Replaced gaming with chatrooming?

[Joba]

Hello GQs!

I'm still going on strong with no video games (Since March 13th.. i've stopped counting days now hah) but I find myself spending more time in chat rooms, talking about specific interests (audio production) but in the long run I don't think spending 2-4 hours a night is really benefiting me. I've tried cutting out the chat roomy stuff before then in two weeks I start to sort of miss them and then boom, back into chatrooms.

Has anyone else gone or is going through this? What did you do to overcome this.

Thanks in advance!

[everydayart]

Hi Joba!

I am right into my second detox attempt. And I use lots of different tools to motivate myself to focus on certain activities and not others. So I thought maybe I could share one of the more simple ones (a simple calculation I made of compounding time that I wrote into a sentence) that really helps me understand how time adds up over the span of a life time. It might seem extreme maybe, but that is the point to reflect on life as a whole, and what can be done with it, taking myself out of those temporary urges to do something everyday that I maybe should not do. So here it is:

"Just by not surfing randomly 1 hour a day I save over 18,000 hours in 50 years to do something else with."

That is a lot of time! I reflect on the sentence and on how many skills I could master, or other things I could do instead, trying to find activities that give me benefit and pleasure both in the short and long run, just by changing what I do with one hour a day.

Maybe cutting the chat room to 2-4 hours a week would be a good compromise (Sundays prehaps?), not denying yourself the activity that is rooted in a creative interest. And also not doing it too often so that you really enjoy it that one time a week. I am trying a similar scheme for podcasts on Sundays, trying to be overall more creative and active in other pursuits over the rest of the week.

Also, as Cam talks about in his different videos and Respawn, you need to replace the habit with something else equally interesting or even better. Then you won't have time to miss those chat sessions as much.

Hope the above made some sense

 

[Rusaw]

Hi Joba!

I think I understand what you mean although I didn't replace gaming with chatrooming I sadly replaced gaming with randomly browsing the internet. But tomorrow if it's not raining I'm gonna go swimming. I think you should find an activity that you can do outside maybe go for a walk and think about why you replaced gaming with chatrooming and who knows maybe while going for a walk you may stumble upon an outdoor activity that you'd want to participate in.

[Joba]

Hi Joba!

I am right into my second detox attempt. And I use lots of different tools to motivate myself to focus on certain activities and not others. So I thought maybe I could share one of the more simple ones (a simple calculation I made of compounding time that I wrote into a sentence) that really helps me understand how time adds up over the span of a life time. It might seem extreme maybe, but that is the point to reflect on life as a whole, and what can be done with it, taking myself out of those temporary urges to do something everyday that I maybe should not do. So here it is:

"Just by not surfing randomly 1 hour a day I save over 18,000 hours in 50 years to do something else with."

That is a lot of time! I reflect on the sentence and on how many skills I could master, or other things I could do instead, trying to find activities that give me benefit and pleasure both in the short and long run, just by changing what I do with one hour a day.

Maybe cutting the chat room to 2-4 hours a week would be a good compromise (Sundays prehaps?), not denying yourself the activity that is rooted in a creative interest. And also not doing it too often so that you really enjoy it that one time a week. I am trying a similar scheme for podcasts on Sundays, trying to be overall more creative and active in other pursuits over the rest of the week.

Also, as Cam talks about in his different videos and Respawn, you need to replace the habit with something else equally interesting or even better. Then you won't have time to miss those chat sessions as much.

Hope the above made some sense

 

Hey EverydayArt,

Thanks for compromise suggestion! Calculating the time and seeing the big picture of how that time is spent is also an excellent suggestion. I was just watching one of Cam's videos and he suggested to host your own events which I'm anxious to start doing but also excited. I just hope it attracts the right sort of people. I admit i've been exhausted a fair amount lately trying to do to much in too little time. Which of course, once chat rooms stops I'll have more time haha. Thanks again!

 

Hi Joba!

I think I understand what you mean although I didn't replace gaming with chatrooming I sadly replaced gaming with randomly browsing the internet. But tomorrow if it's not raining I'm gonna go swimming. I think you should find an activity that you can do outside maybe go for a walk and think about why you replaced gaming with chatrooming and who knows maybe while going for a walk you may stumble upon an outdoor activity that you'd want to participate in.

Hi Rusaw, 

Yeah I agree, going outside is very rejuvenating. I've always enjoyed solo walks!

 

 

[Daniel]

Have you tried Stayfocusd?

It's important to get new activities or you will end up with a lot of idle time your dexto which can be dangerous.

" Idleness is the mother of all vices"
 

[everydayart]

@Joba No problem, hope it works out. There are so many systems to try for balancing time and effort, my problem is that I might change systems to fast (partly out of curiosity), but I guess the key is sticking to them for a longer time and really evaluating if they work.

I also saw that Cam made a video of the time calculation mindset just some 1 ago, it was great that he mentioned the same thing in a video :).

[Joba]

Have you tried Stayfocusd?

It's important to get new activities or you will end up with a lot of idle time your dexto which can be dangerous.

" Idleness is the mother of all vices"
 

Hey Daniel, 

I have not! However since this post I've actually decided to do a social media fast, as well as not playing video games its been about 11 months now and feelin' fantastic  

 

@Joba No problem, hope it works out. There are so many systems to try for balancing time and effort, my problem is that I might change systems to fast (partly out of curiosity), but I guess the key is sticking to them for a longer time and really evaluating if they work.

I also saw that Cam made a video of the time calculation mindset just some 1 ago, it was great that he mentioned the same thing in a video :).

Hi EverydayArt, 

In about a month (my year aniversary) i'll be posting the things i've accomplished and will touch on how I overcame this in more detail, but in short I just became more passionate about music and making real world connections instead of trying to mindless make them happen digitally  

[lilX]

How about spending more time with people outside of online. Have you tried meetup? Are you in the Vancouver area?