richter

I can only speak for myself: - I gave away all my valuable in-game stuff - I deleted all of my gaming accounts I had relapsed once before doing the above, and the thought of having to start from scratch helps to cope with urges to play. I just cannot be bothered, and most of all: after the relapse I realised that I cannot game moderately. I journaled here online, daily for the first few weeks after quitting. It was helpful to get my thoughts out somewhere. In progress! 😅 Quitting gaming opens up a lot of free time. I'm still struggling with internet addiction but overall I am a healthier person with more hobbies: running, lifting, gardening, reading ... You get all these opportunities to re-discover your interests and re-shape yourself. The first period definitely sucks though. So much boredom! Good luck.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your journey towards no more doom scrolling and more productivity!

Day 156 I'm sorry for the long pauses inbetween posts but I feel that there is less to post about once I got through the early 'withdrawal' phase. I'm still game-free, running, eating healthier, gardening, and I added lifting weights to the mix 🤩 I try to run/lift 2 times each a week. I also aim for 10k steps a day. It does good things for my mental well-being, to be honest! Cravings are still present at times. It's a good thing I gave away all my good in-game items/currency to friends, because I think I might have relapsed if it wasn't for that. The pursuit of an ADHD diagnosis made me feel weird for a while. The psychologist was asking about autism traits too. I think it messed with my head in the identity sense of things. It took a couple weeks to feel more like myself again, and I've become ambivalent about the ADHD diagnosis and meds. I still have time to decide whether I want to do the tests or not. Anyway, still no plans to ever start gaming again. So the next time I post, the number should be higher! 😁 Cheers!

Welcome and good luck, Joshua!

Day 130 The urge to game is strong. I have two weeks off and the weather is shit, so I need to find alternative in-door activities. I will not game today. Next week is important in terms of psychological assessment and diagnosis. I will start my journey to find out about the addictive side of my personality, and more. Cheers!

Day 123 My renewed healthy eating habits have led to some weight loss. Yay! Very close to two weeks off, which I'm looking forward to. I'm going to loosely plan some fun stuff. Not much else to report. Still haven't gamed, though cravings come and go. Cheers!

Day 108 Still seeking meaningful pastimes and trying to enjoy life. I must say that the joy isn't really there most days and I am not sure what I can do to fix it, apart from working with my therapist and GP. I've a long walk planned tomorrow (it's bound to be a sunny day) and I have a 10K coming up on Sunday. Cheers!

Day 102 Hey, it's over 100!!!! Pretty proud of myself for making it so far. I'm still struggling with over- and under-stimulation, for which gaming was the perfect solution that totally got out of hand. I'm hoping to be put on ADHD medication soon to mediate that. Other than that, I'm mostly trying to eat healthy, move more, get rest and do fun things. In other words, getting the basics right 🙂 and trying to enjoy the process. Cheers!

Day 95 Oop, it's been a while. I haven't gamed in the meantime though, so yay me. We're finally coming out of winter and I had a medical check-up done because I was/am so very tired all the time. I'm deficient in a couple things and hoping to feel better soon. Apart from that, not gaming makes me feel all the feels instead of numbing/ignoring/procrastinating them, so I'm working with a therapist on that as well. I hope everybody is well. Cheers

A couple days off turned into two weeks off, so I feel ya! I'm planning on running again tomorrow. I've a neighbourhood that I run in and it has both trail and street runs. I switch it up depending on the weather. How about you? Do you have a goal you're working towards? I'd love to run around 7-8k (solo) a couple times a week, and throw in a race (with friends) every now and then. Day 66 I'm mildly miserable at the moment but I'm also somehow confident that I can turn this around. I'm trying to limit my screen time by having a to do list and only use my laptop if I have a reason to use it. (No mindless surfing and wasting hours.) So far it has been reasonably successful and I will continue this 'simple' method. We'll see where it leads me.

Interesting to read the similar yet different principles we each live by! Day 58 Feeling both over and understimulated at times and coping with food, sadly. I'm still active though and on my way to running a 10K soon-ish. I almost set plans to game next weekend but I quickly thought better of it. Still going strong! It really is a daily commitment ...

I use the Unhook extension to remove recommended videos and the automatic redirects to recs. I follow maybe 5 channels tops with subjects that really interest me and that I want to learn more about. They don't post very often and have high quality content. Other than that, I must also admit that I don't get the same kick out of watching YT videos than gaming or scrolling through Reddit, for example. So it's a little bit easier for me to use YT and not spend hours on it. Edit: Maybe good to know that I never used YT for gaming purposes either, just focused non-gaming interests.

Day 49 Hiya! A quick post to say that I deactivated my Facebook account today (kept Messenger). Also cleaned out my YouTube subscriptions, though I don't often use it as an escape. Cravings still coming and going, but I'm on day 49, as per title. Cheers!

Day 43 Goals for 2024: - Act/choose according to my values as much as possible - Use meditation intentionally, as a way to connect with my values when I'm feeling overwhelmed - 366 days of no gaming 😁 - Stay on top of diet and exercise - Reduce screen time by at least 50% - Foster valuable relationships Cheers!

This resonates with me. I want to compliment you on your ability to reflect. Here's to an insightful new year and action towards our goals.

Day 42 (the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything) Half a year in review - 2023 August was when I finally decided to stop gaming once and for all. I had been thinking about it for some time before, because I realised that my habits were out of control and consuming way too much time. I relapsed once at ~2,5 months for a solid three weeks, but have been game-free again since then. So since deciding to quit gaming, I have had about five game-free months total. In those months I found: a renewed love and motivation for gardening and running/hiking, more energy to socialise, the courage to start unpacking negative stuff that I had been ignoring through gaming, and with it my values. Cheers

Day 39 I want to take the time to post a year in review and resolutions for 2024. Upcoming! 😁 Cravings to game come and go, but I am not giving in. One of the things that help me know my goals is to envision that I am a parent: which values would I want to imprint upon my child? How would I want to live, to model a good lifestyle for my child? This made me look at some things in a very different light. E.g. It makes me want to create a screen-less Sunday. I believe at least 50% of my screen time does not contribute anything to my life.

Day 34 Did some bodyweight strength exercises for the first time in forever today. Woohoo. Also contemplating to get back into sewing. I noticed that I felt really calm while I was repairing a shirt. That way I can take my mind off of my thoughts, AND create something at the same time. We'll see how it goes. I want to remain realistic with my time and goals. Cheers!

Day 33 About to go for a jog. I'm keeping my eye on a new pair of trail running shoes once they go on sale. I think I run often enough to deserve the splurge. 😁 Proud to say that I managed to lose 2 lbs the past couple weeks with some minor diet tweaks that fit my impulsive style and my irregular schedule. I have some time off now and will use that to tweak it further. I feel less bloated too because I'm eating healthier. Feeling somewhat bored lately and it shows in my interwebz usage. I don't have crazy cravings to game anymore, and I would like to reduce my screen time as a next step. Just need to find other hobbies to replace it with. I was thinking of picking up strength training again, aside from the running, and I think I would do well to have a list of recurring household chores, so that I can focus on that when I'm bored and don't know what to do. My first impulse at the moment is to start my laptop. I want to change that. I've been reading more and I'd say that, 50% of the time, I do read for 30 mins before going to bed. Yay. Happy holidays!

Oh yeah, I don't think my friends would have called me out on it if I didn't join them. The problem is I didn't even mention that I wanted to have healthy foods instead, hahaha. It's all good, it's done and I know I'll hopefully be more mindful about it and announce my choices, like you said. Tricky, social situations! 😅 (Today and yesterday were much better!) I appreciate your input.

Day 29 The cravings have subsided, even though a couple of online friends asked me if I would return to a game for a winter event. I told them no, but to enjoy the event. I went for a jog in the rain today and I am celebrating this win! My plan was to run in the morning and I wanted to shop for groceries in the afternoon, but I decided to postpone grocery shopping to another day. I managed to procrastinate the run until the afternoon, oops. BUT, I ran anyway. Yesterday wasn't a good day health-wise. I ended up having pizza and dessert for lunch. It was unplanned and with friends. This taught me that I'm better off planning my lunches or that I have to learn to say no and choose my health. I don't regret it a ton, but I did feel uncomfortable afterwards. It was a learning experience. I don't have any super duper unhealthy meals planned for the rest of the week, so I should be okay. Currently trying to create the habit of reading for 30 mins before going to bed. I haven't always done this, but I feel pretty chuffed about myself when I do. Cheers!

Day 26 Weirdly had both a lot of cravings and a lot of productivity in my day. I haven't had cravings this bad since quitting again, so about a month ago. I accepted the feelings and let them pass. I also spent less time with the screen because I tried to act according to my values. Went shopping for winter holiday presents instead of watching a series. Did a garden job that was on my to do list for the past 2 months instead of continuing to watch Youtube. I also confirmed a meet-up with a friend and did some administrative tasks. My tendency is to be firm with myself, e.g. for not getting more movement in today, but when I look at the overview of my day, I'm actually quite proud of myself. I'm going to make some tea (to prevent late night snacking) and will tidy the house a bit in a peaceful manner with a podcast or some music. No pressure to finish anything. Cheers!

Day 25 Procrastinating on my run, but I will leave the house in ~15-30 mins to get some exercise in. In the meantime, to have a clear view on my goals, I'll be listing my values here and in my signature, in no particular order: - Presence (being present in the moment) - Health - Authenticity - Personal growth - Connection I hope that this list will help guide my decisions. (Asking myself, does decision X help me reach value Y?) It is a work in progress and I will change it if need be. Cheers!

Welcome back. Some of your posts are very relatable! Good luck finding what works for you.

Day 24 Completed the running competition! I plan to have my first post-comp jogging session tomorrow morning. The group that I ran with is trying to decide on our next run. I think it's nice that our shared goal isn't to be the fastest runner. We just want to make moving/sports a habit. I've been picking up some tasks that I procrastinated on. Feels good. My anxiety about failure was at an all-time high the past weeks, but I pushed through the spooky experiences, didn't avoid them and came out the other end ... Definitely a learning experience. I'm not done yet. Unfortunately, I'm also questioning some relationship stuff and am trying to work out if I want to stay in my current relationship. I definitely want to work on myself first, but I'm scared that I will already be mentally tuned out of the relationship by the time I am somewhat recovered from the gaming/screen addiction. One big realisation is that I definitely avoid addressing real life problems by gaming/doing nonsense online, like not feeling understood or supported by my partner.