorities to ask for lenience and tell them you had to deal with a problem and that it's over and your grades will get better? Maybe you don't have to go into details, or maybe you should if they have counselors etc ... It's a school after all, I'm sure they have a bit of experience with gaming addiction. Not sure how they would help you, but I'd take all the help I can get. NOW could be a fresh start for you. What steps did you take to remove these games and fight the addiction? There is a list with a lot of hobbies on this site, but one main activity would be to study and get those grades up! It's your future and doing great in school could be a great motivation. Something you will be proud of all your life.