Revit

@Cam Adair Uhh... This is too overwhelming. I have a long history of picking up on things and never finishing them and this probably will become one of them if I just jump in. It's not even about girls, I am confident enough to initiate a conversation on different topics, but we are talking about things I've never done before. Even when trying a new game, I play a dozen bot matches before jumping into online battles. This is just to get the feel of the game and learn some basic stuff, so when I get rekt, I would at least know how to get better. I don't have problems (I think I don't) talking to girls, I just don't meet many of them in my life. I am proud of my achievements and they give me the confidence to tackle new things. I am quite stubborn and persistent in achieving my goals, but I have to set a realistic goal first. The other problem that in relationships of any kind being persistent is not a key to success. Say, back at home some girls take for granted that you have to be persistent in winning them. The others don't think this way, but they will appreciate this quality if you don't cross any lines. While here it is considered creepy, clingy and needy. Honestly, I even never heard the expression "trying too hard" until I came here. How can you even "try too hard"?

Changing habits is tricky, because you need to know what drives you and how to cut it out. My rule of thumb of quitting on bad habits is to make it difficult get back to them. For example I tried to quit spending time on social networks. Simply stopping to do so is impossible for me, so I did the following: First, I figured out that I can't absolutely quit using social networks. But I noticed that mindlessly browsing the web unconsciously brings me back checking someone's vacation pictures, which makes me sad and miserable. So I made a rule to log out from the social networks, so I could stop myself from wasting another 30 minutes of my time while putting in the password. Also, I unsubscribed from all friends and group notifications. I uninstalled the app from my phone. And now I feel liberated. I didn't cut out social networks completely, but I do them in moderation.

@Cam Adair Yes, I thought about salsa or bachata. It is a popular social dance and it perfectly fits the description. However I never was really interested in dancing. As a classic nerd, I don't like dancing and I feel anxious on the dance floor. So imagine me showing up in a salsa class, where you have to do that with a partner. Also, I don't enjoy Hispanic music (yet), it is too cheerful to my taste Acro yoga especially seems that you need a GF, no just a random partner to practice it. The problem with these activities is that I have never been genuinely interested in them, thus I will not be consistent. More over that, I will look like a horny nerd trying to score with chicks - which is correct, because this is my main incentive to pick up on these things. And I am too afraid to relapse again once I encounter this kind of challenge. But I have a plan. I want to let these hobbies to go through my system, to become part of my personality. At first, I am going to learn some basic moves and become more familiar with my body and what drives me in dancing, Once I am comfortable with the basic stuff - and I am sure I don't need dance like a pro to enjoy it - I will go to a club just to dance. The anxiety is only in my head, but this is the only way to gain the confidence. And after that, I will probably join a salsa class. By the way, do you have any ideas on hobbies that would involve conversing? I became quite fluent in English, but in order to become bilingual, I have to practice much more...

@username17 Sounds like a good old gamer habit to "optimize stuff". I have gtx 960 and this bothered me a little bit too. Try to rationalize the purchase if you want. For example I am not worrying about the video card not being used, because I had plenty of fun with it for the money I spent. Also, just recently I spent much more on a vacation, which was the absolute disaster. Meaning, this was a huge waste. Also you can sell the video card and other parts that will not be used for everyday work. Besides that, you still can game with a potato PC, your cellphone, etc. The temptation will be always near, but you have to keep being strong. The key is not fixate on the avoiding gaming, but on realization that you can do better things with your time. The feeling you are looking for is "playing video games sounds fun, but I think I can do something more meaningful".

@username17 I am sort of having the same concerns. I have a gaming PC (more like a potato with a good video card) which I was thinking to sell in order to buy a cool looking PC without a video card. But I did some research and figured out that selling my PC is a bad idea, because nobody wants to buy a used computer for an acceptable price, unless it is a Mac. So I decided to keep the PC and just to make it harder get back to playing games. I installed basic video drivers, deleted Steam and other gaming accounts, sold gaming devices. The rest depends on my willpower. Also having Linux as a primary OS could be a good idea.

@WorkInProgress My main reason to quit gaming is to expand my social circle, find a GF and make my life more interesting, so when somebody asks me a question "what did you do on the weekend", I wouldn't need to cover up the fact the I played video games non stop and enjoyed it more than anything else. Not that I think it is a bad activity, but the society believes that it is. Besides, whenever I think about how to make more friends and find a GF, I ask my self questions like "what could I bring on the table as person", "am I an interesting person to talk to". I came to conclusion, that even I wouldn't have a great time talking to myself. That's my goal, I want to quit gaming to fix the areas of my life I am missing out on. This means I have to find another hobby. This becomes a little bit complicated. I don't have a permanent status in Canada, and for the last three years it's been my goal to get one. This is actually one of the factors that contributes to my daily share of frustration, especially in the light of billions of taxpayer's money (and I am one of the taxpayers) spent on Syrian refugees, and other economical immigrants to accommodate them. While I am already here, I am educated, I have a job and more or less integrated into Canadian society - I don't need any accommodation money, I just need a piece of paper that says that nobody will kick me out of here. I think I used to play games a lot to escape from these thoughts. I don't want to go back very bad. At this very moment I've done everything I could to facilitate the immigration process and all I have to do now is to wait, grind and save as much money as I can, because if the project fails, I have to go back home. In this case I need to make sure that I at least saved as much money as I've spent on the tuition. The bottom line is that I make enough (well it is never enough...) money to achieve this goal, but I can't justify other expenditures. This is requirement number one. My hobby has to be cheap. The other requirement of the new hobby is that it has to be social. Reading, 3D modelling, music making, learning a music instrument, working out - these are activities I would give a shot to, but these are all solitary hobbies. I need a hobby where I can meet new people, especially girls. I think a perfect hobby will be dancing. Also, I am open to suggestions. The last requirement is not really a requirement to a hobby, but I need to find some activities to went off stress.

@hycniejsy I could not agree more! I have so many good memories about gaming, but I also remember times when video gaming negatively impacted my life. Even though right now it does not impact me that bad, I used spend more time playing than I could afford...

Congrats tovarish! It is quite difficult to quit with such a long "history" between you and gaming; it's remarkable that you found strength to do that. Good luck and all the best!

@Falky Sometimes HRs do a web search on an applicant's name. My name is quite unique in the given context and that would be easy to match the name with the person. I am not sure if Cam allowed search bots to scan the forum... But besides that all my 2.5 friends know about my little project. They all play games, but I am the only one who does not want to resist the urges of life pleasures abuse. They are aware about all my attempts to quit gaming, so now it has become an inside joke . In any case, that would make more sense to talk and joke about the struggles of game quitting with people who are going or went through it! @Cam Adair Hey! I currently live in Toronto as well!

Thanks! I tried to delete Steam 3-4 times since beggining of this year to stop gaming. That didn't work, because as soon as I felt boring, I could install it back. When I cannot stop eating sweets, drinking booze or smoking pot, the solution is easy - I need to finish it up or throw away. If it is not easy accessible, I won't bother getting it to satisfy my cravings. With gaming it is harder though, because it has been in my system for years, not days.

Today is my 4th week of the detox. The first week was easy. I just smoked pot all the weekend and didn't even attempted to play games. Not bad for starters, but this kind of hobby will screw me up in the long run. Besides, this is not the way I want to spend my free time. On the second week I kinda slipped off. I played Hearthstone, World of Tanks and some mobile games. I don't consider this is as real gaming, because Hearthstone is frustrating, WoT is boring and mobile games... well they are not real games :)) I deleted the games though. Also, I found videos if this dude, Cam. Let's extend my detox from 1 month to 90 days. On the third week I started to go to gym more consistently. I am so freaking soar. Also, started to watch TV shows much more and picked on gaming videos. Sometimes I have dreams of me playing Dark Souls 3. Also, I praise the sun - well the winter is still and it is April already! The forth week was pretty much like the third one. I still have the dreams about Dark Souls. I still praise the sun. Once and while I dream about how I am going to play some games after the detox. After that I usually think that this still will be the summer time and it is better to spend it outdoors, or, you know, DOING SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE. Also, I have to go easy on gaming videos... But maaan, this dude plays Smite so good. May be pick up on reading again? Not a bad idea. Also, let's check out game quitters forum for some inspiration and useful thoughts of other quitters.

Hey fellow quitters,My name is Vincent. It's not my real name though, because I don't want my future offsprings or, god forbid, my future wife to find this confession haha. But if figured that joining this forum and putting my thoughts into sentences will help me with the detox. I am on my 27th day by the way - just yesterday I asked my friend to check for how long I was gone on Steam. Yep, 27 days. It actually feels like it has been forever since I indulged into video gaming. Quitting gaming was my subconscious new 2016 year resolution. I think it's a perfect time for this change. I am finally emotionally and financially stable, and overall independent. For the last decade gaming was the only cost effective hobby, that could entertain better than anything else. I was a poor student in a 3rd world country and $10 for World Of Warcraft subscription was the price for fun I could afford. And it was better and more productive than alcoholism! Three years ago I moved to Canada to pursue my dream of immigrating to this country and I became even more broke than ever, despite the stereotype about international students. The need in a cheep hobby still remained real. Also, I had no time and language skills for having fun in other ways. Anyway, twenty seven days ago I tossed my Steam account with all the games into the void. I am still bleeding inside though, it feels like a huge waste to throw away a $600 game library with 700+ hours of gaming time potential. But it was the right decision, because being hung up on "cost efficiency" of gaming doesn't do any good for me now. Because, you know, gaming is addictive.