championeal

Sometime ago I was into this too! I'm always impressed by authors that can use the just right word to describe a feeling or situation. I used vocabulary.com for awhile, but didn't have the discipline to stick with it. I didn't have a goal to go with it. Seems you have the goal of your novel writing though, so that's a good motivator for learning words.

Day 12 Today was a tiring day. Felt dead tired after work. Laid around for a few hours until my energy came back. Actually, my energy didn’t really come back until I decided to start doing stuff. Even though I felt so tired, I decided to join my stepmom to bake some holiday treats. I believe that’s what sparked my energy. After that, I was excited to workout even though it was late at night. Gotta remind myself to get moving even when I don’t want to, because right now I think it’s more of a mental block than anything. Movement sparks the energy. - Neal

Glad the showerthoughts are back! Day 13 just wasn't the same 😁

YES! No need to throw all your friends out. Friends can disagree, what's important is they respect your decision. When I first quit, my closest friend for years was continuing to game, and I thought we needed to stop being friends. There was a couple years that I didn't talk to that friend, and I made the whole transition unnecessarily hard on myself. I'm thankful that we have since reconnected and I've realized that our friendship was more than just gaming. Also, I wish you luck in finding your new friends. I saw above you are interested in rock climbing. Awesome! This is one of my hobbies, and I've found it is great for being social. Let me know if you have any questions about getting started.

Day 11 I’ve been noticing my energy being higher this week. And I’ve stopped having annoying dreams of video games. THANK GOD, because that was getting hard to wake up to every day. Still, whenever boredom creeps up definitely the first thing I still think of is gaming. It usually takes me a few minutes to fight that internal battle before I can move on to doing something productive. But today felt especially good. After work, things just flowed for the most part. From exercise to dinner to reading to music practice to language learning back to reading to now. I’m hoping to keep that momentum into tomorrow. Following the flow. - Neal

Hi Jason! Welcome, Congrats on your commitment to living a gaming free life. 🙌 I've also quit before, and I've realized this is one of the hardest parts every time, because there's an emotional connection to those people. It's really hard to deal with, but I've realized that friends will support you in your goals and choices. If they insist on you gaming, they are prioritizing gaming over your friendship. The solution doesn't always have to be finding new friends. Many of my gaming friends did not stay in contact, but the ones who did I truly value. Friends will look for other ways to connect. As far as the COVID situation for new friends, I think outdoor activities seem like a good option. Wishing you the best

Day 10 My reflections arrived at this today: I’m not as lost as I think, but I just haven’t given myself the space to be myself. I had a similar conversation that came back to me, which I had a while ago with a friend while rock climbing. While looking at the wall, I said, “What if the hardest part of the climb is at the beginning? What if you’re actually 90% of the way there, but the 10% you still need to do is the first step?” I’m feeling this may be the case with me and gaming. The 90 day detox is the 10%, and I feel like the rest will just come from there. Sometimes the first step is the hardest. - Neal

I've gone down that YouTube rabbit hole before too. I like that you took the time to journal and reflect on it. Use the curiosity! Just give it a direction and a goal 👍

This cracked me up 😃 Congrats on taking the first step! Some good goals you got there. For programming, personally, I've used freecodecamp.com before and really enjoyed what they got set up. I recommend not to spend too much time picking a language. You can learn the programming basics in any language, and then you can dive deeper into languages based on what kind of projects interest you. That's awesome!! Remember moments like these! This can be a guiding force for how to spend your newfound free time.

Same thing for me. I look at it, think to myself, "Why did I want to use this again?" I don't always catch myself before the mindless browsing starts. Cool that you recognize those moments.

Digital seems cool! I don't know much about that. I have used charcoal before. I liked that because it was easy to create shadows and erase too. I don't really art much though. Yet! But it is something I am interested in. I have tried an art class before but never finished it. Anything art related is very rewarding, but also very time consuming. I have not been able to work myself up to that time commitment yet.

This is a good reminder for me, because that's definitely one of the ways I was already thinking about using gaming for when the 90 days is over.

Day 9 A good day. There’s no reason not to say it was good. So, it was good. My brother recently got home from college, and now more than ever, I’m especially glad that I’ve given up gaming. Usually I’d shut myself in my room to game the days away. Now, I can see the days ahead as a space for reconnection and bonding time. Today, my brother and I watched a couple TV episodes together, but more important, we had time to just talk and enjoy each other’s company. I feel satisfied. Sometimes the small moments can define the whole day. Today was good. Tomorrow might be even better. - Neal

I play the trumpet! Cool to see another brass player on here 🎶 What medium do you create art in? paint? draw? etc>?

That's awesome! Crushed that homework. Feels good to be on top on things. Also, you're almost 50% there, congrats

Isn't that wild. I've had this same feeling, so I'll decide to do some restful activities, and it feels like I've been fucking off for forever and I look at the clock, it's only been an hour. If I had been gaming the whole day would be gone already. Honestly feels crazy to me and awesome too! No day is really ever a complete throwaway day anymore.

Hi, first time for me reading your journal and it's cool to see the success that you're having! I'm curious what kinds of courses you are making or videos you are making. Would be interesting to know more about. Thanks

Every time Reddit is on my phone the same thing happens to me. It's just too easy to spend so much time on it. I just can't have it on my phone anymore.

Welcome back! Congrats on getting into the exercise habit. Running can be really rewarding because you can easily measure your progress both with distance and time.

@Commissar @dasvira @Pochatok thank you, and onwards to Day 8 I spent a lot of time future planning today, I’m just really excited about winter and the upcoming ski season. It felt good to be excited and follow that flow~! I reached out to some people and made different plans with them for ski trips to places within driving distance. Skiing is pretty cool because I’ll already be all bundled up and wearing a facemask so COVID can’t stop me from doing it and being social. Work, exercise, reading...I got a new book today. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I’ve liked this quote from this book for a while about a fig tree that deals with indecision. The message I get from the quote is that it’s better to choose and give something a chance, rather than sitting around not deciding and missing out on all the options anyways. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out in the book. Taking a chance on a new me. - Neal

Feel the same way, I just gotta keep reminding myself that. Every day, remind myself what I actually want. Deep down in my core.

Day 7 I’ve made it one whole week! Wow, I actually didn’t realize that until I typed day #7. I was about to be a downer, but I guess life really isn’t too bad then. Today was work, exercise, reading, and planning. So, not too much. The big thing is today I mailed in one of those DNA ancestry tests. I can’t wait to get the results because I’ve been super into learning about Irish history lately. If it comes back and I’m not Irish, my whole life is a lie haha. One week down, many weeks to go. - Neal

@dasvira @Pochatok @Lampshade I appreciate all the responses! I was actually considering not getting on the forum today, just because I'm feeling unmotivated. But I'm so glad I did 😃 Appreciate the support a lot.

This far along and still keeping a daily journal like a boss. I hope you can find what you're looking for in love. Also: "In solitude one is not alone; one is present with oneself."

Hi @Mohammad I enjoyed reading your posts. First of all congrats on your new job! A job is such a big part of everyday life so I am glad you are enjoying it and it is giving you lots to do. I also saw you talk about staying busy a lot and I'm quoting a post of yours from earlier so I can share my experience. My way of not having gaming taking over my life was also full involvement into my work. I loved my job and my coworkers. However, when I lost my job because of COVID, I realized I had nothing to fall back on, so of course I relapsed and fell back to gaming. I'm not saying this is going to happen to you. I just want to encourage you to keep trying hobbies and new interests. I hope you find something that is your spark that excites you as much as your job. Then you always have a backup plan.