GameQuitter2021

Day 27 of no games, today i learned that you can develop blisters on your tongue from eating very spicy foods, which happened to me now.

Day 26 of no games, didnt post for saturday sunday and monday. Was able to finish a couple of things on those days including: - assembling a table tennis table -Setting up a new tank for my pet turtles -setting up a roomba -Putting up christmas lights -Finishing my reflection paper

Day 23 of no games, I spent a lot of time on my phone last night though, like a good 4 hours from 8-12. felt too tired to exercise, finished my books and library was closed, in hindsight I should have just went outside and walked, or did some yoga to help my posture. It's difficult to truly end all forms of temp entertainment, but at the same time once i start its hard to manage how much time i spend on such activities as the pull in is so strong. I will try to develop a habit of meditating every time I get the urge to endlessly browse on my phone.

Yeah this is a good point, online the pace is slower, you get more time to think about your words, you don't have to read body language/facial expressions and don't have to display your own.

I briefly read your posts and I find them very relatable, it seems we both have addictive personality traits. I think the turning point for people like us is to have a lot of support; like this site and reaching out to family/friends. I had a decent group of friends, but after failing my way upwards into computer science because of my addiction I grew farther apart from them and became basically a hermit in his room playing games. But now at least my dad knows that I have an addiction and he fully supports me in my recovery. One method that I found very useful for recovery is to not overthink or focus too much on the state of mind when anxious or having a crisis. Whenever I start to think about how far I've fallen behind, I remind myself it's not going to be fixed in 1-2 days so there's no point overly stressing myself out over it and losing sleep + willpower. I just draw blank or start reading a book to shift focus. Another trick is to relax the face and forcing oneself to smile lightly, this tricks the brain into a happier state.

I meant that by playing games you gather a lot of temporary friends and chatting with them and achieving goals in-game with them is very gratifying; socially. It's much easier to feel social online than real life. That's partially why it's been hard for me to resist games. And I suppose I should actually measure how much unsaturated fat I intake, ill probably search for an app that keeps track of my calories and other nutrient intake. I'm already taking 1 omega-3 pill right now, occasionally every-other day for its benefits. I have a slightly hunched upper back, underdeveloped lower back, and slight forward head posture when I'm not consciously fixing it. It's affecting my gait and running quite a bit, makes me tire out much earlier if I don't consciously try to walk/run with correct posture.

day 22 of no games, didnt post for wednesday cause was busy replacing winter tires and setting up my tank for turtles. Ended up reading Super Human by Dave Asprey, pretty eye-opening book. And did some running on treadmill.

Day 20 of no games, I watched a video talking about vegetable oil and how it has unsaturated fats that when heated, oxidize and are inflammatory. This is alarming as I've always cooked and eaten food with vegetable oil. I also found that my running posture was off, which led me to gas out quicker than usual. I definitely think extended computer usage has caused me to have postural issues that affects my running form too. The most difficult thing about eliminating video games and phone entertainment is the lack of social gratification which is an important element of a healthy human life. Sport matters a lot too, and I think especially for males it's good for mental health to be engaged in a sport, not necessarily physical kinds like soccer/basketball. However, it's difficult to find a substitute that's also constructive that offers social gratification and sport, I suppose competitive coding comes close.

Day 19 of no games, still struggling a little bit with motivation and sleep. Think once I completely stop using my phone for entertainment I'll be able to completely focus on the tasks I need to do.

Day 18 of no games, still working on limiting phone usage

Day 17 of no games, still going strong today, going to do some cleaning around the house and prepare to rent out for winter term.

Wanted to keep sleeping, didnt have enough willpower to wake up.

Day 16 of no games, I didn't wake up early today despite planning to last night. Very ambivalent of me. Going to keep trying.

Day 15 of no games. I notice that there is really anything one can do with free time if they put their mind to it, like cleaning their room, organizing their clothes/desks. Still looked at my phone more than I would have liked - mainly to socialize but I'm constantly mindful of this. Going to try to wake up at 7:30 am instead of 8:00 am so I can do a better skincare routine and do stretches with more time.

Day 14 of no games, I managed to reduce the amount of time i spent on my phone last night and was able to goto bed early at 10:30 pm. Recently I've developed alot of itchiness across my body and upon further inspection and research it is my skin drying out from most likely taking long hot showers (probably as a dopamine substitute) and not applying enough body lotion/face cream in the dry cold winter air. I'm going to make it a routine to apply lotion over my entire body every night and cream/moisturizer every night/morning, and opt for warm showers instead, not just for winter. I noticed that I also have less eye strain now, most likely due to exposing myself to less blue light from my phone. I had a bad habit of looking at my phone in the dark in my bed every night which not only fucked up my sleep but strained my eyes as they tried to focus in on a small screen in the dark. Still sore from 2 days ago workout, I think I am eating enough (maybe not sleeping enough) so its likely just a massive strain.

Day 13 of no games, I ended up spending too much time on my phone again, I think I will try to disable certain apps on my phone so that I will have 1 less barrier to my goal. Yesterday I was able to finish a good junk of my new media tech course reflection paper and I'm glad that I'm so close to finishing it well before the deadline; previously I would have convinced myself it was too easy then half-assed it at the end due to procrastination. Last night I watched a video about hypertrophy and how its necessary for muscle growth, and apparently working out and getting a slight burn in the muscle isn't enough to stimulate muscles to grow. The person in the video mentioned how one's body doesn't grow unless pushed to the absolute limit so I completely wrecked myself doing squats last night and today I feel sore whenever I extend my legs.

Day 12 of no games, didnt post for saturday and sunday cause I didnt want to open my laptop. I'm going to make it my goal to not only stop playing games but also stop looking at my phone for entertainment as well. On Sunday I had a flat tire and I spent excessive time trying to fix it and that reminded me of how distant I became from real life due to exploring too deep into the fantasy realm of games. I also have a new perspective on stress, and now I'm going to intentionally stress myself out in a good way trying to do and learn hard things instead of avoiding them.

Day 9 of no games, although I haven't touched games at all my productivity at doing other things has not been consistently rising. I spent the entire day yesterday idling the web looking for answers to a bunch of random questions that popped up in my head. I also vowed to not look at my phone last night and workout, but I ended up giving in and looking at my phone for a good 3 hours anyway while I was working out which greatly decreased the amount of effective exercise I did. I will keep trying to quit both games and cheap entertainment. However, 2-3 days ago I was able to do 40% of a 15% weighted paper that is due Dec 3rd, so I am glad that I was able to accomplish that instead of cramming it at the day before its due. Last night I also dreamed about playing games, I think this also explains why I have the desire to sleep so much recently so I can actually pretend to play games in my dreams.

day 8 of no games, but I think I should push it further and stop watching YouTube on my phone, watching tv, since they are all temporary enjoyment anyways. I read something about dopamine a while back but its all foggy, all i can remember is that the less you indulge in enjoyable activities, the less you need. It's amazing how much temptation there is in life and how evolution has not prepared us for them so one has to constantly win battles within their own mind, like arguing with a toddler that only thinks about short-term gains and instant-gratification. No wonder most motivational speeches specifically talk about self-discipline. It's going to be hard to break old habits of mindlessly consuming but its going to be worth it in the end when I look back at my life and see how much time I could have wasted, applied to better things.

I'm 22 and currently in year 2 computer science program due to failing multiple courses because of my addiction, and seeing other people my age already graduating and getting jobs gives me a feeling of shame. My lifetime goal is to become a software developer; ironically, to develop video games since playing video games have been a long passion of mine since i was in elementary school. In order to reach this goal, I need to build up my portfolio with projects, reach out to professors and computer science clubs, learn programming languages on my own time, and maintain good grades. It has been a week since i stopped playing games and now I have the constant urge to start again. This is not the first time I have had thoughts about relapsing. That's why im starting this journal, so that I have another constant reminder to not play video games. Some of the things that pull me back into playing: 1. Rewarding myself for accomplishing a task 2. Destressing myself after a particularly stressful situation 3. To socialize 4. To relieve my boredom Theres probably more things that enable my addiction, I need to think of healthy substitutes for these strategies that my brain uses to trick me back into playing.

i see some profiles have days won, i assume this is how many days you stop gaming, is this automatic or do i set a counter for myself? i would like to use that to keep track of how many days i spend absent from games.

your posts are inspiring!