TruthfulPirate

I run into this same issue with my personality, I have the habit of sacrificing my happiness to ensure that others are not upset or let down by me. Just remember to put your needs first, if you are wanting to cut back and aren't that interested in the game, you might take a look at what is in your best interest. Maybe you could find out what her other hobbies are, who knows, maybe you two will have even more in common than just gaming. Sounds like you had a pretty solid day!

Sounds like you have this down to a perfect, precise, execution! Just reading that made me more pumped and motivated hah. Your positive attitude and high energy coming from your personality really seem to show in your writing. Looking forward to seeing the progress KO!

@WorkInProgress That is good advice as well Thanks for the feedback! I have been trying to be a bit more flexible in my schedule and willing to go outside my comfort zone. Today was a pretty easy day to stay away from video games. I haven't really thought about them until I came here mostly. Even my real life friends haven't been curious why I haven't been online so that is a huge plus. I haven't told two of them yet that I am done gaming for good. I honestly don't think either of them will really care too much. My whittling stuff should show up in the mail tomorrow, and today I plan to go grab some comics with the girlfriend. Now that the console is out of the house and it isn't even an option I don't think I will really be having any more desires to play. When I have trouble regulating myself it seems to be in that grey area. Not knowing if I want to quit something or not. Once I make up my mind to give it up, it seems fairly easy to move on from it. Alcohol was the same way. I was to the point where I was having too many drinks every night, one would lead to five or six pretty easy. When I tried to cut back and put rules on it but still allow it in my life I couldn't handle it, I always found an excuse to drink more. Once I decided I wasn't going to drink anymore I didn't really crave it at all. There are times when I am at a bar with my girlfriend, she is a bartender who also doesn't drink, and although I would like to try a new craft beer it is pretty easy to say no. Now that the PS4 is on its way to a new owner and I have decided to quit I don't really have the urge to play. I could be more productive, but overall I have noticed a drastic improvement in my mood. Looking forward to my three day weekend

The website, despite being all about quitting games, seems to have a retro gamer feel or homage to it a bit which I think is pretty cool. What if the symbol was more reminiscent of unlocking an achievement to keep in line with the gaming reference? ie. a star with a scroll banner across the bottom or maybe a trophy? Just spit balling in order to get some brain storming going. I really dig the three arrows, it has a "level up" or "power up" feel to it without being such a blatant reference to gaming.

Hah easier said than done

@quittintime absolutely! We are both very lucky

That is a great idea, I should probably be creating a "To do" list for myself of smaller goals I would like to accomplish when I get home. I have been actually trying to plan a little bit less lately and play it by ear. I have a habit of planning out my day mentally and then getting frustrated when it doesn't go as planned. My cure for that was trying to be a bit more laid back. Having a list prepared of small goals for when I do have down time that I could refer to would help a lot though, and I might not get as frustrated if I don't have the time that day to work on them. Luckily my girlfriend is off work tomorrow and we have plans to go out in the evening, so that is a big plus

Welcome to the community quittintime! I can definitely relate to a lot of your story, especially not really enjoying time with my girlfriend when we hung out. I would always be thinking about gaming and feeling jittery about playing again. You are 100% doing the right thing, especially if you want to start up your own business again. It sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders and a lot of talent. Keep up the good work on the detox!

Welcome to the community You should start sketching out a rough idea of the painting you see in your mind the next time you feel like you might want to game. If your real life friends are interested in being artsy too, you could always invite them over and crank up some music while you all work on some projects. Two birds, one stone!

@KO That really is an epic post! Reminded me of Office Space when they do the video montage to that song Welcome to the community! There are some really awesome people here.

The @ feature is incredibly helpful! I love the option, these forums are very user friendly

Haha @Cam Adair yeah its not a very popular hobby, at least it doesn't appear to be when you look at the sub reddit's for whittling. It is a fairly inexpensive hobby to get started on, pretty much just need a basic pocket knife and some wood. I sometimes have downtime at work/home with nothing to do and it is easy to stay mobile with it. My goal is to get decent enough with it to make little art figurines. It would be a bonus if it turns into a small side hustle! @AlexTheGrape Thanks for the words of encouragement! Yeah the PS4 sold fast on Ebay and it is already out of the house so that helps a lot, completely takes the option away. Maybe once I get decent at whittling I will post some of the projects on here. Seems like it may take a while to master hah. I will say, today was a little hard to break some old habits. Had a long day at work and was excited to go home and realized I didn't have much to do. My mind started to wander towards gaming for a brief moment. Luckily, I don't really have any options for gaming. I probably watched too much TV today to fill the void but I have decided to set aside an hour or more tonight to reading and writing. I have a three day weekend ahead after work tomorrow, so I may need to read or paint to fill the time. I am allowing TV but I am trying not to trade in one bad habit for another. I plan to stay a bit more active once I get a few more supplies for my hobby.

@Leyla hah the name, TruthfulPirate, definitely warrants cheesy jokes be made Thanks for the words of encouragement!

After some careful deliberation today I decided on my next hobby. I am taking up whittling! I wanted a hobby where I could work with my hands, required low start up, and could be done in an apartment. I treated myself to a new Boker pocket knife and sold my PS4 today. I think whittling will allow me to relax and be creative when I have down time and I can do it almost anywhere. All in all today was a pretty solid Independence Day, especially towards my independence from gaming. Back to work

Let's just jump right in. I didn't play any games or watch any streams on my first day of the 90 day challenge so that is really promising. However, in the process of figuring out how I want to get rid of my PS4, I contacted Vintage Stock to price an in store trade-in for my console. I figured I would just use the money to get some Magic the Gathering cards and maybe reignite my old hobby. Before I knew it I was looking to see if they had any "retro" consoles like SNES or NES in store. Old habits die hard. I ended up listing the console on Ebay, and I will just pocket the cash for future hobbies. I would like to give up gaming forever, that being said my main addiction centered around MMO's specifically (as well as other online genres). When it comes to video games I get extremely bored of single player games in less than an hour. This is why I originally made the switch and sold my PC and picked up a PS4 a while back. I figured I would play less on a system that was known for its strong, single player titles. I should have known I would immediately gravitate to an MMO and waste countless hours, days, weeks, and months. Now that I have quit gaming I want to make it through this 90 day detox and re-evaluate my feelings on "retro" consoles at the end of it. My hope is that I will lose any interest in gaming and lack the time for it due my interest in other hobbies. It is astonishing how many remnants of my hobbies I have lying around the apartment that I never use. Here is the list of my old hobbies I gave up for gaming: Rock ClimbingBicyclingHarmonicaUkulelePaintingDrawingMagic: The GatheringLegosCodingReading Fiction (I have 3 books I just purchased that are sitting on a shelf)Writing FictionThat is a huge list! That doesn't even include the things I started and then sold. It is shocking how much of my free time I gave up to play video games. Luckily I never neglected my awesome dog Daria, but she will also benefit from me quitting gaming. Time to shower that pooch with love while I figure out what hobby to start back up first. -Ryan the Truthful Pirate