NEW VIDEO: I Quit MMOs and THIS Happened
FDRx7
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Posts posted by FDRx7
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Day 22 - Wednesday (yesterday)
Summary:
Yesterday was another good day, although I feel like lately in the evenings I have had less time for hobbies. Part of that is probably because I'm finally starting to get ready for bed at a reasonable hour. And that's okay, I really do need to sleep. Still, I've been doing a lot of cooking this week and walking the dog, both of which I've classified as hobbies. Additionally, now that I've started eating better, my workouts feel a bit more purposeful; I finally feel I'm providing my body with the fuel it needs to repair and build.
I switched up the Top 3 goal again to just be "Next Actions List" because I feel I'm putting too much restraint on how I go about determining priorities for the day and what constittutes success. My Next Actions list is the lifeblood of my work, and if I'm not staying close to that and keeping it up to date, I can't trust the system - and I won't know what I should be working on. So I'm focusing less on the number of things and more on making it a consistent habit to work closely with this list, both personally and professionally.
I was a bit distracted today because I received a possible job offer for a position I've been interested in for a long time. I'm not sure if it will go through yet because I still need to interview, but I will pursue it to the fullest. I wrote about this in @Vee's journal yesterday, but I mentioned how we are hard-wired to resist change. Well, if I'm honest, I'm somewhat afraid that I'll get the new position. I'm used to my current routine, coworkers, type of work, etc. I will not let it stop me as this might be the only time this opportunity ever comes my way. So, I'm going to let myself feel that fear and move forward anyways. I know that my current employer would welcome me back if things didn't work out, as I have a good reputation there.
Adding a new gratitude section.
Gratitude:
- Time I was able to spend with my wife since she has been on nights lately
- A possible career opportunity to do something new that I've always been interested in
- The ability to move, be healthy, stretch, use my muscles, and walk outside with my dog
PROGRESS UPDATES:
Habits to Kick:
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YouTube (Day 36):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: No changes needed but continue to fill the void, and with activities from hobbies list.
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Excessive Streaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Find new ways to spend time when you need passive entertainment. Add a tag to your task list to filter for those.
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Excessive Podcast Listening:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did well. Listened to two that I was interested in. I listened to the second one while doing some mindless things for work which, was fine, but I'm not sure I still want to do that as even though it was mindless, I could still feel this slight push/pull between the two for my attention.
- Plan: Continue to listen only to podcasts I am truly interested in. I will try to keep from listening to podcasts I've used just for background. If I need background, I can put on light jazz or Brain.FM while working. Be aware of the physical and emotional sensation and name it when you feel stressed.
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Excessive Gaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not game.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Set a time limit if you do play by yourself (1-2 hours). If with friends, keep it only to a Friday or Saturday and do your best to log off at a reasonable hour.
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Excessive Drinking (Day 45):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not drink alcohol.
- Plan: Continue current behavior.
Habits to Start:
I will add to this as I determine new habits and their action plans.
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Journal (physical journal):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Completed!
- Plan: I will continue to journal before getting ready for bed. I want to try and establish it as a pattern before bed.
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Game Quitters Journal:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Filling it out now.
- Plan: Continue filling out journal each day. Doesn't seem to matter if it's the same day or the next, as long as each day is entered.
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Healthy Ways to Fill the Void:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Yesterday was a rest day on my workout schedule, but I took the dog for a walk. I also made a quick dinner from last night's leftovers. Didn't have a ton of time for anything else yesterday - I guess that's just how it all shook out.
- Plan: Continue routine and choose activities. Reading is good, but also being comfortable doing nothing while listening to music (or just sitting) is fine too. Plan activities for when you have low energy.
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Next Actions List:
- Adherence: ★★★☆☆
- Description: I know I keep changing this... but I need to find something that works. I think the 3 items is too arbitrary for me because this varies from day to day on what is important/what I have time for. I think the best thing to do is focus on working closely with my next actions list. When I lose track of that, I lose track of how many/what I should be doing that day. So I'm going to take a step back from the number and focus more on the list again. Yesterday I did do some important tasks but would like to work closer to the next actions list. So, I'm giving three stars for a moderate success.
- Plan: Focus on staying close to your next actions list. Consistently working from this is going to help you stay on track.
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Consistent Bedtime:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Sat down to journal at 9:45pm. I was in bed by 11:04pm and fell asleep by around 11:40, so my sleep is getting better I got about 6.5 hours last night and I'm feeling more rested. Once I am able to fall asleep sooner after getting in bed, I should be able to hit that 7 hours.
- Plan: Continue to start getting ready for bed at 10pm (or 9:45). This should include your time for journaling. Read your novel in bed. Push back the time as needed.
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Eating Schedule:
- Adherence: No scoring yet
- Description: Again, ate every planned meal (breakfast, snack 1, lunch, snack 2, dinner). I think my body is still getting used to the higher protein intake but it's good. I think I'll give it a few more days to a week and then I'll begin scoring.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Adjust meals as necessary (type, amount, timing, etc.)
List of Hobbies I can choose from ( I will continue expanding this as I rediscover old hobbies and find new ones )
- Listening to and/or caring for records
- Reading
- Writing (notes from reading, etc.)
- Working on my cars
- Socializing
- Foreign language study
- Cooking
- Walking the dog
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YouTube (Day 36):
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Good to see you on again. The plan looks good!
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Day 21 - Tuesday
Summary:
Not a huge update for today. Work went better than I thought, as I had a great conversation getting to know a key stakeholder on our project. I worked out my upper body, walked the dog with my wife, made us some dinner, and now the day is over. It went fast today for some reason!
I adhered to my eating schedule, which was huge. I feel much better having eaten consistently throughout the day. Now I'm hoping to continue this behavior; I'm sure there will be some peaks and valleys, but I'm determined to fix this like all the other things. I'm feeling such a great transformation from this journey, I want to keep pushing.
The graphs are trending in the right direction...
PROGRESS UPDATES:
Habits to Kick:
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YouTube (Day 35):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: No changes needed but continue to fill the void, and with activities from hobbies list.
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Excessive Streaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Find new ways to spend time when you need passive entertainment. Add a tag to your task list to filter for those.
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Excessive Podcast Listening:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did very well. Listened to a podcast or two while exercising and once or twice in the house.
- Plan: Continue to listen only to podcasts I am truly interested in. I will try to keep from listening to podcasts I've used just for background. If I need background, I can put on light jazz or Brain.FM while working. Be aware of the physical and emotional sensation and name it when you feel stressed.
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Excessive Gaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not game.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Set a time limit if you do play by yourself (1-2 hours). If with friends, keep it only to a Friday or Saturday and do your best to log off at a reasonable hour.
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Excessive Drinking (Day 44):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not drink alcohol.
- Plan: Continue current behavior.
Habits to Start:
I will add to this as I determine new habits and their action plans.
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Journal (physical journal):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Completed!
- Plan: I will continue to journal before getting ready for bed. I want to try and establish it as a pattern before bed. Now that I cannot stream or watch passive entertainment, I hope to be more consistent.
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Game Quitters Journal:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Filling it out now.
- Plan: Continue filling out journal each day. Doesn't seem to matter if it's the same day or the next, as long as each day is entered.
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Healthy Ways to Fill the Void:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Cooked a nice dinner and did Upper Body A workout. Planning to read in bed to fall asleep.
- Plan: Continue routine and choose activities. Reading is good, but also being comfortable doing nothing while listening to music (or just sitting) is fine too. Plan activities for when you have low energy.
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Complete 3 Important Tasks:
- Adherence: ★★★★☆
- Description: Completed about 2-3 important things, but I feel it was a good day with some productive planning/conversations with the client, hence the four stars. I'm trying to get better here and I think making the effort to stay connected to my task list and the priorities of the day is helping. Still not able to complete any personal ones today.
- Plan: Workday, first thing choose your 3 important tasks. Continue to pay attention to scheduling your personal ones so you are more likely to remember and commit. Give yourself grace on what is considered priority because you need to account for shifting priorities throughout the day. Switch to completing 3 important things from your Next Actions list, in no particular order of priority.
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Consistent Bedtime:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Sat down to journal at 10pm. I'm doing Game Quitters tonight so I have a little more time in the morning, but I"m flexible on that. Planning to complete my nightly routine after this.
- Plan: Continue to start getting ready for bed at 10pm (can even try 9:45). This should include your time for journaling. Read your novel in bed. Push back the time as needed.
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Eating Schedule:
- Adherence: No scoring yet
- Description: Ate every planned meal today (breakfast, snack 1, lunch, snack 2, dinner). Hoping to do the same tomorrow, I felt really good today.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Adjust meals as necessary (type, amount, timing, etc.)
List of Hobbies I can choose from ( I will continue expanding this as I rediscover old hobbies and find new ones )
- Listening to and/or caring for records
- Reading
- Writing (notes from reading, etc.)
- Working on my cars
- Socializing
- Foreign language study
- Cooking
- Walking the dog
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YouTube (Day 35):
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That's great! At least you are familiar with the process of seeking 🙂 . I think the weight training is a great idea too, but I'm glad you're open to so many new experiences. That mindset will be a great asset to you.
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Thanks! Sure, give it a shot! If it becomes burdensome, then of course drop it so that you will at least still journal. However, it’s mostly a lot of copy-paste even though it looks like a lot of writing. Just updates mostly to each one and tweaking the Plan portion as needed.
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15 hours ago, Vee said:
Somehow missed this yesterday! Thanks for the link - I will have a look at the workout stuff, but probably file it away for a bit.
No problem! I think a moderator had to approve because I posted a link, so there was a bit of a delay.
15 hours ago, Vee said:I really just want to get into a bit more of a routine. I get so stuck on the idea of "oh, I'm just inherently terrible at routines" but I wonder if I'm just particularly bad at change, since I do mostly manage to stick to the "routine" of being on my computer all day. I'm great with large changes though (moving house, switching jobs, etc), and to be fair I suspect the main reason I have managed to jog somewhat regularly this year is because I have no routine with it - no regular time, no regular days.
People are hard-wired to resist change. Our routines provide us a level of comfort and moving out of them makes us uncomfortable until that new one provides the same assurances that the old one did. So not to worry, you aren't alone. Just give yourself some grace as you slowly shift your routines and know that the feeling of being uncomfortable is totally natural.
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9 hours ago, wheatbiscuit said:
Since yesterday, I've wondered how it would be if I went back to my old job (evening shifts in a pizza shop, now far away) AND my old gaming ways, seeing as that job in fitness remains a fantasy, and my parents, whilst having some nice ideas, aren't really able to help me along with them.
Also hoping your appointment goes well! I went through a big struggle in my life trying to find the right career. I don't think that's completely over, but it's better than it was. I won't go into specifics because I feel like people who know me would instantly recognize me if I wrote it out, but essentially I jumped from humanities, to a trade, and now to business (to keep it general). I considered business to be something I would never do, that it was the last thing on my list. However, certain circumstances necessitated that I change my career. Having been in this one for almost 3 years now, I can say that it taught me a great lesson about passion.
I used to believe you had to have a pre-existing passion for something in order to want to do it as a career. However, I slowly learned that you become passionate about things over time as you get better at them. I used to hate what I do right now but the better I become, the more I liked it. Now, I relatively enjoy it. I wouldn't say I get up every day because I "can't imagine doing anything else" (I think sometimes those are some self-deluded business gurus with unbalanced lives who say things like that). I like it because I've grown in my skill and, more importantly, I feel that what I do is generally important and that I provide a service which helps people. Mind that I did not think this for the first year. It took time to see this after understanding the profession.
I guess my long-winded comment is to say that having interest in something before starting is great, and can lead to a "passion" career. More commonly though, people end up with passion after growing their skills. They then falsely attribute this to having had a passion for it before, but this is the fog of memory. I would say if you can, give yourself the chance to try something new and grow your skills. You might find out you like whatever that thing is! And if you don't? Then that's okay too. 🙂
Good luck on the appointment and keep it up!
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Day 20 - Monday (yesterday)
Summary:
Cooked a great meal yesterday for my wife. To get in the spirit of Autumn, I bought a ready-to-bake stuffed pork loin and a butternut squash. I chopped the latter into cubes and roasted but the it yielded so much that it almost took longer than the pork to roast! It was a great meal though. I also got back to exercising after resting my shoulder last week. I started with my lower body. It felt great to resume, but man my legs were tired! I'm happy that I was able to fuel my body better today. I was very good about eating - except breakfast. I skipped breakfast but had a mid-morning shake/edamame, lunch, an afternoon shake, dinner, and cottage cheese before bed. It was certainly at least double what I ate the day before.
My sleep is getting better. I was using Alarmy to get me out of bed, but it's so intense that I believe it wakes me up during deep sleep and then I end up feeling very tired. This time I tried Sleep Cycle, which purportedly wakes you up during a light phase of sleep. I think it helped, though I'm still tired this morning. It could just be that I need more sleep or that my sleep wasn't restful enough. I'm not sure if the cottage cheese before bed disturbed my sleep or if it's unrelated; I wanted to ensure that I had some fuel overnight for my body to rebuild. I'll keep tracking since the app shows data and I can take sleep notes. I'm also doing my sleep journal in the morning, so that helps.
There are ups and downs, but I feel that my life is improving. I wrote in my physical journal last night that we only have so much time here on Earth and I am tired of wasting it on meaningless content online that doesn't improve or edify me in any way. I am determined to defeat this and emerge from my 90-day journey a changed man. I can already see it, only 20 days in (well, 30-ish for YouTube, but still). In fact, I even inspired my wife who last night asked me if I could block YouTube on her phone like she did for me! She has always been much better than me about moderation online, but she told me she was starting to watch a bit more than she wanted to and would like me to set a screen-time pass code on her phone. Now we hold the keys to each other's YouTube access.
I cannot advocate enough for blockers. At first it's hard but, eventually, you begin to forget about the content. In fact, if you read my journal entries up until now, you can see a dwindling focus on YouTube, streaming, etc. and increasingly a focus on what I am actively doing now instead. It's not that the activities and void-filling actions are perfect, but I've begun to shift from what I don't have to what I can do. I think that's huge.
PROGRESS UPDATES:
Habits to Kick:
-
YouTube (Day 34):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: No changes needed but continue to fill the void, and with activities from hobbies list.
-
Excessive Streaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Find new ways to spend time when you need passive entertainment. Add a tag to your task list to filter for those.
-
Excessive Podcast Listening:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did very well. Listened to a podcast or two while exercising and once or twice in the house but mostly music after that.
- Plan: Continue to listen only to podcasts I am truly interested in. I will try to keep from listening to podcasts I've used just for background. If I need background, I can put on light jazz or Brain.FM while working. Be aware of the physical and emotional sensation and name it when you feel stressed.
-
Excessive Gaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not game.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Set a time limit if you do play by yourself (1-2 hours). If with friends, keep it only to a Friday or Saturday and do your best to log off at a reasonable hour.
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Excessive Drinking (Day 43):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not drink alcohol.
- Plan: Continue current behavior.
Habits to Start:
I will add to this as I determine new habits and their action plans.
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Journal (physical journal):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Completed!
- Plan: I will continue to journal before getting ready for bed. I want to try and establish it as a pattern before bed. Now that I cannot stream or watch passive entertainment, I hope to be more consistent.
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Game Quitters Journal:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Filling it out now.
- Plan: Continue filling out journal each day. Doesn't seem to matter if it's the same day or the next, as long as each day is entered.
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Healthy Ways to Fill the Void:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Cooked a nice dinner and did Lower Body B workout. Read in bed to fall asleep.
- Plan: Continue routine and choose activities. Reading is good, but also being comfortable doing nothing while listening to music (or just sitting) is fine too. Plan activities for when you have low energy.
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Complete 3 Important Tasks:
- Adherence: ★★☆☆☆
- Description: Something still isn't working here... I get some things done, the day sometimes slips away. I think it depends on the workday. Maybe I really need to focus on completing important tasks as focusing only on Next Actions doesn't always imply that.
- Plan: Workday, first thing choose your 3 important tasks. Continue to pay attention to scheduling your personal ones so you are more likely to remember and commit. Give yourself grace on what is considered priority because you need to account for shifting priorities throughout the day. Switch to completing 3 important things from your Next Actions list, in no particular order of priority.
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Consistent Bedtime:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Giving 5 stars because I adhered to the schedule and started to journal at 10pm. I included stretching in my routine, so I was in bed at 11:15, a little later than my goal of falling asleep, but it was worth it to stretch. I got 6 hours last night and will keep pushing to move the time back as needed to get the best sleep I can.
- Plan: Continue to start getting ready for bed at 10pm (can even try 9:45). This should include your time for journaling. Read your novel in bed. Push back the time as needed.
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Eating Schedule:
- Adherence: No scoring yet
- Description: Didn't prepare meals ahead of time but I did adhere much closer to my ideal - skipped breakfast, ate lunch, had two shakes, ate dinner, and had cottage cheese before bed.
- Plan: Tonight, make some of the food you need for tomorrow/the week - breakfast stuff, shakes, and lunch. Set schedule.
List of Hobbies I can choose from ( I will continue expanding this as I rediscover old hobbies and find new ones )
- Listening to and/or caring for records
- Reading
- Writing (notes from reading, etc.)
- Working on my cars
- Socializing
- Foreign language study
- Cooking
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YouTube (Day 34):
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Day 19 - Sunday (yesterday)
Summary:
Good day overall. I spent time going to the tea shop and bought a bunch of sampler teas to get me started, as well as the Lapsang Suchong I set out for. My wife and I went to see Howl's Moving Castle in theaters as part of the Studio Ghibli Celebration. That was fun, as I had never seen it before. I tried to do some of my weekly review for my task management system, but only partially succeeded. I did get through about half of it though. Importantly, I applied for a new job. I've been feeling like this company I'm currently at is not working for me anymore (I've been feeling this way for a long time), but I've been too afraid to apply to other places. It was much easier for me to run away from that by watching YouTube. Now, I have time to do this. I have a goal to apply for one job a day. I doubt I will hit this everyday, but it is something to strive for. I've asked for a raise at work and it has been delayed since February. I'll bring it up again but in tandem I need to take control of my future. I've done a lot for the company and I am not seeing the return.
I went to sleep quite late, mostly because the movie ended later. That's fine, but I realized 5 hours is not enough sleep for me. I need to start getting ready for bed at 10 at the latest and be asleep by 11 to get 7 hours. I don't seem to have too much trouble these days falling asleep once I'm in bed, so I just need to be disciplined enough to get in there on time.
I do think my brain fog is slowly clearing. I think I'm starting to remember things better and I'm searching for words less often. I'm still somewhat scatterbrained though. My brain feels like sometimes it's in 4 places at once. My wife had to repeat a sentence she said to me because I cruised right by something it - not because I meant to but because my brain was moving quickly and thinking about a solution based on something I read. I felt bad because it wasn't on purpose, and she understood. My therapist told me not to focus on it too much yet, but there is a possibility of ADD/ADHD. However, she said it could be simply distractability that I've trained myself into, so I need to just monitor it as I make all these changes to see if it improves as my habits do. She said normally she can tell early on if a patient has it and did not sense that with me, but that we should not rule it out completely. I'm sure that the auto-play and switching from videos I don't like has trained my brain to constantly seek something novel, even if I don't want it to do that. Right now, my focus should be on altering behaviors and habits. Once I've had time to sit with those, we can revisit the ADD/ADHD topic if the behavior persists. I'm not concerned if that turns out to be true. I just want the scatter-brained feeling to stop and for focus to increase, however that might be remedied.
PROGRESS UPDATES:
Habits to Kick:
-
YouTube (Day 33):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: No changes needed but continue to fill the void, and with activities from hobbies list.
-
Excessive Streaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Find new ways to spend time when you need passive entertainment. Add a tag to your task list to filter for those.
-
Excessive Podcast Listening:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did very well. Only listened to 1.5 podcasts - in the car and while doing some mundane tasks.
- Plan: Continue to listen only to podcasts I am truly interested in. I will try to keep from listening to podcasts I've used just for background. If I need background, I can put on light jazz or Brain.FM while working. Be aware of the physical and emotional sensation and name it when you feel stressed.
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Excessive Gaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not game.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Set a time limit if you do play by yourself (1-2 hours). If with friends, keep it only to a Friday or Saturday and do your best to log off at a reasonable hour.
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Excessive Drinking (Day 42):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not drink alcohol.
- Plan: Continue current behavior.
Habits to Start:
I will add to this as I determine new habits and their action plans.
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Journal (physical journal):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Completed a journal entry recapping the day.
- Plan: I will continue to journal before getting ready for bed. I want to try and establish it as a pattern before bed. Now that I cannot stream or watch passive entertainment, I hope to be more consistent.
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Game Quitters Journal:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Filling it out now.
- Plan: Continue filling out journal each day. Doesn't seem to matter if it's the same day or the next, as long as each day is entered.
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Healthy Ways to Fill the Void:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Changed the name to more accurately reflect the type of behavior I desire (it doesn't have to just be a hobby - it can be spending quality time with friends/family/my wife, relaxing quietly, going for a walk, etc.). Spent time with my wife watching Howl's Moving Castle in theaters as part of the Studio Ghibli Celebration. Went to the tea shop as planned and tried to do some of my weekly review for my task management.
- Plan: Continue routine and choose activities. Reading is good, but also being comfortable doing nothing while listening to music (or just sitting) is fine too. Plan activities for when you have low energy.
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Complete 3 Next Actions:
- Adherence: ★★★★☆
- Description: Got two of my tasks done including applying for a job, which was a big step.
- Plan: Continue to pay attention to scheduling your personal ones so you are more likely to remember and commit. Give yourself grace on what is considered priority because you need to account for shifting priorities throughout the day. Maybe switch to completing 3 things from your Next Actions list, in no particular order of priority. That's probably better than stressing to adhere to too rigid a framework.
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Consistent Bedtime:
- Adherence: ★★★☆☆
- Description: Better. Completed my evening routine, but went to bed very late because I stayed up later with my wife. I don't regret that time spent, but I only got about 5 hours of sleep by the time I was in bed, which is not enough. I'm still kind of groggy. To get 7, I need to be asleep by 11. I usually fall asleep pretty quickly. That means I've got to start getting ready by 10 at the latest.
- Plan: Set a timer for 10pm to start getting ready for bed. This should include your time for journaling. Read your novel in bed. Try to start walking back by 15 min increments every few days or week.
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Eating Schedule:
- Adherence: No scoring yet
- Description: Didn't get a chance due to everything yesterday to fully prepare meals, but I intend to do so today. I also still need to get specific about the times to eat.
- Plan: Tonight, make some of the food you need for tomorrow/the week - breakfast stuff, shakes, and lunch. Set schedule.
List of Hobbies I can choose from ( I will continue expanding this as I rediscover old hobbies and find new ones )
- Listening to and/or caring for records
- Reading
- Writing (notes from reading, etc.)
- Working on my cars
- Socializing
- Foreign language study
- Cooking
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YouTube (Day 33):
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Day 18 - Saturday (yesterday)
Summary:
Yesterday was a mix of good and not so good... The good was that I went out and spent about 2.5 hours sifting through records at the record store. Because the store is moving, they are having a sale where on Fridays and Saturdays until the end of the month, you can fill up a crate/box full of records for only $10. I've already been there twice and purchased two boxes 🙂 . I stocked up on classical music because my wife and I like to put that on while reading. I also grabbed some older 78rpms which most people don't want, but I like big band stuff so it works out for me. I also bought two books on sale that I'd like to read. I have a large lineup of books right now, but I had been thinking of those for a while and bought them at a good price.
I went to the grocery store and did a big stock-up for the week. I grabbed everything I need to start executing on my meal plan. I'm beginning with a schedule where I eat breakfast and then a "second breakfast" to encourage me to eat more but in smaller portions. There are two snack periods as well as lunch and dinner. I can also have some cottage cheese before bed. I think this rigidity will help me to begin eating better to meet my goals. The only thing I need to do today is set the exact times for when to eat these. I want to prepare it all tonight. So for example, I'm going to make two protein shakes ahead of time and refrigerate them in mason jars. Then, when the timer goes off, I just pull them out of the fridge. No worrying about taking time from work to prepare them.
The not-so-good yesterday was that I ended up watching more streaming last night, but nothing I was really interested in. I realized it was just something to do while I ate my food. Whether the meal is simple or complex, I should really be eating at the table and just enjoy the meal. Furthermore, I fell asleep down there which always bothers my allergies and is never a restful sleep. So, I blocked all streaming for the remainder of the 90 days. I wish I had done it yesterday like I said I would, but that's alright. It's done now.
I used to drink a lot of tea back in the day, and I think that fell off when I started drinking alcohol. As part of my no-alcohol journey during these 90 days, I want to reinvigorate my love for tea. There is a mocktail that uses Lapsang Suchong tea to mimic an Old Fashioned. I'm hoping the tea shop down the street has it, but I want to go there anyways to reignite that interest. I was reading in a small book the other week that tea can become like wine; there is an incredible depth of varieties, flavors, tasting notes, smells, colors, etc. I'd like to cultivate that taste.
PROGRESS UPDATES:
Habits to Kick:
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YouTube (Day 32):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: No changes needed but continue to fill the void, and with activities from hobbies list.
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Excessive Streaming:
- Adherence: ★★☆☆☆
- Description: Didn't block it like I said I was going to yesterday.... I didn't watch a lot, but I fell asleep with it on and woke up on the basement couch. Really annoyed at myself for this. I know I was tired, but that's not how I want to spend my night. I set the strict block on all computers just now, so I cannot watch streaming until Dec 6.
- Plan: Blocked. Find new ways to spend time when you need passive entertainment. Add a tag to your task list to filter for those.
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Excessive Podcast Listening:
- Adherence: ★★★★☆
- Description: Did pretty good here. Listened while putting away groceries and a little bit in the car, but that's about it.
- Plan: Continue to listen only to podcasts I am truly interested in. I will try to keep from listening to podcasts I've used just for background. If I need background, I can put on light jazz or Brain.FM while working. Be aware of the physical and emotional sensation and name it when you feel stressed.
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Excessive Gaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not game.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Set a time limit if you do play by yourself (1-2 hours). If with friends, keep it only to a Friday or Saturday and do your best to log off at a reasonable hour.
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Excessive Drinking (Day 41):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not drink alcohol. Bought a bunch of ingredients last night to continue developing my mocktail skills! I would also like to get back into tea. I used to drink a lot of it, and all kinds. There is a tea shop right down the street. I think I'll go there today.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Check out the tea shop to expand your taste in tea.
Habits to Start:
I will add to this as I determine new habits and their action plans.
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Journal (physical journal):
- Adherence: ☆☆☆☆☆
- Description: Didn't journal because I fell asleep in the basement...
- Plan: I will continue to journal before getting ready for bed. I want to try and establish it as a pattern before bed. Now that I cannot stream or watch passive entertainment, I hope to be more consistent.
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Game Quitters Journal:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Filling it out now.
- Plan: Continue filling out journal each day. Doesn't seem to matter if it's the same day or the next, as long as each day is entered.
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Picking a Healthy Hobby:
- Adherence: ★★★★☆
- Description: Other than the streaming I wrote about above, I was out and bought a bunch of records ($10 to fill up a box! Pretty cool), planned the meal schedule for the week, and did grocery shopping. While I wouldn't call grocery shopping a hobby, it was certainly something important to do that set me up for the week.
- Plan: Continue routine and choose activities. Reading is good, but also being comfortable doing nothing while listening to music (or just sitting) is fine too. Plan hobbies for when you have low energy.
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Pick Top 3 to Complete:
- Adherence: ★★★☆☆
- Description: I didn't actually sit down to choose top 3, though I got some important things done yesterday.
- Plan: Continue to pay attention to scheduling your personal ones so you are more likely to remember and commit. Give yourself grace on what is considered priority because you need to account for shifting priorities throughout the day. Maybe switch to completing 3 things from your Next Actions list, in no particular order of priority. That's probably better than stressing to adhere to too rigid a framework.
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Consistent Bedtime:
- Adherence: ★☆☆☆☆
- Description: Only giving one star because I didn't stay up super late. However, I didn't complete my bedtime routine or go to sleep in bed because I fell asleep in the basement.
- Plan: Set a timer for you to know when to get ready for bed. This should include your time for journaling. That's probably going to be about 10-10:30pm. Read your novel in bed. Try to start walking back by 15 min increments every few days or week.
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Eating Schedule:
- Adherence: No scoring yet
- Description: Created a rough plan yesterday and bought everything I need to begin executing on it.
- Plan: Tonight, make some of the food you need for tomorrow/the week - breakfast stuff, shakes, and lunch.
List of Hobbies I can choose from ( I will continue expanding this as I rediscover old hobbies and find new ones )
- Listening to and/or caring for records
- Reading
- Writing (notes from reading, etc.)
- Working on my cars
- Socializing
- Foreign language study
- Cooking
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YouTube (Day 32):
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I'm going to jump on the wagon with @wheatbiscuit and advocate for weightlifting as well! I started about 10 years ago and it has truly been life-changing. It has changed my confidence and the way I view myself. It has also helped me to learn how to focus on my own goals and not compare to others, because what matters is the goals you set for you, not what the person next to you or your friend is lifting.
Only a suggestion, but I'd recommend checking out https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/. You don't have to use his stuff forever, but he really helped me to understand the basics and cut through a lot noise in the weightlifting world. He simply explains diet and optimal workouts. You can start with the beginner workout which is very short, only three exercises three-times a week. It helps build a foundation of strength and a habit.
I agree with you, fixing your diet will also help. I'm with you on not eating enough. In my latest journal entry, I had actually just written that I need to create a meal plan and reminders to eat (funny you were thinking the same!). I don't eat enough during the day and it has held back my workout progress. I'm starting with some easy snacks like dried edamame that I can put in containers ahead of time and some protein shakes that I can mix up the night before. That way I can just take them right out of the fridge at the time to eat tomorrow. I'm also making a meal for lunch that will stretch three days, because lunch is my weakest meal. I only choose 1-2 elaborate meals for dinner a week to expand my cooking without overwhelming myself. Maybe these will help? But as you said, start slow so that it is sustainable.
Sorry for the book...
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Day 17 - Friday (yesterday)
Summary:
Yesterday was a busy Friday at work. Felt like I had a bunch of things to do but not enough time. My evening was very relaxing though and I'm happy that even though I stayed up later, I still completed my bedtime routine. I felt so fresh afterwards and was glad I pushed myself to do it, even though I was tired.
I think I want to create a meal plan for myself today. I've been struggling with eating enough. I work out and am trying to continue building muscle, but I've been stuck at the same weight for a while. I know the cause is my inconsistent diet, because the training stimuli is certainly enough. I just get busy with my day and don't eat until I'm super hungry. Other days I eat a lot. It just needs to be more consistent. I won't create a starred habit for it yet, just write it down there to track. Eventually, once I've got it to a place where I think it will work, I'll start scoring it. For now, I just need to figure out what to do and what will work best.
The data is interesting to look at. I'm starting to see some rough patterns, like how my average score dips about every four days, but most especially on Fridays. I've added a day of the week marker to each which will clarify things a bit more. I'll need to be more vigilant on Fridays to stay with my habits.
Today I'm going to go out and get some things at the store. I have some finishing tweaks to make on the record player and it'll be fun to just go out and browse.
PROGRESS UPDATES:
Habits to Kick:
-
YouTube (Day 32):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: No changes needed but continue to fill the void, and with activities from hobbies list.
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Excessive Streaming:
- Adherence: ★★★☆☆
- Description: Watched 2 hours last night, so longer than normal. Did shut it off after. However, I finished the show I was watching (I know, I said this last time) and have nothing else of interest to watch. I think I might just block it all together today.
- Plan: After finishing journal, block streaming completely. At least until the end of the 90 days.
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Excessive Podcast Listening:
- Adherence: ★★★☆☆
- Description: Didn't listen too much today, but used it at the end of the night a bit to keep my from feeling lonely. I fell asleep to one, which is something I've been trying not to do (and have been good about recently), but the rest of the day was good.
- Plan: Continue to listen only to podcasts I am truly interested in. I will try to keep from listening to podcasts I've used just for background. If I need background, I can put on light jazz or Brain.FM while working. Be aware of the physical and emotional sensation and name it when you feel stressed.
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Excessive Gaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: I did game but only for about 3 hours with my friends, which is my total time for the week. So giving myself 5 stars because it wasn't an amount I would consider excessive and was on Friday, which I'm allowing myself to do. I did stay up later though, which I expected would happen. Again, giving myself a little leeway on the weekend.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Set a time limit if you do play by yourself (1-2 hours). If with friends, keep it only to a Friday or Saturday and do your best to log off at a reasonable hour.
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Excessive Drinking (Day 41):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not drink alcohol. Explored another mocktail and even made a cool ginger syrup for it. I want to get more ingredients at the store today to continue experimenting. I've even got a few of my cocktail buddies interested in mocktails now! They actually feel harder to make, so there is a creative labor involved.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Buy new ingredients at the store!
Habits to Start:
I will add to this as I determine new habits and their action plans.
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Journal (physical journal):
- Adherence: ☆☆☆☆☆
- Description: Totally forgot to journal. I would have done it too had I remembered because I still did my nightly routine, but just forgot.
- Plan: I will continue to journal before getting ready for bed. I want to try and establish it as a pattern before bed.
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Game Quitters Journal:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Filling it out now.
- Plan: Continue filling out journal each day. Doesn't seem to matter if it's the same day or the next, as long as each day is entered.
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Picking a Healthy Hobby:
- Adherence: ★★☆☆☆
- Description: Watched a little more streaming than I should have, which ate up time for other things. I would have given myself more stars, but I didn't read before bed and instead read a bit on my phone and listened to that podcast. Not exactly my desired behavior, but today is a new day.
- Plan: Continue routine and choose activities. Reading is good, but also being comfortable doing nothing while listening to music (or just sitting) is fine too. Plan hobbies for when you have low energy.
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Pick Top 3 to Complete:
- Adherence: ★★★☆☆
- Description: Got some done for work but none for personal again. I think I need to do something different here. It's top 3 for work and personal, but as I work throughout the day, priorities shift. Maybe I need to say "choose top 3" but then be flexible with myself as the priorities shift because it's very probable that what I thought was top 3 may be different from what emerges to be top 3 throughout the day.
- Plan: Continue to pay attention to scheduling your personal ones so you are more likely to remember and commit. Give yourself grace on what is considered priority because you need to account for shifting priorities throughout the day. Maybe switch to completing 3 things from your Next Actions list, in no particular order of priority. That's probably better than stressing to adhere to too rigid a framework.
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Consistent Bedtime:
- Adherence: ★★★★☆
- Description: Did not get ready early because I stayed up later (and knew I would), but I did complete my nightly routine. That made me very happy.
- Plan: Set a timer for you to know when to get ready for bed. This should include your time for journaling. That's probably going to be about 10-10:30pm. Read your novel in bed. Try to start walking back by 15 min increments every few days or week.
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Eating Schedule:
- Adherence: No scoring yet
- Description: Create a plan on what to eat and when so that you become more consistent.
- Plan: Develop a rough schedule and a list of things you should eat. Then, write when you will eat what so that it removes most of the decision fatigue surrounding this problem. The hope is to eventually move away from a schedule, but I think I need the rigidity of it right now.
List of Hobbies I can choose from ( I will continue expanding this as I rediscover old hobbies and find new ones )
- Listening to and/or caring for records
- Reading
- Writing (notes from reading, etc.)
- Working on my cars
- Socializing
- Foreign language study
- Cooking
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YouTube (Day 32):
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Welcome! Glad you are here. I encourage you to check out the daily journals. People are dealing with all kinds of challenges, from gaming to internet usage. Your desire to find healthy coping strategies is a good one, as filling the place where gaming used to be is a crucial piece of your journey. However, once you find out why you feel you need to cope and things to fill that void, you will experience change. The journals are filled with many strategies that can help you. And of course, start your own! I find that mine helps keep me accountable and continues momentum. Check it out! Happy to give you a follow to keep up with your progress.
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I would add that there is a guy near me who runs a used games shop. He is constantly looking for games to buy. If you find someone like this near you, you might be able to unload everything all at once and get some money back - and you won't have to deal with shipping. You'll probably get less than if you sell on eBay, but you can also be rid of them in one fell swoop.
Or take a hybrid approach like @D_Cozy said and sell the most valuable ones on eBay and sell the rest to whatever store you find. This of course depends on if you have someone like this near you, but it's worth a shot to search.
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I'm excited to see someone mention they use Obsidian! I use Zettlr and have also tried Obsidian. I've been attempting to get in the habit of doing a Zettelkasten, but without a productive or creative use for it, it's been difficult. I used to have a blog, maybe I should start that up again just to synthesize my learnings. Something I'm trying to work on...
On 9/19/2023 at 6:03 PM, Vee said:I've been trying to work out how to mentally frame "productive" things vs "relaxing" things. I feel like definitions are important for how I process my behaviour, and "productive" is a term that is far too loaded for me. For things like watching TV (which I don't want to be constantly doing, but I'm not interested in cutting out) calling them "relaxing" also causes issues because it makes it seem like the other category can't be relaxing. I hope to get to a stage where running, writing, or juggling can feel relaxing. "Frictionless" feels like the best term, as other activities can naturally slip into that category as I become more familiar or proficient with them. Currently, my frictionless category is tiny - gaming, watching TV, daydreaming, and sometimes browsing the internet.
I agree, these definitions are important. If it helps, I have been using the terms "active entertainment" and "passive entertainment." Neither necessarily means it is good or bad, just that by its definition I can more appropriately choose what to do based on my energy levels. In my latest journal entry, I mentioned how even certain books are more demanding than others. The ones that are less demanding are almost a form of passive entertainment. Still, I know that in my own mind I have a built in hierarchy of what types of entertainment are better than others. I have also started classifying some things as "meditative" so that I'm willing to do them in silence to relax - for example bathing my dog and cleaning all the old records I bought are both considered meditative to me.
I like what you said about avoiding a productivity trap and not wanting to "do something" with juggling. Our culture now makes it seem like we need to monetize or capture attention with everything we do. We are inclined to consider the value of an activity by its monetary or social worth, having lost the sense to do something for its own sake. I struggled with this a lot in many of my hobbies and only recently have started to just let them be. It wasn't that I wanted to always "do" something with them, but there was an ingrained feeling of needing to be productive with or about the hobby (if that makes sense).
You have a very thoughtful journal and it seems like you are taking great steps. Congrats on your progress so far!
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Day 16 - Thursday (yesterday)
Summary:
Another good day yesterday. I fell a bit short on my Top 3 goal, but I'm still moving in a positive direction. I'm really happy about how my sleep has been trending the last two days. I anticipate that today will be a bit different because it's Friday, as I often stay up a little later. Still, even if I stay up I will ensure that I complete my sleep routine and fall asleep in bed.
I'm doing a little better with my podcasts too. I need to reassess what I really want to listen to. On the one hand, I do enjoy some of them but on the other I feel that it can be just too much noise/stimulation. When it is the latter, the surface-level sensation is that I'm enjoying listening, but underneath there is some sort of rising stress from the noise (not sure if that makes any sense, it's just something I feel). It's almost like forcing yourself to do something that you think will be helpful when deep down your body is telling you it isn't.
Each day, I'm taking a bit more pride in my work. There are good days and bad, but my mindset is much different than it was 45 days ago - even from the start of journaling here on GameQuitters. I'd like to add more habits to track, like my morning routine or standardizing some form of learning, but right now is not the best time. I need establish these habits first and let the foundation set. It appears that my brain fog is slowly disappearing and creativity is returning. However, I still perceive that my thoughts move from one to the next without a full connection of the big picture. Indeed, I believe this comes across even in my writing. I used to be a better writer but now I feel that I move from one sentence to the next without really holding in my mind the larger concept of what I wrote (this is true too for reading). It should get better with time, and rereading what I wrote helps. I'll just need to continue practicing.
PROGRESS UPDATES:
Habits to Kick:
-
YouTube (Day 31):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: No changes needed but continue to fill the void, and with activities from hobbies list.
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Excessive Streaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Watched one hour again tonight to unwind and then quit.
- Plan: Continue with only one computer permissible and an hour max.
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Excessive Podcast Listening:
- Adherence: ★★★★☆
- Description: Again today I listened while I did some chores and eating lunch, but when it was time to focus for work, I put on Brain.FM. When I got ready for bed, I did not listen to any podcasts and was able to fall asleep relatively quickly. I almost reached for the podcasts when I felt stress arising but I noticed it and chose to name the sensation instead, which kept me from turning to it as a distraction. There was one point in the day though where I was reading something on my phone and had a podcast running (that I somewhat like) but wasn't really paying attention - hence the 4 stars.
- Plan: Continue to listen only to podcasts I am truly interested in. I will try to keep from listening to podcasts I've used just for background. If I need background, I can put on light jazz or Brain.FM while working. Be aware of the physical and emotional sensation and name it when you feel stressed.
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Excessive Gaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not game today.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Set a time limit if you do play by yourself (1-2 hours). If with friends, keep it only to a Friday or Saturday and do your best to log off at a reasonable hour.
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Excessive Drinking (Day 40):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not drink alcohol. Made a really fun mocktail last night instead.
- Plan: Continue current behavior.
Habits to Start:
I will add to this as I determine new habits and their action plans.
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Journal (physical journal):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did my journaling and finally finished the story I was trying to capture.
- Plan: I will continue to journal before getting ready for bed. I want to try and establish it as a pattern before bed.
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Game Quitters Journal:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Filling it out now.
- Plan: Continue filling out journal each day. Doesn't seem to matter if it's the same day or the next, as long as each day is entered.
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Picking a Healthy Hobby:
- Adherence: ★★★★☆
- Description: While I did watch an hour of streaming earlier, I also walked the dog, and got a little more involved with my mocktail hobby. I've noticed that while reading is a good hobby, if I'm really tired from the day I will avoid it more often. Maybe I need to have books that are a bit more demanding (like what I'm currently reading) and some that are light for pure entertainment (like what I'm reading before bed - I could make that have a dual purpose).
- Plan: Continue routine and choose activities. Reading is good, but also being comfortable doing nothing while listening to music (or just sitting) is fine too. Plan hobbies for when you have low energy.
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Pick Top 3 to Complete:
- Adherence: ★★★☆☆
- Description: Got all three done today for work but missed the personal ones. Happy about the win for work but also need to do better with paying attention to personal goals.
- Plan: Continue to pay attention to scheduling your personal ones so you are more likely to remember and commit.
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Consistent Bedtime:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Once again got ready at 11:30, my goal! I also restarted my sleep journal and I think that has been helping.
- Plan: Set a timer for you to know when to get ready for bed. This should include your time for journaling. That's probably going to be about 10-10:30pm. Read your novel in bed. Try to start walking back by 15 min increments every few days or week.
List of Hobbies I can choose from ( I will continue expanding this as I rediscover old hobbies and find new ones )
- Listening to and/or caring for records
- Reading
- Writing (notes from reading, etc.)
- Working on my cars
- Socializing
- Foreign language study
- Cooking
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YouTube (Day 31):
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11 hours ago, Pochatok said:
It's amazing how moments like these always go from happening to me to happening for me. I only wish that this cognitive path was a bit shorter, for the pain of the journey from one to the other is immense- it has taken me ~2hrs to get to this point. And I'm still plenty of hurt.
This really stuck out to me. What an immense show of maturity. Even in the face of hurt and taking time to acknowledge it, you’ve made the active choice to not let it control you. Instead, you have made it work for you as a moment of growth to become a better you. Such a healthy mindset!
It’s good to care about these things but I’m also glad you were able to keep it from completely consuming you. Sometimes these things have a way of ruining the entire day, if we let them.
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Day 15 - Wednesday
Summary:
My first 5-star day! I managed to do everything today. I was almost going to give myself 4 stars for the hobby one, but I think with the discipline I showed as well as the other activities I engaged in, a 5 is justified. I'm improving and need to have a little grace with myself as well.
I'm so excited about finally getting to bed on time. I found an older notebook in the basement and am using that for my sleep journal in the morning. I already set it up. It really helped me adjust my sleep last time, so I think I will just start doing it again in perpetuity. It doesn't take very long anyways. Maybe I'll do a little more introspection tomorrow, but for now I'm just very pleased with how today went. Now it's off to bed, as I'm tired from my lack of sleep yesterday...
PROGRESS UPDATES:
Habits to Kick:
-
YouTube (Day 30):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: 30 days!! Did not watch.
- Plan: No changes needed but continue to fill the void, and with activities from hobbies list.
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Excessive Streaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Watched one hour tonight to unwind and then quit.
- Plan: Continue with only one computer permissible and an hour max.
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Excessive Podcast Listening:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Listened while I did some chores and eating lunch, but when it was time to focus for work, I put on Brain.FM which really helped.
- Plan: Continue to listen only to podcasts I am truly interested in. I will try to keep from listening to podcasts I've used just for background. If I need background, I can put on light jazz or Brain.FM while working. Be aware of the physical and emotional sensation and name it when you feel stressed.
-
Excessive Gaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not game today.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Set a time limit if you do play by yourself (1-2 hours). If with friends, keep it only to a Friday or Saturday and do your best to log off at a reasonable hour.
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Excessive Drinking (Day 39):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not drink alcohol.
- Plan: Continue current behavior.
Habits to Start:
I will add to this as I determine new habits and their action plans.
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Journal (physical journal):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Back in the saddle! Journaled tonight.
- Plan: I will continue to journal before getting ready for bed. I want to try and establish it as a pattern before bed.
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Game Quitters Journal:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Filling it out now.
- Plan: Continue filling out journal each day. Doesn't seem to matter if it's the same day or the next, as long as each day is entered.
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Picking a Healthy Hobby:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: While I did watch an hour of streaming earlier, I also walked the dog, spent some time with my wife eating dinner together, and prepped myself for the next day. Planning to read in bed tonight.
- Plan: Continue routine and choose activities. Reading is good, but also being comfortable doing nothing while listening to music (or just sitting) is fine too.
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Pick Top 3 to Complete:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Got all three done today for both work and personal! Feels good. The personal ones were small, but they advanced some of my goals in a positive direction.
- Plan: Continue to pay attend to scheduling your personal ones so you are more likely to remember and commit.
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Consistent Bedtime:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: I might be a couple minutes late, but I am getting ready for bed at my goal tonight (around 11:30pm)! Additionally, I started winding down around 10:30 after putting away dishes.
- Plan: Set a timer for you to know when to get ready for bed. This should include your time for journaling. That's probably going to be about 10-10:30pm. Read your novel in bed. Try to start walking back by 15 min increments every few days or week. Set up a new sleep journal.
List of Hobbies I can choose from ( I will continue expanding this as I rediscover old hobbies and find new ones )
- Listening to and/or caring for records
- Reading
- Writing (notes from reading, etc.)
- Working on my cars
- Socializing
- Foreign language study
- Cooking
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YouTube (Day 30):
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Day 14 - Tuesday (Yesterday)
Summary:
Yesterday was both a good and bad day. I am continuing to do well with choosing Top 3 things to do, although I need to still consider the personal ones as well as work. I'm doing fine with no YouTube and am continuing to abstain from alcohol.
While I did engage in a healthy hobby the last two days, I made it unhealthy by staying up way too late. It threw off my eating and sleep schedules. Sleep is my biggest struggle right now and I really need to get it under control. It is having a cascading effect on everything else. I think I will go back to using a sleep journal again. That worked very well for me in January/February. If I use it again, I may get me back on track. Only reason I stopped was the journal ended after 6 weeks. I'll just need to make my own now and borrow from the template.
I think I'm going to completely block streaming as well. It would be best for me to find other ways to replace YouTube, even if only for these 90 days.
PROGRESS UPDATES:
Habits to Kick:
-
YouTube (Day 29):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: No changes needed but continue to fill the void, and with activities from hobbies list.
-
Excessive Streaming:
- Adherence: ★★☆☆☆
- Description: Watched yesterday, but went beyond the timer I had. Watched about 2 hours. I was able to stop after the second hour, but it's not the behavior I'm trying to cultivate.
- Plan: Block on the second computer so that you cannot bypass. I may choose to block Netflix and streaming entirely so that I can take this time to foster new behaviors outside of watching passive entertainment. Again, the exception can be watching something with my wife, but I should avoid the passive entertainment that replaces YouTube.
-
Excessive Podcast Listening:
- Adherence: ★★★☆☆
- Description: Listened while I worked on my record player. I did listen mostly to ones I like, but I feel it went beyond after a while to just being in the background. I probably should have tried to work in more silence or with jazz.
- Plan: Continue to listen only to podcasts I am truly interested in. I will try to keep from listening to podcasts I've used just for background. If I need background, I can put on light jazz or Brain.FM while working. Be aware of the physical and emotional sensation and name it when you feel stressed.
-
Excessive Gaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not game today.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Set a time limit if you do play by yourself (1-2 hours). If with friends, keep it only to a Friday or Saturday and do your best to log off at a reasonable hour.
-
Excessive Drinking (Day 38):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not drink alcohol. Seem to be thinking about it less and less.
- Plan: Continue current behavior.
Habits to Start:
I will add to this as I determine new habits and their action plans.
-
Journal (physical journal):
- Adherence: ☆☆☆☆☆
- Description: Did not journal.
- Plan: I will continue to journal before getting ready for bed. I want to try and establish it as a pattern before bed.
-
Game Quitters Journal:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Filling it out now.
- Plan: Continue filling out journal each day. Doesn't seem to matter if it's the same day or the next, as long as each day is entered.
-
Picking a Healthy Hobby:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Worked on repairing my record player all evening.
- Plan: Continue routine and choose activities. Reading is good, but also being comfortable doing nothing while listening to music (or just sitting) is fine too.
-
Pick Top 3 to Complete:
- Adherence: ★★★★☆
- Description: Same as yesterday, did a good job getting almost everything important on my list accomplished.
- Plan: Continue to pay attend to scheduling your personal ones so you are more likely to remember and commit.
-
Consistent Bedtime:
- Adherence: ☆☆☆☆☆
- Description: 0 stars on this one... Stayed up even later than the night before. I got carried away working on my record player and then forgot to eat. I ate and watched something (see streaming above) and by that time, it was incredibly late.
- Plan: Set a timer for you to know when to get ready for bed. This should include your time for journaling. That's probably going to be about 10-10:30pm. Read your novel in bed. Try to start walking back by 15 min increments every few days or week. Set up a new sleep journal.
List of Hobbies I can choose from ( I will continue expanding this as I rediscover old hobbies and find new ones )
- Listening to and/or caring for records
- Reading
- Writing (notes from reading, etc.)
- Working on my cars
- Socializing
- Foreign language study
- Cooking
-
3
-
YouTube (Day 29):
-
Day 13 - Monday (2 days ago)
Summary:
More catch up. Back in the swing of things from the weekend. I'm doing better with choosing Top 3 priorities, but I'm still struggling with nightly routines. More details in the next entry...
PROGRESS UPDATES:
Habits to Kick:
-
YouTube (Day 28):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: No changes needed but continue to fill the void, and with activities from hobbies list.
-
Excessive Streaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch any streaming.
- Plan: Continue with limited block and current behavior.
-
Excessive Podcast Listening:
- Adherence: ★★★★☆
- Description: Listened while I worked on my record player. Was only a podcast that I was interested in.
- Plan: Continue to listen only to podcasts I am truly interested in. I will try to keep from listening to podcasts I've used just for background. If I need background, I can put on light jazz or Brain.FM while working. Be aware of the physical and emotional sensation and name it when you feel stressed.
-
Excessive Gaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not game today.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Set a time limit if you do play by yourself (1-2 hours). If with friends, keep it only to a Friday or Saturday and do your best to log off at a reasonable hour.
-
Excessive Drinking (Day 37):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not drink alcohol. Seem to be thinking about it less and less.
- Plan: Continue current behavior.
Habits to Start:
I will add to this as I determine new habits and their action plans.
-
Journal (physical journal):
- Adherence: ☆☆☆☆☆
- Description: Did not journal. Need to get more disciplined about doing this...
- Plan: I will continue to journal before getting ready for bed. I want to try and establish it as a pattern before bed.
-
Game Quitters Journal:
- Adherence: ★★☆☆☆
- Description: Missed filling this out on time. 2 stars for still filling it out, but should be closer so the recollection is fresher.
- Plan: Continue filling out journal each day. Doesn't seem to matter if it's the same day or the next, as long as each day is entered.
-
Picking a Healthy Hobby:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Worked on repairing my record player all evening.
- Plan: Continue routine and choose activities. Reading is good, but also being comfortable doing nothing while listening to music (or just sitting) is fine too.
-
Pick Top 3 to Complete:
- Adherence: ★★★★☆
- Description: Did a pretty good job getting things done, especially at work. Priorities shifted, but I was able to work on important things.
- Plan: Try scheduling your personal ones so you are more likely to remember and commit.
-
Consistent Bedtime:
- Adherence: ★☆☆☆☆
- Description: Did end up going to sleep, but I stayed up way too late working on my record player. Although it was a healthy hobby, I still should have slept earlier.
- Plan: Read your novel in bed. Try to start walking back by 15 min increments every few days or week.
List of Hobbies I can choose from ( I will continue expanding this as I rediscover old hobbies and find new ones )
- Listening to and/or caring for records
- Reading
- Writing (notes from reading, etc.)
- Working on my cars
- Socializing
- Foreign language study
- Cooking
-
1
-
YouTube (Day 28):
-
Day 12 - Sunday (3 days ago)
Summary:
Doing a little catch up, so I'll have a couple of posts. I didn't get a chance to write on Sunday. I spent most of the day with my family and friends, so there are a few habits that I am giving some grace on. However, I did struggle with getting to bed. I've started including a moving average on the average chart.
PROGRESS UPDATES:
Habits to Kick:
-
YouTube (Day 27):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch.
- Plan: No changes needed but continue to fill the void, and with activities from hobbies list.
-
Excessive Streaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not watch any streaming.
- Plan: Continue with limited block and current behavior.
-
Excessive Podcast Listening:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Listened to almost no podcasts
- Plan: Continue to listen only to podcasts I am truly interested in. I will try to keep from listening to podcasts I've used just for background. If I need background, I can put on light jazz or Brain.FM while working. Be aware of the physical and emotional sensation and name it when you feel stressed.
-
Excessive Gaming:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not game today.
- Plan: Continue current behavior. Set a time limit if you do play by yourself (1-2 hours). If with friends, keep it only to a Friday or Saturday and do your best to log off at a reasonable hour.
-
Excessive Drinking (Day 36):
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Did not drink alcohol. Seem to be thinking about it less and less.
- Plan: Continue current behavior.
Habits to Start:
I will add to this as I determine new habits and their action plans.
-
Journal (physical journal):
- Adherence: ☆☆☆☆☆
- Description: Did not journal. I brought it with me to the gathering since we were staying overnight but I was too tired by then to write. No data entered since it was a special occasion.
- Plan: I will continue to journal before getting ready for bed. I want to try and establish it as a pattern before bed.
-
Game Quitters Journal:
- Adherence: ★★★☆☆
- Description: Filling it out now but missed doing it the day after, so three stars for some adherence but not on same day/day after.
- Plan: Continue filling out journal each day. Doesn't seem to matter if it's the same day or the next, as long as each day is entered.
-
Picking a Healthy Hobby:
- Adherence: ★★★★★
- Description: Spent the day with friends, then my parents, and finally relaxing at home with my wife.
- Plan: Continue routine and choose activities. Reading is good, but also being comfortable doing nothing while listening to music (or just sitting) is fine too.
-
Pick Top 3 to Complete:
- Adherence:
- Description: Again, no data entered as this was a special case.
- Plan: Try scheduling your personal ones so you are more likely to remember and commit.
-
Consistent Bedtime:
- Adherence: ★★★☆☆
- Description: Slept earlier than 11:30 but not in the right location, so didn't finish my routine like I should have...
- Plan: Read your novel in bed. Try to start walking back by 15 min increments every few days or week.
List of Hobbies I can choose from ( I will continue expanding this as I rediscover old hobbies and find new ones )
- Listening to and/or caring for records
- Reading
- Writing (notes from reading, etc.)
- Working on my cars
- Socializing
- Foreign language study
- Cooking
-
YouTube (Day 27):
-
I used to play a lot of these. I’d say they can be just as addictive. I know during the pandemic I played quite a few of them because they were easy to do, like watching a show, but still active. However, I spent a lot of my free time playing them and got to the point where, for a while, it was pretty much the only thing I wanted to do. I think you become addicted to the progression and the storyline in the same way you might with wanting to know what happens next in a tv show. So, not quite the same as an MMORPG and such, but there are still elements that encourage addiction in some.
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On 8/25/2023 at 9:24 AM, D_Cozy said:
I am focusing instead on writing and journaling my own analysis and opinion privately; I use it for my reference, sometimes to share online in my own journal here for self reflection (in the case of tv and books) or discussing with friends and family IRL.
I like this idea. I do some analysis on books I read but I never really thought to use it for replacing unhelpful forums like that. I’ve found over time that Reddit has less and less useful information everyday. As part of my 90 days, I’m not tracking it as a habit, but I stopped going there. It rarely helped me and was almost always a time waster.
I used to have a blog. Maybe I should start it up again and write there, as it would give me a place to synthesize the analysis. Great suggestion!
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3 hours ago, Lizzy said:
but even the smallest tasks feel like mountains.
Hi Lizzy, welcome to the forum! This is a difficult feeling. After gaming for so long, everything feels hard. It feels like you can't concentrate on anything and that tasks become frustrating very quickly. However, I've experienced that this starts to go away as you progress through your 90-day detox.
I'm 26 days into my detox from YouTube and I've begun finding pleasure in old hobbies again. I can feel my attention span improving and the difficulty of tasks is being restored to a normal level. There is hope! And you've taken the first step by being here.
Thriving - A Journal
in Daily Journals
Posted
I'm just starting to realize this as well. I was looking at my graph today and discovered that it has taken me almost 25 days for the "noise" (of stopping old habits and starting new ones) to clear up. The graph has only started to flatten out within the last few days. I suppose that's why they recommend the 90 days.
I think you hit the nail on the head here. It's about taking it one day at a time. I have been pondering this concerning YouTube and alcohol. Sometimes I think, "Do I want to quit forever?" Yet, I don't need to decide that today. Or tomorrow. I only need to focus on what I've determined to do on this day. I think being happy with your current choice and where you are in this moment is a good outlook.