BooksandTrees

Start thinking about why you want to play when you get cravings and think of alternative activites in different environments.

I didn't have a very productive night yesterday. I kind of lounged a lot. I missed my girlfriend and was bored after kind of an easy day at work. That happens though. We'll be moving in together soon and work is picking up. We're allowed to have off days. I did manage to read 30 pages of my book so I enjoyed that. I also cleaned. Today i will read more and see if i end up drawing or drumming or both. I'm kind of leaning towards drawing but I have 6 hours or so. I'd like to exercise a bit too.

Look at the job and see if it will solve some of the workplace issues you're frustrated with at your current job. It might improve your life. As for a motto, I think you gotta find something that rallies you from failure to success and have that be the motto. Mine has always been success is measured by how high we bounce after hitting rock bottom.

That's great news. I'm assuming it's the 4 of you now and you're out of that situation? Congratulations on being very determined and never giving up. The world is a better place now for you and your children.

I did the same thing with tracking porn usage and weight loss and it helped. I should probably track weight again lol.

Glad to hear from you and hope you're doing well.

Great job. I did the very same thing last weekend. I ate too much though lol

Very interesting analysis. I've never seen such in depth analytics on mood and social environment. I like the graphs. Can you add a legend or key to them next time?

I did it. I recognized that I wanted to draw tonight so I did. I didn't complete the drawing either. I just got into a good environment to draw, turned on some relaxing music, and drew my character. I had fun and didn't stress. I did it for 2 hours. My thoughts on this are that I won't give myself a deadline to finish. It's a hobby. I do it when I want. Last night I wanted to drum. Tonight I wanted to draw. I think we try to replace gaming with so many hobbies that we want to do all of them immediately. One of the most difficult parts of recovery is recognizing what you want to do and when. After all, we don't really know what to do with this freedom. Video games mentally pulled us to the computer or console. We have choices now and it's overwhelming at times. I finally have hobbies I enjoy which include animation, painting, weight training, reading, drums, and puzzles. I can do them whenever I want because I gave myself the ability to have free time through my career choice. It took me 3 years to figure this out since I'm like 38 months free of gaming. I hope if you are reading this that it takes a while sometimes and you gotta be patient with yourself.

I am constantly on this path of learning to be less hard on myself. Last night I ended work on a good note, rode my bike for 5 miles, did leg strengthening exercises, played the drums for an hour, read my book for an hour, watched my shows e.t.c. That basically means I did a ton of hobbies and had a good night. Instead of being happy i was frustrated because i didn't feel like drawing more of my cartoon character for my animation. I haven't done it in a week and got stressed about it last weekend. It's just constantly stressing me out. It feels like a job because there's so much to learn and the reward is either enjoying the process or seeing the final product. It's gonna take months to enjoy the final product and I don't enjoy the process yet because it's so difficult to deal with at first. The drums and stuff have been easier rewards. That is ok though. I'm allowed to take my time on this and I think I'll have a breakthrough with it after I create my first character. Then I can draw background and stuff. Here are some conclusions I've made: 1. I don't like being creative after 8 pm or 7 pm really. 2. I don't like being creative after work and need a buffer. 3. I don't like being creative first thing in the morning. 4. I like being creative late morning or early afternoon. 5. I like having people support me when I'm being creative and be around me. 6. If I open everything I'll start working. 7. If I drink plenty of water beforehand and stay alert I'll be more eager to try. 8. I don't want to be creative on my lunch break. This leaves me a few options: 1. Animate on weekends between 10 and 2. Not for the whole 4 hours. Just anywhere in that window. 2. Animate on weekdays from 6 to 7. 3. It's ok to take my time because it's not my job. 4. Once I learn the software I'll be less hesitant to start. 5. I'm doing great anyways. 6. If I don't feel like working on it one day or night then that's ok. It's not like I'm missing a submittal at work or failing. I just didn't feel like doing something I'm slightly interested in.

Thanks and same here! I feel like they're not physically taxing yet because I'm still learning things slowly. It's tiring once I play the one song I know though because I don't stop for 4 minutes.

I found a new song to learn on the drums and did that for 1 hour. It was nice. I bought a new book to read and I've also been riding my bike a few days a week. I'm just trying to maintain some habits. I think if I can keep a little each day I'll be happy.

Thank you guys. I studied for 2 years for this and finally passed it. I feel truly happy.

I passed my exam! I'm so happy and proud. I'm finally done with it! The joy I'm experiencing is immense. The journey to this point has been unbelievable.

I got new components for my drum set and really enjoy them so far. I started recording my calories again because I've been gaining weight. So I'll try to see if I can get back to 160. Not sure if I'll do drawing this week but if I do it will be Thursday or Friday.

I finished the concept art for all my cartoon characters and now I'm going to start sketching the actual art. I'm very excited. I'll hopefully come up with good art pieces and then start doing background and mid ground designs. I hope to have something by Christmas but realistically I think some time in January and just enjoy the process. I also discovered better pieces for my drum kit that sound way better so I'm excited to try those. One I get this week and the other I gotta wait til Christmas because someone asked what I wanted. Christmas as an adult is not as exciting as being a kid because i am fortunate enough to have a good paying job so i can get anything i want besides a house or car etc. So when someone asks what I want i just get annoyed that i have to wait a month rather than get it now. I think as kids you see Christmas as the big day for gifts besides your birthday so you're constantly looking forward to it. That is unless the gifts are surprises, which I'm doing with my girlfriend this year. I'm excited for it. We both have no idea what we're getting. It's really nice.

I managed to design some concepts for my characters yesterday and feel great about it. Also spent time doing puzzles, crafts, and watching my shows and exercising. Overall a very peaceful weekend.

I'm gonna try animation today. I feel good about coming up with concept art for characters.

I spent last night coloring, playing the drums, talking to family, and watching my shows. It was fun. I'm almost ready to learn a new song on the drums.

I'm glad and welcome to the community. That quote has got me through some difficult moments in life.

I'm glad to see you back but not under the circumstances you've been enduring. I'm sorry for the pain you've experienced but know you'll put in the effort it takes to emerge from this adversity stronger than before. Good luck. Success is measured by how high we bounce up after hitting rock bottom.

Today was good. I was productive at work, had a dentist appointment, and then got more work done. I then had therapy, meal prepped, and watched my show for 30 minutes. After that I colored in my coloring book, played the drums, and watched hockey. I feel like I did exactly what I wanted to tonight and I'm happy about it.

I think we put too much pressure on ourselves to be productive all day long.

Thank you and I hope things even out a bit. I understand these things go in waves from year to year so maybe there's a huge learning curve we're all about to learn lol.

I dealt with boredom by talking to friends on the phone and watching hockey. I realized that hobbies aren't jobs and I frequently treat them like jobs. I'm allowed to do them when I want and not feel huge obligations.