Ikar

April 27, 2022

19th Apr - 27th Apr:

As for porn, I haven't watched it since the day I made my last entry. Neither have I ejaculated until I had sex with my girlfriend yesterday. I believe the best way to control porn is to have a working relationship with all of its elements. I literally had zero thoughts of porn until I came back here to report on it now.

I did some work on the marketing/benefit programs to increase my reach to potential students. I will continue working on it in the following days.

We with my girlfriend went to the LibertyCon in Prague the last weekend. The topics were very interesting, ranging from economics, politics to philosophy. I definitely had some takeaways from it.

I played table football with my friend and we finished 3rd on a tournament on Monday.

April 20, 2022

On 4/18/2022 at 6:51 PM, goodvibes said:

No computer weekends are being very productive for me I even made it go 3 days last week because it just felt so great without so many digital distractions. I had a ton of little notepad notes I am almost done transcribing elsewhere and even got a movie in. I think one movie per weekend is a good goal to keep and I should be careful not to overdo it because it is really easy to let get out of hand. On top of all of this I have decided I would prefer to fast on the weekend while away from computer so I have even more free time so as I figure it I will decide every week weather to fast one meal, one day, or two days depending on what I feel is best.

I think it was Alan Goldhamer's interview by Tom Bilyeu I heard that human blood peaks with BDNF "miracle grow" brain growth proteins after 48 hours of fasting and this protein is promoted to be produced through low intensity exercise and the presence of ketones so it is probably best to eat low carb before a fast. One two day fast per month sounds like the goal for me.

Days without the computer are often the best and memorable ones. Movies and series can be sometimes problematic, though I just find it too passive to watch more than one movie or multiple episodes a day - it's not really my cup of tea anyway. Fasting is interesting, because I remember the one time I did it, I found out I have no way to relax without eating something!

April 20, 2022

On 4/20/2022 at 2:27 AM, goodvibes said:

abstaining PMO is so challenging I had to make a P MO tracker for just P and a P MO tracker for just MO .. MO is so darn difficult to abstain some times.

I mostly only care about cutting the porn. I've been in a content (sexual) relationship for about four months, but now we're briefly apart for about two weeks. I just want to keep my mind in the real world. Even for singles, keeping the sexual mind on the people that are really around them is still the best solution, because it's at least an actionable indicator that this guy/girl is attractive to them.

April 20, 2022

On 4/18/2022 at 11:56 PM, Amphibian220 said:

I never understood why people support football clubs. So dreaming about playing a strategy video game doesn’t really make sense. I could just get out to play a football game instead.

I never understood it either, though I've been told it's emotional, creates bonds between people and that people like seeing people who are great at something and succeeding at it.

April 18, 2022

14th Apr - 18th Apr:

On 14th I decided to go to an English event I haven't attended in a few months, as normally I get up early on Fridays and now that I have no lack of English connections. I met some old faces and even made two new connections with guys to go to the shooting range with next month. Crazy. I also visited a friend's birthday celebration nearby.

We had Easter holidays for four days here after. I did some schoolwork, got new shoes, a gift for the Georgian girl once she returns, finished the outline of my thesis and sent it to the prof, worked on my English business marketing, watched a lot of finance videos and visited my family. One thing that stains it a bit is the habit of masturbating before sleeping, however I am not going to lose my sleep over it (pun intended, because I actually do). I'll do better next time.

April 14, 2022

7th Apr - 13th Apr:

I drove the Georgian girl to the train station on 8th and we'll meet again on 23rd after she comes back from Georgia.

I went tree planting on 9th in an event organized by the university. I normally don't do a lot of volunteering, but sometimes the event fits my style. I met a few known faces there and met a few new people too.

I also nearly slid into a really stupid habit regarding masturbation and a sort of porn (again), but I kept away from it for the past two days. Speaking of which, I do check the news again, so I put them on the blocking software again.

The last few days have been however good for making time to watch interesting conversations with Peterson, Sowell and yesterday I also watched a few videos about firearms. It's always nice to educate myself, to return to my hobbies and to relax.

I also got a 15% pay raise in one of the language companies, so I'm gonna make the other ones follow suit. The negotiations are still going on, though the process is slow. Better yet, I'm gonna explore some ways to do my own marketing during the Easter holiday. That's something I can always work on. I also worked on the sources of my masters' thesis on Monday, so I made progress on that after over 3 months. That'll be also a topic for Easter.

April 7, 2022

4th Apr - 7th Apr:

I'm gonna go to bed early today, as I have been feeling tired all day today. I can't afford to go to bed at midnight and get up at 7. I just have zero energy and the sun wakes me up early.

I met a friend I didn't see for 2-3 months, spent time with the Georgian girl and worked on a presentation for the university today. I also had some communication with the language companies regarding my employment and other options of cooperation.

April 5, 2022

I'm using the template I used the last time. 05/02/21 - 05/04/21

"L" will stand for the (last) plan/notes for this term. "T" will stand for done this term.

I added "Future goals/direction" to better reflect on the things I am trying to do and to add specificity. I will copy it and stick it somewhere where I can see it to remind myself whenever I feel aimless. I will also use different colors: blue for newly added goals/habits, green for completed/successful, orange for ongoing/some progress and red for ones I haven't worked on in that period.

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Books/Reading articles:

L: I realized I actually do read quite a bit, it's mostly just not books. I'm currently reading one book on sex, but overall during the month I've gone through many articles on history, finance and current events, as well as my newsletters. I've actually decided to block one news outlet that I think I was reading too much for no real gain. Now I follow "Portal:Current events" on Wiki, where I can easily see world-wide news and access information without much bias.

T: The situation is fairly similar, except that I cut down on news. I think I much rather watch videos where people are having a conversation or explaining something rather than reading or just simply listening without video. I've barely touched the newsletters.

Possible direction/goals:

Continue getting through the newsletters.

Family:

L: I got us a board-game on Christmas that we sometimes play together during the weekends. I'm also helping my grandma to transition to a new phone operator and my brother helped me regarding some settings of my bike. It's a bit of a rare occasion, but I am not visiting my parents this weekend, because my father contracted CV a few days ago. My brother had an inconclusive test, but I am negative, so I'm visiting my grandma tomorrow.

T: A few weeks ago, I decided to visit my family every other weekend for the afternoon to prioritize my own issues, needs and wants. I think it's also better to meet the members separately - i.e. meeting my family twice as a whole, plus meeting my father and my brother once for a month for lunch - somewhat seems as more valuable than meeting my family four times as a whole. I also helped my grandma with getting a new phone and transitioning to a new operator!

Possible direction/goals:

Continue working on bettering the relationships with my family.

University:

L: I wouldn't have thought so at first, but working on the collaborative assignments has been a crap-shoot. I'm not particularly happy with their outcomes, although they are/were done sufficiently enough to get by. I'm happier with my own work and assignments and it seems I might not even have an exam this semester in the classical sense.

As I had guessed, the exam term ended for me by handing in some writing at the beginning of January, yet for most people it ends today, so I haven't really done much in the last month. I contacted one of the profs to be my tutor for my project/thesis. I also take part in our geography student's group, though we're not too active at the moment.

T: University's been normal and the classes I attend are mostly interesting. I haven't gone to Germany, but I am planning to go to Bulgaria for Erasmus after summer. It's amazing how the perception of education shifts once one has a real job and isn't fed by parents, for example by learning to value one's time.

Possible direction/goals:

Find more sources for my upcoming masters' thesis.

Work on the assignments in a timely manner.

Exercise/movement:

L: This month has been slower, yet every week I went at least once for a walk and at least once to the gym.

T: I feel that my "free-time" movement habits are sliding, however I somewhat counteracted that by creating incentives to push me into movement, such as having to visit students within walking/biking distance. I'm really not a fan of going to the gym lately, however I've already been outside with people playing football or basketball, as the weather got better.

Possible direction/goals:

Keep in shape.

English:

L: I worked around 110 hours this month; 65 and 30 for language schools and 15 for my private students.

I also visited my English teacher-friend and asked him about his history when it came to teaching English. He said that he started teaching when he was 26, started his own courses when he was around 35 thanks to recommendations and had these ever since. He is now around 50 and he started teaching at high school a few months ago for a change of pace.

The meeting helped me soothe some anxiety over the fact I am not advancing as fast as I'd like to when it comes to teaching. Regardless, I've recently made the effort to ask my students for recommendations to a) the respective language schools, b) on my website and c) on Google Maps. It can help me leverage my position regarding the language schools as well as to attract more private students.

I'm also gonna attend an interview and another to re-negotiate my salary, once all the reviews from my students are in. I received some information that I could use to my advantage, so I'm gonna work on that in the next few weeks.

T: The salary negotiations have turned out to be quite a drawn out process. I'm trying to position myself as best as I can in regards to several companies and to present my case as best as I can as well. I hope the interview I'm having tomorrow will be constructive, as I am also effectively asking for my competences and responsibilities to be expanded.

Possible direction/goals:

I'm also gonna attend an interview and another to re-negotiate my salary, once all the reviews I from my students are in. I received some information that I could use to my advantage, so I'm gonna work on that in the next few weeks.

Look into strategies in becoming truly self-employed by skipping the agencies in between.

I am going to pursue closer co-operation with my English mentor.

I am going to check out a few more seminars on how to run online courses. / English research

Women/dating:

L:

Spoiler

I learnt that perhaps I do not have as hard-core of a monogamous mentality as I thought I would have. I'm also probably more aware than ever that everybody is fucked up, including myself. There are a few women I could think of in the romantic plane in my area. I don't think it makes much sense to be writing about specific women though. I came to the realization that planning in this area is usually cumbersome and counterproductive.

I cut one of the relationships, did sex and I'm keeping my eyes peeled.

I was predicting the change in my sexual mindset and behavior for a long time. I behaved and acted in line with it. I just needed the reality to catch up on it; similarly to that when I was gaming, I got fired from the post office several days after I quit gaming, because most of my (unsatisfactory) work there was done when I was still gaming.

In the past, I believe I looked at the more obvious sexual displays of others with both distaste and envy at the same time. Especially when I thought that I have no other option than to sit and do nothing or to get drunk and hope that something happens. It just took some time to internalize that the thing standing between me and a good (even if only sexual) relationship with a woman is... me.

As long as there are two consenting adults, whatever goes. Whether it's a good idea or not is another question (given the circumstances), but I won't villanify that behavior a priori anymore.

That said, a horrible relationship is better than none at all. The cataclysmic end of my last one was likely the trigger for me to quit games for good. Nothing is forcing anyone to stay and die in a horrible relationship, except the lack of options in one's head. (December)

I learnt a lot about the sexuality of women over the past few weeks by spending time with the Spanish girl. I learnt a bunch about my sexuality as well. I also learnt relationships can be more nuanced. It's been a great learning experience so far. (January/February)

I've spent about two months with the Spanish girl and this morning she left home for three weeks, after which she should come back. I feel that she's into me, that she cares about me and that she doesn't want to lose me (be it to another relationship or due to some quarrel between us, though I find the latter less likely), though at the same time I feel we both want to assert ourselves to leave other options available. In my case to find someone more "permanent" to date/be together with, because I know she'll be gone in the summer. In her case it's different relationship philosophy and uniqueness of every relationship.

To explain that further, she actually encouraged me to meet other girls to see what might come out of it, which is generally something I am not 100% confident at and could use some practice in. Regardless, despite our differences, I feel that we're willing to respect each other and not argue about them. (March)

We had a few talks together with the Spanish girl and decided we wouldn't carry on with the sexual element in our relationship. It was the first time for her trying to amalgamate sexual and affectionate relationship into one and the second time for me. I decided to take her for her word and not to push her into something she doesn't want or isn't sure about. I sensed/noticed that it's not the first time she's having difficulty in continuing the relationship in the current setting. I think that a part of good relationship is the ability to respect "no" as a "no" and it's definitely one of the things I want in all my relationships that go deeper.

I'm actually somewhat surprised by how romantic the relationship has come to be. I think we are both considerate of each other and already value each other to go through this in an abrupt or otherwise bad way. I feel a sense of loss in a way, but I think various factors chimed in to dampen it. Besides, I have learnt a lot about various sexual topics and I grew more confident in this regard. It's very liberating to be playful and inventive too!

This one is actually only a few days old, but I do feel attracted to one girl and I want to have sex with her, although I don't think something long-term could come out of it due to the factual differences that we have. Hooray for being human! (April)

We've been flirting and dancing around around with the girl from April. I told her we're gonna do something together after I am done with the finals and I want to keep that promise. I'm not 100% sure if it's the right move, but I'm gonna take the opportunity regardless. (May)

There are some situations with the girl where we do get close, although from some situations I also understand that I don't want to be too closely involved with her and neither does she. Though I like her physically and I think she's aiming at good things in life, I feel she constantly needs to put herself in messy/highly emotional situations and states. I can joke about it and laugh it off with her as her friend, but it'd be very different if I decided to be a more unpredictable variable in her life.

That doesn't mean random and unpredictable sex can't happen. The last week I had sex with a friend from the dorms I've known for over a year. We were both tipsy, though I think we were both surprised how that evening ended up happening.

I've been having thoughts about the time with the Spanish girl, meaning there could still be something I need to decode. I didn't talk to her before she left to Spain about a month ago and nor I gave her the letter I wrote and planned to give her. Regardless, I've thought about the topic myself. I found that the main idea is to take it as it is, regardless of what the reasons of her sudden April "cut" were. I also believe that sometimes the more loving and more courageous decision is to walk away to prevent more hurt and pain, whether due to toxicity (my X) or time constraints (Spanish girl?). One of the things that "got" me closer together to her was the care. She really did care for me as my mom or grandma would, which I noticed when she was adamant about the fact I needed to see the doctor. The fact that we could also agree to disagree was amazing as well. Lastly, she did catalyze more effort from my side to get to know my family better and closer.

Talking to one of my friends, she said the average masturbation for her is better than the average sex. I found that quite surprising, as I've never thought that would be the case for anyone.

To end on a good note, I met an interesting girl yesterday in the evening and wrote her on Messenger today. I really should meet even more new people. We'll see what comes out of this. (June/July)

I noticed that I am thinking more outside of my head about this topic and around friends which is good. (August/September)

I'm fairly positive I am making progress in this area. It's really only about having the guts to say hi and then making the ask to meet. It needs to become the routine, if I want to have some control over this aspect of my life. The end-result doesn't actually matter. And I'm aware I will make mistakes, get myself in stupid situations, get used and whatnot, but it's all in the game. I'm fairly adamant and determined in this. I've done a lot of scouting recently, so I got some "hard data" on a few girls I was interested in. (September/October)

To put a real example here, I'm currently making an effort to find dates and a girlfriend. I met a girl last Monday, had a good chat with her for a while, wrote her to meet up and she agreed. Five minutes into the second meeting, I found out she had a boyfriend, yet I didn't just turn around on my heel, as I promised her a walk around the city she doesn't know. I spent some two hours with her, had a good conversation with her, found out she's a good speaker and discussed some views on philosophy and politics.

The advice I could take from this regarding my dating life: Be more aware of social situations when I am first interacting with a girl I like and be better at scouting to find out whether she's already seriously dating someone or not. Then again, I got something I wasn't expecting but is valuable as well: thinking about reconsidering some of my life views through a good debate.

All in all, it's impossible to answer the question: Was it a success or a failure? Well, It depends on how I choose to look at it. (Oct/Nov 21)

I've been meeting one girl for about a month now, both in a planned way but also running into her randomly. She seems shy, a maverick/lone-wolf to a great extent, but also quite honest. I think it's gonna be interesting. Gonna meet her on Monday and do something together again. (Nov)

So I've been out a few times with the Georgian girl I met at the beginning of October. She's fun to be around, likes my analytical mind and so we sometimes grapple intellectually. She's also kind and I'd argue more compassionate then I am. We're gonna plan something together the next week too. I'm fairly unaware about where this is going, so I'm leaving this go its own way. The only thing that's for sure is that she leaves at the end of January.

What I've been probably happiest about that this area of my life seems to have some traction, as I felt there was none during the summer until the end of September. What's also worth noting is that this one of the areas with the most shades of gray and trial and error I've been in. I can absolutely not plan for an outcome. It's as much about knowing the other person as it is about knowing myself. (Jan)

Things have been going pretty well with the Georgian girl. She's gonna stay here until June and I myself might go to Germany for Erasmus in April, if the situation permits. It's nice to have somebody close to me to share things and try new things with every now and then. She's intellectually bright and can challenge me on a few things, so she also gives me the mirror sometimes.

She's also good at English and had some interviews already. She negotiated even a bit higher rate than I did. She actually gave me the impulse to revisit the payment I get from language schools this early. (Jan)

T: February and March have been pretty good with the Georgian girl and I believe we both enjoyed it. I'm happy that we managed to get the things we wanted to get done together. We will continue to date, until the distance is just too much to bear. She's going to have a more complicated schedule in April with a lot of traveling and in mid-May she's going to move to another city, which is however reachable on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. I hope to post an update on this when the time comes.

Possible direction/goals:

Set up at least two dates a month.

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Additional thoughts/activities:

My personal finance hobby has resurfaced once again. I made a new brokerage account, did a lot of reading and made a few calculations in one software. I calculated that my savings rate for 2021 averaged around 50% and that I doubled my net worth over the course of 2021 compared to 2020. My saving and investing is proceeding as planned.

I'm also happy that during these two months, I tried out these activities: ice-skating, going to the theater and going to the shooting range. I think there is some merit to sharing joyful activities together with friends.

My hobbies are: personal finance, gunnery, GIS, reading about history, English and geography.

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Thanks for the support this year to the people below:

@The_Creative_Quitter

I am happy that there is some "new blood" on the forums again besides the old guard. New or old, we can always make our lives a bit better. I don't have time to read and post in all your topics, but in case you want to ask me anything, feel free to message me.

April 3, 2022

31st Mar - 3rd Mar:

I watched/read a bit of "news" on Friday and today, but both times only for a few minutes. I think it actually wasn't difficult for me to break the habit of checking it every few hours, as I had in mind the fact that it's just not useful for me.

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In other news, I should devise some 30-90 minute activities I can do whenever I am on an unexpected break (e.g. a lesson gets cancelled). This Friday it was very apparent - I got 3 hours of unexpected free time and I didn't do anything in particular with it. It's just about realizing the moment that I have free time unexpectedly, at which I might not be good at yet.

Now, I am a person who likes to take his time doing things and I don't like the feeling of being rushed, especially if there's something new I don't know how much time it takes or that takes a long time to do (e.g. writing). But even washing five plates and a pan in 30 minutes is on 95% better than to randomly do everything and nothing at the same time and hoping that I will do something useful.

Some random activities I can do in a few dozen minutes to make use of small chunks of time: reading a book, stretching, washing the dishes, showering, cleaning the room/making the bed

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I spent time with the Georgian girl and yesterday we went to the shooting range and did a bit of practice driving. I was instructing her in both cases, so it was somewhat stressful, but she's bright, fairly quick to learn and she enjoyed both activities.

I also have an interesting business proposal for the language school I work for, kind of becoming a semi-professional recruiter for them. I'm meeting them on Wednesday 6th, so I hope something meaningful comes out of it, so we all benefit.

I found out the last time I wrote the monthly report was two months ago, so I'm gonna put it to my calendar to do it the next week and set a monthly reminder too.

April 1, 2022

Reading (here) and hearing (one acquaintance) fasting this week, I decided to skip breakfast today. I had a few English classes and I could feel my brain progressively lag more and more as I was talking to my students and I also got a headache, so I decided to eat some food after and take a nap. Though I think it makes more sense to relate my troubles to the fact that in four days, the temperature dropped from 20 C (nearly reasonable T-shirt weather) to 0 C and snowing today 😄

Good luck!

March 30, 2022

28th Mar - 30th Mar:

So I have not watched any news for the last three days and spent the time on other things. I have to say it's tempting to "get informed", but the attention is simply best used elsewhere. If there is something really big that happens, other people will tell me about it anyway.

Nothing special otherwise - university, English classes, time with the Georgian girl, socializing... I wrote two emails regarding the pay rise today too, so I hope it will bear some fruit. If not, it's a good sign I should start working on my own marketing and seek advice.

March 28, 2022

I think it depends on the company you're with. Game reviews are going by done by people to people who are excited about the topic. It's as if you went to a bar and asked the regulars about alcohol - it's not exactly a mirror of the society as a whole, just a few guys who enjoy drinking more than the average person and that's why they are together.

The bigger issue is that I overall feel like the West has somewhat degenerated to solve non-issues (while I still think it's currently the best place to live in - I live in Czechia) and that many people have lost track of what's meaningful, because we have such abundance. I think that's why the nationality structure of GQ is what it is - mostly North America, Europe and then the occasional outlier. Many people in poorer countries just don't have the luxury of time or money to get addicted to games. One guy whom I listen to stated that the war in Ukraine might rudely awaken people in Europe/North America to solve relevant issues again, instead of microaggressions, genderism or climate change. I hope that will be the case.

As for encouraging addictive behavior, the solution is to say "no" or to change the environment and to be cool with the change even if nobody from the original environment joins you. Smokers and smokers-quitters can still get along quite well, as I've never seen anyone go together for a "smoking evening". Bar drinkers might meet again in some neutral venue without drinking, but it's far less likely that it'll work, as that's a big change. Online gamers have even less options - you just turn off the Internet and I stop existing in your world.

Environment and "quit drinking and someone will buy you a shot" reminded me of this article: https://www.raptitude.com/2017/07/wise-people-have-rules-for-themselves/

March 27, 2022

21st Mar - 27th Mar:

I decided I would visit my family only every second week, as spending 6-8 hours every week in one chunk is a lot of time. I want to have more time for myself and my own free-time projects.

I did more exercise/walking this week than usual, I also worked on some uni projects that were due. I also watched some videos about finance and investing with Warren Buffett.

I also decided to stop reading or watching the news. I know I had the idea before, that I blocked a few websites already and that I also read a few articles on the topic... the reason is that modern news is just entertainment with very little relevant informational value. I have several dozen e-mail newsletters that accumulated in my inbox over the last few months that I'd rather go through than randomly spending an hour on whatever news I come across. Or YT videos that can help me educate in the fields I want to be better at, such as finance, history or geography.

It's pointless to consume news that do not benefit me in any way.

March 20, 2022

13th Mar - 20th Mar:

I went to see the new Batman film, wrote an email asking for the pay raise, played in a table football tournament, was fairly physically active and spent time with the Georgian girl. I'm going to visit my family today and do some minor errands.

March 20, 2022

On 3/19/2022 at 2:40 PM, Amphibian220 said:

Basically, this new job is so overwhelming, it resembles playing a video game. My clothing, food and exercise quality went down to a bare minimum. I’ll work on weekends just to finish all of my work on time.

But worst of all, it enabled me to escape from one of the most pressing issues: communication skills. Just performing administrative work threw me back a lot in that regard, I can’t find a time to speak to somebody on issues that concern me.

Recently the work got very stressful and when somebody remarked about a mistake I made I was unusually defensive. Normally, I would take the time to listen to the feedback, but I interrupted. This was because there was a huge backlog and I felt like I was letting down the team. Well being defensive made me look rude and now I owe an apology.

I realized I need to resign after having completed my last assignments.

I mean, I have almost forgotten how does it feel to have a job I dislike. What do you have in mind to try out after you quit this job?

March 13, 2022

2nd Mar - 12th Mar:

I went with my brother for sushi to a new place, which promptly gave me diarrhea. Anyhow, I went to the opera with the Georgian girl and went ice-skating the last weekend. This weekend I've been working on school errands, preparing for my asks for pay rise and overall just relaxing and lounging around. I again feel as if the time is just flying by very fast.

March 11, 2022

Seconding what @Pochatok wrote. I hope you are enjoying the time on your own and with your girl and other friends, as am I.

March 2, 2022

20th Feb - 1st Mar:

I feel like the days are just flying by. I got myself a new dentist, because my old one retired. Everything seems to be going just fine, thankfully. I feel I have everything I need. Gratitude.

February 22, 2022

On 2/22/2022 at 1:20 PM, BooksandTrees said:

Are you officially dating this girl yet? Seems like a good match.

I believe she is the best match I've ever had. We don't call ourselves boyfriend and girlfriend, but we are exclusive. I think our relationship is getting into deeper layers too thanks to that.

February 20, 2022

6th Feb - 19th Feb:

I can't exactly say that anything important happened these past two weeks. I spend time with the Georgian girl basically daily, although I sometimes meet other friends as well. The university started again and the responsibilities have been quite busy - next week I have 27 hours of English teaching planned and 8 hours of university classes. I managed to go for a walk or to the gym a few times. I'm also helping grandma with a new phone and I got my tax papers done.

February 13, 2022

6th Feb - 13th Feb:

I don't think there's been anything noteworthy happening this week. In fact, I rather feel that I should start filing my tax report instead of thinking what to write here.

February 7, 2022

I'm aware I haven't been around writing much in the last few months. For comparison, my diary has pages 1-17 for 2019. 2020 has pages 18-36. 2021 has pages 37-42. I'll use this post as a repository for all the bigger summaries I've done. I actually haven't done one in 18 about months, though for those 18 months I did monthly reports. I'm gonna think of one now in a post below.

February 7, 2022

On 1/28/2022 at 7:58 PM, BooksandTrees said:

Glad to hear you found out. I had a similar issue with major depressive disorder and medication helped.

On 2/1/2022 at 11:28 AM, Amphibian220 said:

You won’t have to manage this the rest of your life. Your character is always changing the more work you put into it.

don't give me that negative outlook Jay, I’ll have none of it.

If you’re using it as an escape, then Don’t go to board games, get into the fight. How is your job, your family? What were your achievements man?

On 2/6/2022 at 11:35 PM, seriousjay said:

Pretending a mental health illness isn't a mental health illness doesn't a) not make it a mental health illness and b) make it go away.

I'm actually more positive and mature now than I have ever been.

I'm not using it as an escape. Rather, I am accepting that I have limitations because of a disorder that I have and I'm doing things in my life to set myself up for success in spite of it.

You should know that people have told me the things you're telling me, and it was destructive because it was distracting from the actual issue at play. Some cultures barely recognize mental health illnesses as a thing and people commit suicide every year because of it. They have issues that aren't their fault but they are told they are lazy, stupid, etc. and eventually give up. Exactly like I was told.

It's actually interesting that both of you old-timers have found out that it was not only gaming addiction that hampered your life, but that I'd say parallel to it, was a disease causing symptoms of its own. I think there's some merit to the rhetoric that @Amphibian220 is using and that it can work well, primarily on some singular issues or challenges, but if that approach fails a few times, it's worth thinking whether the issue is not somewhere else. Plus try-hard perseverance can be detrimental, especially while focusing on the wrong thing and while others are pushing you to do it. Right things have to be done for the right reasons, otherwise the things that are done don't matter.

February 5, 2022

I'm using the template I used the last time. 22/12/21 - 05/02/21

"L" will stand for the (last) plan/notes for this term. "T" will stand for done this term.

I added "Future goals/direction" to better reflect on the things I am trying to do and to add specificity. I will copy it and stick it somewhere where I can see it to remind myself whenever I feel aimless. I will also use different colors: blue for newly added goals/habits, green for completed/successful, orange for ongoing/some progress and red for ones I haven't worked on in that period.

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Active writing (blog/writings/journal):

L: I wrote a draft of an article the last week, though so far it's very disorganized. I started writing here in a new format, so I focus only on the most important events of the week.

T: I can't say I've written anything in the last months. All I've done was to work on a few uni projects that required us to write something, however I haven't actually written anything on my blog or in my uni paper. That's not necessarily bad; I'm just stating how things are.

Possible direction/goals:

Write on my blog.

Keep writing in my diary here twice/once a week.

Books/Reading articles:

L: I've not been reading anything much, only the occasional newsletter. I only watched a few lectures with Thomas Sowell.

T: I realized I actually do read quite a bit, it's mostly just not books. I'm currently reading one book on sex, but overall during the month I've gone through many articles on history, finance and current events, as well as my newsletters. I've actually decided to block one news outlet that I think I was reading too much for no real gain. Now I follow "Portal:Current events" on Wiki, where I can easily see world-wide news and access information without much bias.

Possible direction/goals:

Continue getting through the newsletters.

Family:

L: Outside of the situation where I visited my grandma to get my composure back at the beginning of the month, I don't think there have been any special occasions in or around my family.

T: I got us a board-game on Christmas that we sometimes play together during the weekends. I'm also helping my grandma to transition to a new phone operator and my brother helped me regarding some settings of my bike. It's a bit of a rare occasion, but I am not visiting my parents this weekend, because my father contracted CV a few days ago. My brother had an inconclusive test, but I am negative, so I'm visiting my grandma tomorrow.

Possible direction/goals:

Continue working on bettering the relationships with my family.

University:

L: I wouldn't have thought so at first, but working on the collaborative assignments has been a crap-shoot. I'm not particularly happy with their outcomes, although they are/were done sufficiently enough to get by. I'm happier with my own work and assignments and it seems I might not even have an exam this semester in the classical sense.

T: As I had guessed, the exam term ended for me by handing in some writing at the beginning of January, yet for most people it ends today, so I haven't really done much in the last month. I contacted one of the profs to be my tutor for my project/thesis. I also take part in our geography student's group, though we're not too active at the moment.

Possible direction/goals:

Find more sources for my upcoming masters' thesis.

Work on the assignments in a timely manner.

Exercise/movement:

L: This month has been slower, yet every week I went at least once for a walk and at least once to the gym.

T: It's been about the same this month.

Possible direction/goals:

Keep in shape.

English:

L: The number of classes has been around the same. In case I lose some courses, I won't replace them, as I think it might be more useful to learn to use my free time better than I do now and I can't just work to pass most of my time.

T: I worked around 110 hours this month; 65 and 30 for language schools and 15 for my private students.