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Mark

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My introduction...

 

Gaming goals; 

90-Day Detox completed from 8th February 2016 to 7th May 2016.

Not played online since 8th January 2016.

  • No multiplayer games.
  • No PC games.
  • No mobile/browser games.

Internet goals;

  • No internet before completion of morning routine.
  • No internet after 9pm.
  • Limit browsing sessions to 1 hour by use of an alarm.

Fitness goals;

  • Workout at gym/play football 2-3 times per week.
  • Practice Yoga 3-5 times per week.

Computer Skills goal;

  • Complete HTML & CSS courses on Codecademy.

Reading goal;

  • 15 minutes reading per day.

Sleeping goal;

  • 8 hours sleep per night.

 

Responses/suggestions/questions to anything I say are very much welcome. Ta for now!

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Hi Mark! one question i almost instantly had was: What job do you have?

I go into schools to teach different sports to children. Reading it back, describing my job as being physically demanding was probably a bit over the top! It does require me to be physically and mentally engaged from start to finish though.

 

Woohoo! I love seeing another journal up here. Excited to follow along Mark! :)

tumblr_mqiahhtfSc1sykcx0o1_400.gif

It's good to see you've already started on the popcorn, and have the glasses at the ready as well. I'm currently working on making the first ever 3D journal! (Maybe... :P)

 

Day 1;

You know when you wake up with that feeling in the back of your nose and throat that you're probably coming down with something? I woke up with that which was annoying. I was also unable to walk the dog as she currently has a problem with her eye, and taking her out in the current weather would do it more harm than good. Those frustrations aside, I did my best to create some positives by posting on here for the first time, and I put together a plan for my afternoon session at work. Despite not being at my best, I was able to do a yoga session before clocking off for the night.

I did linger on the internet a little unfortunately, it's amazing how your body can switch onto autopilot and you find yourself on a website without really being aware of how you got there. At least I've recognisied this behaviour, if nothing else.

 

 

 

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Day 2 & 3;

Just a quick update today. Tuesday played out very similar to the previous day, so I don't feel like there is anything worth bringing up. Wednesday started out great in that I ran a few errands before going to the gym, unfortunately I got home to find out the extent of the damage done to my car while parked overnight, something which has now happened twice in the space of a few weeks, and nobody has come forward to admit responsibility in either case. My mind has been too preoccupied to think about gaming and procrastinating, but not in a good way :P

One plus I will give myself credit for is that I spent a good hour on Tuesday packaging up some of my old games and consoles ready for shipping. I've even decided to sell on some of my newer games.

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Day 6;

Yesterday I sprained my ankle while playing football so I've been forced to rest for all of today, and will likely be doing the same tomorrow. It's been a bit of a strange week to be honest, so I haven't tackled my internet procrastinating as I would have liked. Not gaming hasn't been an issue whatsoever, but that's to be expected having taken numerous short breaks over the past couple of years. I don't think I will be in a position to evaluate my thoughts towards gaming until further down the line.

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Day 9;

I've had a much more productive day after a somewhat lazy few days. Taking my injury into account, I can't be too harsh on myself for that, but I certainly could have accomplished more during my downtime. Something I already knew before coming into this, but how one begins their morning is critical in setting the pattern for the rest of the day. In my case, if I get too comfortable in my computer chair during breakfast time, then it takes a lot more effort to get my day back on track.

I was intrigued by a dream I had the other night in which I was playing an retro-style football game (not even a real one at that), but because I only played the game for a couple of minutes, it technically didn't count as a relapse and my current detox record remained intact. My mind subconsciously making excuses perhaps? xD

 

Thanks for the good wishes @Cam Adair! I'm very much on the mend, albeit slowly :P

(I wasn't sure how to add your quote into my post while editing, any ideas?)

 

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Something I already knew before coming into this, but how one begins their morning is critical in setting the pattern for the rest of the day.

Master this every morning and you'll be blown away at your results over the next year.

To quit hit the red "Quote" button below the post you want to quote. :)

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Day 10;

Today was probably the hardest so far. I pushed myself a bit too much the day before as my ankle was particularly sore when I woke up this morning. That, combined with the awful weather, saw my original plans for the day go up in smoke and I was stuck in the house with little to do. This was one of those days that in the past I would have reverted to spending a lot of my time juggling between gaming and internet browsing. Inbetween periods of boredom, I did spend a couple of hours refreshing my memory on the basics of HTML and CSS. It wasn't much, but I'll class it as a small victory :D

Part of me was glad that I was restless, particularly during mid-morning and the early afternoon when I didn't have anything on my agenda. I'm happy that my mind wants me to busy doing something productive, and not just sit at my chair in autopilot.

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Day 15;

The last week or so has very much been a mixed bag. I've done some positive, productive things like working on my car for example, but my sprained ankle has been a source of frustration, and the work towards some of my goals has been hampered as a result. Although still sore, my injury has improved quite a lot over the past 48 hours, so hopefully I can kick on again this week.

Still no video games, internet procrastination continues to be the much bigger issue for me. The impression I have so far is that gaming isn't at the core of the problem, but like browsing the internet, is simply one of my outlets. Admittedly it's still early days however :D

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Hi Mark

Glad to read about your progress. I think it is awesome you have set goals including yoga, fitness and sleeping. That is exactly what I am trying to do aswell :)

Have you been playing football since you were young or is it a new passion? Do you work on a special project on your car or is it generall maintenance? 

I am a mechanic myself and enjoy everything with engines and horsepowers :) 

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Hey Mark, this video I have on How To Stop Mindlessly Browsing The Internet can help you with the internet browsing. Remember, you can replace gaming with the internet or porn or sex or drugs or alcohol. It's all the same stuff really. But by following the same steps I outline in Respawn or in my videos you can succeed in your recovery - whether it's gaming or any other vice like the internet. Hang in there, you're learning a lot about yourself right now.

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Hi Mark

Glad to read about your progress. I think it is awesome you have set goals including yoga, fitness and sleeping. That is exactly what I am trying to do aswell :)

Have you been playing football since you were young or is it a new passion? Do you work on a special project on your car or is it generall maintenance? 

I am a mechanic myself and enjoy everything with engines and horsepowers :) 

Hey Daniel!

I've been playing football since I was young. It's always been one of my biggest passions in life, and without blowing my own trumpet too much, I was a pretty decent player, but after becoming ill at 14, I didn't play for a number of years. I'm just grateful for the fact that I can have a kickabout now and then, and it's great exercise! 

My car had been damaged while parked on two separate occasions in the past few weeks! So it was just to fix those issues, but it looks a lot more presentable now!

I'm not much of a petrol-head myself, thankfully i had help from someone who knew what they were doing xD

 

Hey Mark, this video I have on How To Stop Mindlessly Browsing The Internet can help you with the internet browsing. Remember, you can replace gaming with the internet or porn or sex or drugs or alcohol. It's all the same stuff really. But by following the same steps I outline in Respawn or in my videos you can succeed in your recovery - whether it's gaming or any other vice like the internet. Hang in there, you're learning a lot about yourself right now.

I had seen that video already mate, but I watched it again last night as a reminder. What I have done though...

 

Day 17;

To help with my procrastination issues, I decided to put together a weekly schedule that I will update every Sunday in order to prepare for the week ahead. Because my condition can sometimes make it difficult to follow a set routine, I've specifically avoided creating a strict regimen for myself, but it's enough to have a structure to my day. Yesterday and today have been very productive, so fingers crossed! 

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Computer Skills goals;
  1.  Complete HTML & CSS courses on Codecademy.
  2.  Read through HTML & CSS book.

I already have the basic HTML and CSS knowledge tucked away in my brain somewhere, but I want to refresh my memory of these skills and then work towards creating a website from scratch, introducing elements that I have never practiced before.

Hello Mark,

I have just started learning HTML & CSS, though I am a total beginner and do not have any previous experience of this kind of thing; in fact I have always believed it was too difficult for me, as I am much more skilled in humanities and have no maths talent. However, I found it useful for my work, and so decided to learn how to make websites rather than how to program in Scratch (it was fun, but had no practical use). What advice can you give to a beginner learning HTML & CSS for the first time in her life? Thanks :) Currently, I am doing the Khan Academy course, but I intend to complete the Codecademy offering later on.

I love reading, so in my turn I can provide you with book recommendations :) Is there any particular genre you enjoy?

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Computer Skills goals;
  1.  Complete HTML & CSS courses on Codecademy.
  2.  Read through HTML & CSS book.

I already have the basic HTML and CSS knowledge tucked away in my brain somewhere, but I want to refresh my memory of these skills and then work towards creating a website from scratch, introducing elements that I have never practiced before.

Hello Mark,

I have just started learning HTML & CSS, though I am a total beginner and do not have any previous experience of this kind of thing; in fact I have always believed it was too difficult for me, as I am much more skilled in humanities and have no maths talent. However, I found it useful for my work, and so decided to learn how to make websites rather than how to program in Scratch (it was fun, but had no practical use). What advice can you give to a beginner learning HTML & CSS for the first time in her life? Thanks :) Currently, I am doing the Khan Academy course, but I intend to complete the Codecademy offering later on.

I love reading, so in my turn I can provide you with book recommendations :) Is there any particular genre you enjoy?

Hey @Primmulla!

The HTML & CSS course on Codecademy seems like a good starting point, as it gets you to practice typing out some of the essential HTML commands and shows you the results on the fly. I wouldn't worry too much about the early exercises that focus on styling however, wait until the exercises on CSS for that :)

Regarding book recommendations, maybe something in the horror genre? I particularly enjoyed a couple of Stephen King's books a number of years back.

 

@Primmulla Coding isn't so mcuh related to maths as you think. It's mainly logic + a new language to learn.

@WorkInProgress is right in that it's mainly about learning and remembering the language, any problem solving tends to come later when the design of the website becomes a bit more complex and issues start to appear :P

 

Structure is one of the #1 reasons why I'm able to maintain some degree of consistency. Without it I'd be all over the place. 

There has always been some consistency to my daily routine, but I've comes to the realisation that I could drastically improve the structure of my day by following a schedule, and I will feel a lot better for doing so.

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Day 20;

Just a quick update tonight. I've stuck to my schedule pretty well for the most part. Although today hasn't played out as planned, I've still been to work and put a couple of productive hours in when I got home, so i don't mind that too much. Hopefully I can keep it up going into next week :)

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Day 20;

Just a quick update tonight. I've stuck to my schedule pretty well for the most part. Although today hasn't played out as planned, I've still been to work and put a couple of productive hours in when I got home, so i don't mind that too much. Hopefully I can keep it up going into next week :)

Great job! :)

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Day 24;

Sunday started well, but ended somewhat on a sour note when my favourite football team lost a cup final :(

As much as I love my football, and that I expected to feel a little downbeat the following morning, it's not the end of the world, I know that, but Monday and Tuesday ended up being two of my worst days yet, I'll break it down to try and explain why...

  • On Monday and Tuesday, I don't start work until 3pm. With me being more of a morning person, I prefer to get up and get things done, but because of these working hours, I often feel like I'm waiting around to go to work, and doing other things before then is more difficult than it usually would be.
  • The work I do on these days is particularly challenging, and the enjoyment I get out of doing it is sparse. It's certainly not the best way to start a week, as I'm then spending the rest of it trying to recover my mindset to a place where I want it to be.
  • I woke up not feeling too well. With my condition in its current state, I will occasionally feel like this, again, this happens, and there isn't a lot I can do to combat it, but it makes everything else even harder to deal with. 
  • I felt like I'd woke up on the wrong side of bed, perhaps due to a combination of factors from the above, but I guess it happens to everybody from time to time.

Today I've got the day off, but with me not feeling great physically, I can't guarantee that I'll complete my scheduled gym session, which leaves me in a bit of a quandary. In days gone bye, this is when I would revert to gaming and internet procrastination, the latter of which has crept back into my life over the past couple of days, which again, makes sense when taking everything into account.

I have typed the above partly to just have a good rant, but I would also welcome any advise that people may have :)

To try and make my day a more positive one, I have offered to be a taxi for the day for a family member, which in turn would give me something to centre my day around. I'm also contemplating purchasing a cycling machine, so on the days that I don't feel up to travelling to and from the gym, I can at least do an exercise workout at home. I have no idea where I would keep it though!

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About exercise:

In the past i never gone to the gym. This time around i startet an alternating jogging/ bodyweight training exercise. The main reason i like it, is the availabilty of it. I can't come up with serious excuses not to do atleast a short jog or some basic bodyweight exercises. I use this routine. I think on this side every exercise is explained well with videos wich made it easy to do them in a right way( I actually did push-ups wrong my whole life and now their hard).

About procrastination and daystructure.

Sometimes i am able to realize i don't wanna do work and want to procrastinate. Then i sometime sit it out dooing nothing. Then i just do my work. More often I have the same problems with procrastination until around 1pm.In my experience schedules do not help if I know what to do, but just don't wanna do it xD.

Often times journalling helped me wiht motivation in the morning though. You could maybe try to schedule it earlier adn use the journal to reflect on the things you want to accomplish by beeing strict with your tasks.

hoped i could help a bit.

Greetings Mario

 

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