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Jeremias

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03/05/2016

Thus ends day 1 of my detox plan.

It is 10:30pm of my first detox night, and I have endured my way through the dangerous evening period. Honestly, I've just been doing nothing on facebook to fill the time. But hey, it's a start.

I'm very tired so I can fill in the details later, but I'm posting to say that it's a really fresh start to what is probably the most difficult and significant transition I will make in my life. It is exciting but I am feeling, what is the word... irritated? Nervous? It is hard to describe. 

I use this forum to record the important successes, failures, lessons and difficulties I experience along the way. Stay posted

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Well. You're taking the first step. Congrats.

 

Do you have any interest other than activity in game/social media? A lot of people is social media addict instead, wasting their time to gain that likes thing, or want to know what the others do (not that this is a bad thing, just in moderation). If you are interested in social media instead, try to leverage its position by become content creator.

 

Well, keep going, mate.

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Welcome Jeremias!

I really encourage you to watch Cam's videos, there was one video that I particularly found informative.  It was about what to expect when you go through the detox.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDpRDvFvImw

I hope you find the forum helpful.  Also, I found it helpful to list down my achievements each day, or any task that I accomplished that I did outside my goals.  The forum members are great in that many give positive feedback. 

I think journal writing is invaluable because it can be a great reminder of what steps you've taken to work towards your goals, and to process what struggles you have..  As cliche as it sounds, a journey begins with one step. 

Cheers!  :)

 

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04/05/2016

Detox - Day 2 complete.

I have spent a day at work, ran 3.5km when I got home and spent the rest of the time doing housework and on the internet. Again nothing hugely exciting in the activities department, but the real challenge will come on the weekends where I normally play games for most of the day! I aim to replace the internet activity with something else whilst not overtraining myself for the half-marathon I'm doing on May 15, but I acknowledge that breaking habits take a very long time so I'm happy to ease my way into the challenge. 

I'm feeling much more alert if not a bit irritable, which is making it more difficult to get into the zone at work but is opening my eyes to social cues and opportunities to meet new people. I am certain I would have missed these or been apathetic about them before I began my detox. 

I suspect that these feelings are not only due to the 8 hours of sleep I got last night, but also an effect of the additional energy I would have otherwise drained by concentrating on playing games.

My goals at the moment:

  • Continue sustained productivity in my work
  • Slowly curtail my internet use
  • Continue posting on this forum and to my accountability partner each day
  • Continue marathon training

I don't have a great deal else to say, I guess I'm feeling a bit bored in general? But it was still a pretty easy day. I'm not underestimating the challenges ahead.

Thanks for the support :)

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Good work, having goals is a great way to focus on things you want to do instead of old habits. Remember to think of some activities you want to do for the weekends you mentioned. A few good activities can make a huge difference.

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When I had my first detox weekend, I decided to make it "tryout (new activities weekend)", which totally failed lol. Failed, because I started by reading book, which hooked me in so much that it took me whole weekend to read it(excluding housekeeping and physical training), so I didn't tried much then.

I forgot, how much I loved to read before I started playing. Maybe there is an activity, which you enjoyed doing before you started to play? If you don't have any idea for filling your time, check Cam 60 hobby/activities ideas.

Keep going, keep posting :)

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Hey jeremias,

keep up the good work on your journal it is a nice read!  I can emphasize with your situation of boredom.  Honestly that is the most challenging part is to figure out what to do with all the time.  Personally one thing is just getting outside to enjoy your day and the world around you.  Maybe go do something you've always thought about and one thing is to have a plan.  I found it best to set some goals and write down what you wish to do with your life and  this can give you some focus to reach for.  I too am training for a marathon and you can think of other parts of your life in the same way.  Your goal is the marathon but it takes many training runs and steps to get there.  I'm looking forward to your progress!!

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05/05/2016

Detox - Day 3 complete.

I woke up late for work after having more than 9 hours of sleep! I normally don't need an alarm to wake up after about 7 so maybe my body is recovering from a long period of sleep debt. I'll go to bed earlier tonight and see what happens. 

I had a good day at work today. I've been working on a project for a couple of weeks making seemingly little progress, but I learnt something new today which seemed to tie together all of my learnings from the past 2 weeks. When I reflected on this at the end of the day with a colleague, I was beating myself up about it a bit, and thinking about all the time I could have saved over the last 2 weeks if I had learnt this little detail earlier. However, my colleague (aged 50 or so, I'm only 21) comforted me in saying (much more eloquantly than this): How do most people learn? They fail. 

I can't remember exactly what he said but I thought it would be relevant here. It reminded me that you can be making a lot of incremental progress in working towards something, taking little steps, whilst never realising how far you've come. In my case today, I found this when I completed part of a task that I have been working on for a long time. For us on this forum, I'm sure that the signal to look back and see how far we've come will present itself in many forms. 

Instead of subreddits and games, it is this forum that my mind automatically opens when I am bored. I am glad that this reflex has completely overridden any urge for gaming I have (I don't even feel like it this evening), but I'll be working on improving my focus in the future. 

I ran 7.5kms tonight and got my Mum a Mother's Day present for this weekend. I'm going out with my friends on Saturday night, doing a lot of running and I think I'll invite a friend to go mountain biking near my place.

Thanks for reading and for the invaluable support @SundayMiharu, @Dannigan, @Piotr, @Cam Adair, @Sashiku, @Alex Ericson and @Robin. It makes more of a difference than you may think.

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You're doing very well, Jeremias!  Your colleague had good insight that sometimes we tend to think we're not making much progress even though we really are.  In reality, goals are not achieved in leaps and bounds.  :)

Keep it up!  Doing great!

Sincerely,

Danni

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06/05/2016

Detox - Day 4 complete.

I'm very sleepy again this morning despite having around 9 hours of sleep, so I guess I'll need to consciously head to bed earlier each night until I find the right amount of sleep I need to recuperate from my sleep debt. My mind is much less irritable than it was on day 2, so I've found it easier to really knuckle down and get longer periods of work done. 

Fridays are rest days for my marathon training schedule, but I'll be waking up tomorrow at around 6:20am to do a 7am parkrun. If any of you runners out there haven't heard of parkrun, it is a weekly 5km run coordinated by communities all over the world that I would strongly recommend. It is for all fitness levels and is great for making new friends, waking up for the sunrise and getting fit - what everyone on this forum seems to be doing. See http://www.parkrun.com 

I called up an old friend who agreed to come and do it with me tomorrow. If I was still gaming, I could see myself staying up late tonight before under-sleeping and doing the run alone (if at all). 

As for the whole not gaming thing, I found today easy. In reflection it feels like gaming started as something to fill the gaps of spare time in my day and grew from there, until it started taking over massive quantities of my time. As I find other things to do with myself and other people to socialise with, the detoxification process becomes much easier.

Thanks for reading.

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I looked into the Parkrun website, but nothing for Canada yet.  However, it's definitely a fantastic tool to continue with running for fitness.   Fortunately, I live close to a race track where there are all sorts of people running at the same time I do.  It may not be a running partner, per se, but it's invigorating for me to see people of all ages and abilities go out at 5:00 a.m. in the morning to run or walk.  That's the cue and inspiration for myself, I guess.  Kudos to your progress so far! 

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09/05/2016

Detox - Day 7 complete.

What a weekend.

I guess that I am lucky to have a lot of activities coinciding with my first weekend of my detox - I've been relatively occupied for the whole duration. I was initially keen on the idea of writing a diary entry each day, but I have been more busy than I expected

It started with parkrun at 7am - I ran 5km in 21mins, which is a little bit worse than last week but I'm happy to do it with a friend. She was a good minute faster than me :) I went home and made pancakes from scratch before watching a movie with my brother. I spent a little bit of time on the forums before heading to the beach to lounge around by myself for a bit and reading, before hitting the city with my friends. I've always been an introverted, socially awkward kind of guy but it will be interesting to see any progress I make in that department. I guess it is difficult to measure confidence, but I will be challenging myself to pro-actively meet more new people while I am out as the detox progresses. 

Sunday was pretty chill; after celebrating Mother's Day I settled down for some youtube (documentaries on market disruption by Tony Seba, related to Electric Vehicles) and a nap, cleaning the house a bit, and practicing music with a friend.

Today (Monday), I had a great time at work, making good progress on my project and improving my focus throughout the day, despite having a bit of a cold.

My main takeaway over the last few days is that I behave much more courteously towards my friends and my family than I used to. As gaming is no longer on my mind 24/7:

  • I bought my Mum her present several days before Mother's Day, which is uncharacteristic to anyone who knows me
  • I don't show up late to everything as I no longer sit on reddit until the very last minute.
  • There are fewer instances of people waiting on me to complete tasks; I complete errands more proactively as they are no longer shoved aside by the thought of gaming. 
  • In general I prioritise other people higher than I used to (this is difficult to say, but it is true. Gaming is a very self-centred activity)

I'm now tapering off my running training in preparation for a half marathon on Sunday. I hope my sickness will subside before then. I am also performing a piece of music for my friend's composition assignment at university.

I use the Game Quitters form as my reflex go-to whenever I'm bored and browsing mindlessly on the internet, which helps me a LOT. The diary entries I hear on this forum are inspiring, and keep me wanting to come back. Keep it up fam

Until next time

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10/05/2016

Detox - Day 8 complete.

I don't have a great deal to note down today, other than yet another high quality day.

I awoke feeling much better than I was yesterday, increasing my confidence that I'll be better before the half-marathon on Sunday. I'm still taking it easy to ensure that my health improves as soon as possible. 

My 75-minute bus commutes to and from work have been occupied by reading The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen - a recommendation from @Cam Adair. I am about halfway through, but I would already recommend this as one of the first texts you pick up if you're thinking about reading these kinds of self-development books. I have read about 8 books over the last 3 months, and The Slight Edge forms good groundwork for any development you're looking to do; it is extremely relevant for anyone who is detoxing or is considering doing so! It feels a little drawn out, but the message is spot on.

Other general observations of mine:

  • My focus at work over long periods of time has further increased, and my passion for it is greater (it may just be a good time at work at the moment, I'm not sure)
  • I'm awake and alert
  • I'm generous with my spare time

I haven't got much else to say without repeating myself... 

Thanks as always

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10/05/2016

Detox - Day 8 complete.

I don't have a great deal to note down today, other than yet another high quality day.

You don't need to have a "great deal to note down", just be consistent and use your journal to sum up your actions :) Congratulations on your week, don't give up and keep it this way.

Greetings

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10/05/2016

Detox - Day 8 complete.

I don't have a great deal to note down today, other than yet another high quality day.

You don't need to have a "great deal to note down", just be consistent and use your journal to sum up your actions :) Congratulations on your week, don't give up and keep it this way.

Greetings

I agree with PIotr, Jeremias.  No need to write lengthy chapters of your progress.  Everyone is different.  If posting on this website helps you stick with your goals and detox, then it's doing its job.  I think you're doing very well so far!  Believe me, you're going to be learning a lot about yourself within these 90 days.  Good work so far.  :)

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10/05/2016

Detox - Day 8 complete.

I don't have a great deal to note down today, other than yet another high quality day.

You don't need to have a "great deal to note down", just be consistent and use your journal to sum up your actions :) Congratulations on your week, don't give up and keep it this way.

Greetings

Very true. 

Happy to hear you're enjoying The Slight Edge and using your commute time wisely. Let us know if you need any other recommendations!

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10/05/2016

Detox - Day 8 complete.

I don't have a great deal to note down today, other than yet another high quality day.

You don't need to have a "great deal to note down", just be consistent and use your journal to sum up your actions :) Congratulations on your week, don't give up and keep it this way.

Greetings

Very true. 

Happy to hear you're enjoying The Slight Edge and using your commute time wisely. Let us know if you need any other recommendations!

Fine advice indeed, and coincidentally, very similar to what I'm reading in The Slight Edge at the moment. Thank you @Cam Adair and @Piotr

Hi @Jeremias, What do you do to improve focus?

It may sound silly, but I usually try to find a way of enjoying what I'm doing :) For my work in a wind farm company, I always get excited about the big picture of delaying the seemingly inevitable heating of the Earth's atmosphere. Once this happens, my head generally clicks into gear and I focus on doing the best work I can. I'm sure there are many short-term methods that work for many different people, so keep experimenting to find what works for you. 

11/05/2016

Detox - Day 9 complete.

I am beginning to find this detox challenging. The initial zeal I had for bettering myself has been somewhat dampened due to my time spent in the house recovering from illness. In Australia, the winter is slowly coming, so I must accustom myself to being caught inside out of the cold weather and finding good ways to spend my time. I will want to invest some money into winter running gear in order to embrace the cold, so I will order it tomorrow night. 

Things I did well today:

  • Another large chunk of The Slight Edge has been completed on my commute.
    • I feel like reading has become habitual on my commute to and from work now. However, this is an activity I have been practicing since January this year.
    • It has been the inspiration for these dot points describing 'things I did well' and 'things I could improve' which will hopefully reduce the time I spend writing these posts a little bit. The very act of keeping a journal a great way to reflect, regardless of how long my entries are.
  • I held myself professionally at work, and maintained a good attitude

Challenges:

  • I'm justifying my increased food consumption with my sickness. This is fine for now, but I am wary that my diet should reset as soon as possible, particularly with a half marathon in 4 days.
  • My friends have been raising gaming-related topics, and I could take more initiative in starting conversations with other new friends or moving the conversation elsewhere
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