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Posted

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 38

Sorry for being so lazy with my posting, I have been writing to my penpals so much that I am tired of typing by the time I need to post! Anyways that is just a feeble excuse on my part, I have been lazy, full-stop.

Today has been a relaxed day for me in general, I spent some great time with my little brother and his friend and have sent about 13 emails!

I did my morning meditation and visualisation, but needed to wait for a skype call and so skipped my morning run. In the end the other person didn't come online so I just did my run during the middle of the day. I did some guitar practice, it was great for my attitude because I had been without my guitar for a week and haven't been very engaged.

I watched a couple of Cam's videos and one he's featured in; I feel like he had me in mind in one of these videos, it might have been when he talked to Richard Kuo about habits. @Cam Adair used the example of wanting to learn programming, and I certainly fit into that situation. I want to improve my programming skills, but I don't have any particular goals for it right now and next to no competition. I've added setting programming goals to my list of things to do, I will really need to hit that list tomorrow as I've procrastinated a lot today. Thanks Cam for continuing to providing the community with useful resources!

I think I've done well so far though, I did a lot more habit building than in the past week, and I still have some time today to do more of these activities.

Without my daily reflections, I think I've been losing my ambitious grip. I'll start again with the full list, but perhaps not the habits checklist as I don't have as much time as I did in my holidays.

What went well today:

Spending time playing with nerf guns with my brother certainly made my day, it was simple fun that lasted a long time. Journalling here seems to be working well for me too! I felt a little stressed during the middle of the day, I sorted it out easily by having a second 10-minute meditation session and I felt much better afterwards.

What I could have done to make my day better:

I could have balanced out doing work activities with emailing penpals, but getting to start work related tasks earlier would have been the main thing to work on.

What I will do differently tomorrow:

I will make sure to write down a timed schedule of what I'm doing for the first half of the day to make sure I get the most done as efficiently as possible (this method has worked for me before).

3 Things I'm grateful for:

I'm grateful for being a person that reflects on my activities and attitude.

I am grateful for the great weather today and the opportunity to play with my brother outside.

I am grateful for my caring family.

One amazing thing that happened today:

Having some childish fun for once to run around shooting toy guns and chasing each other around was a breath of fresh air for me. I have quickly become accustomed to the high pressure, demanding school environment and it was very enjoyable to take time out to spend with family. My favourite part of the day was hiding underneath a truck to avoid detection, it was hilarious when I was found and had trouble getting out.

Posted

My favourite part of the day was hiding underneath a truck to avoid detection, it was hilarious when I was found and had trouble getting out.

Haha, hopefully not by the truck driver ;)

 

Posted

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 39

Today I have been crunching down on work I needed to get done and responding to a swarm of emails. I am over-investing in penpals again, I just find it really hard to say 'no' to people that wan't to know me better! I'll be cutting down on time spend responding to two hours max tomorrow.

The timed, scheduled plan for the day worked out somewhat well, I took quite a bit of adjusting but I will do much better at it tomorrow.

I'm picking up the challenge again, I just simply forget about it amongst the flurry of activity I do during the day. I had a look at day 19 and 20, and I'm a little confused as how I should approach them. I already have a range of friends that aren't gamers, but the trouble is that I'm not that close with them because we don't have all that much in common. I am also already committed to various after-school activities like robotics, programming, fencing, and now running. I am sure I'll get to know like-minded people in the running club that is starting up, and I'm not old enough to make a meetups account so this'll just have to do. I like the idea of hosting a dinner though, I'll need to practice making dinner sometime during the week though, I'll schedule that for Thursday.

I got my meditation, morning run, and workout done this morning! (Oh and not to mention the cold shower, but that's just habit now). I didn't make time for guitar practice, but I spend a good 20 minutes learning about different code words, their meanings, and applying the ones I didn't understand. I also read more of the Slight Edge again!

 

What went well today:

Meditating in the middle of the day reduced my stress levels substantially.

What I could have done to make my day better:

I could have changed up my workplace a little, I got bored very quickly and my work speed was not satisfactory.

What I will do differently tomorrow:

I'm going to make sure to leave replying to emails until the end of the day, and only spend a maximum of 2 hours on it. That way I will make the most of the day and stay focused.

Posted

Laney's words of shooting for the stars is so true!  Since quitting games, it seems like my failures are still better than the successes of my gaming days!  Dreaming big and working on getting there is the way to go!

"since quitting games, it seems like my failures are still better than the successes of my gaming days" going on my wall very soon

 

Posted

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 42

Despite my best intentions earlier to improve my schedule, my habit building has been deteriorating and being replaced with school related work and a small amount of time wastage. Luckily I talked with my new accountability partner Tomasz, so I'll make sure to improve!

I'm gonna make this real quick as I should be asleep right now. I have finished around 30 days of cold showers and have had warm shower for yesterday and today. I'm going to make a change to that though, I've been notoriously lazy these past few days with little drive to improve (I'd normally have some motivation). I'll get up early tomorrow to do my meditation, have a run, and make tomorrow a huge success! I'm also thinking of trashing bad habits I've let fester like eating snacks upon arriving home from school, as I feel tired and need rest afterwards (likely due to the fats and sugars(?)).

On the brighter side, I have finally convinced my brother to read the slight edge!

I also had a 15 minute emotional session where I could 'mourn' my fun times playing video games and recognise wholeheartedly that they meant a lot to me in the past; and that I have grown up and is time to move on. It got a lot of thoughts out of my system but may need to have another thinking session. I haven't had any intentions of going back to playing those games though, I know that would end terribly.

I'm also going to move my gratitude journal to a hardcover book and include writing my dreams in there.

Have a great day!

Posted

Hey accountability partner!

Good to see you are working on habits we've been talking about last time. You're the first person on Gamequitters that was able to stand Mad Pharmacist for more than an hour! Haha.

I've posted my list of habits in my Quitting Journal to remember about them.

And if you need rest after tiresome day in school, then you can take quick nap. 15 minutes is optimal lenght, but no more than 20. That will give you more energy for the rest of the day and make you feel fresh instead of feeling like a zombie. All thanks to not falling into deep sleep phase. Scientifically proven!

Posted

Have a great day today Alex! All of this is part of the process. 

Thanks Cam, it is indeed part of the process; I'll keep in mind that I just need to be ready to change when I encounter these lessons.

Hey accountability partner!

Good to see you are working on habits we've been talking about last time. You're the first person on Gamequitters that was able to stand Mad Pharmacist for more than an hour! Haha.

I've posted my list of habits in my Quitting Journal to remember about them.

And if you need rest after tiresome day in school, then you can take quick nap. 15 minutes is optimal lenght, but no more than 20. That will give you more energy for the rest of the day and make you feel fresh instead of feeling like a zombie. All thanks to not falling into deep sleep phase. Scientifically proven!

Haha it was fine talking to you, don't worry! Thank you for the advice, it might be just what I need.  I certainly feel like a zombie at times.

 

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 45

I'll give a brief overview of the past two days. On Thursday it was athletics day at school, and boy did I push myself! I ran in the competitive 800m race, and pushed my body to the limit to run the fastest I possibly could with determination that would be amazing to replicate for daily activities. After finishing the race I almost fainted, and had coughing fits after I sat down to rest. I ended up needing medical help but after a rest I was fine. I still managed to compete in other competitive races later in the day, but made sure not to overexert myself. This was a significant event for me because I believe my discipline training allowed me to push myself past 'normal' limits I'd allow for myself. I was so determined to win the race that I set a pace that made sure I was constantly overtaking people until my body physically couldn't keep up with the demand I was straining and I slowed down for the last 200m. It was a good day in general I'd say, and a reminder that I can do anything I set my mind to.

On Friday (yesterday) it was just another regular day at school, but I managed to fit in a morning meditation, visualisation, and workout. I performed a presentation of a business start-up idea in front of my Computer Science class which worked out well; but I was shocked at how nervous I was considering I was presenting to only 10 people. This reinforced my previous desire to improve my public speaking skills, so I've signed myself up for a public speaking 'model united nations assembly' club at school where I could practice this.

I've decided to leave learning guitar for weekends and holidays, but I need to get a planner though so I can 'book' in times dedicated to programming sessions and organise myself better in general.

So today I've had a day off where I've been spending some time with friends at my place, and I'll be digging into study material tomorrow! I completed my morning meditation, run, and visualisation. The cold shower was refreshing as usual and has been very helpful for reducing the time I spend in the shower.

I'm going to continue writing my gratitude journal here otherwise I'll just forget!

Gratitude journal:

I'm grateful for the time I have to spend with my old friends to have fun playing board games together.

I'm grateful for having all my material needs met without having to spend time fetching water or finding food.

I'm grateful for having The Slight Edge to read again and implement its principles. It is a guide for my path to success.

One amazing thing that happened today:

With a couple of friends and my twin brother, we played the role-playing/board game of Dungeons and Dragons (not a video game, don't worry! you need to act out impersonations and think strategically. It was slow-paced and required many in-head calculations a lot of the time, and I enjoyed it even though it took a long time (I'm not accustomed to instant gratification anymore, but the others playing got a bit restless when having to perform more diplomatic or non-adventurous actions).

What I'm going to do differently tomorrow:

I will make sure to have my time more organised so that I can make the best use of it.

 

Posted

800m is an easy enough distance for a casual jog.  But to race for 800m tests your willpower.  It's kind of an awkward distance for a race.  Too long to sprint, but not quite long enough to be considered long distance. You did great to push yourself like that.

It's great that you're getting into public speaking.  Like the saying goes "it's not what you know, it's who you know".  Being good at your job is important, but being good at the social aspect will have a much larger impact on your career. Getting good at public speaking is going to help you in multiple ways.

Posted

800m is an easy enough distance for a casual jog.  But to race for 800m tests your willpower.  It's kind of an awkward distance for a race.  Too long to sprint, but not quite long enough to be considered long distance. You did great to push yourself like that.

It's great that you're getting into public speaking.  Like the saying goes "it's not what you know, it's who you know".  Being good at your job is important, but being good at the social aspect will have a much larger impact on your career. Getting good at public speaking is going to help you in multiple ways.

Thanks a lot Ed!  I certainly pushed myself past the limit in a physical sense. I always imagined myself to be a good public speaker, but when I get out in front of people I am shocked at my own incompetence. Practice makes perfect, so I just need to push past that with more experience. I didn't know that public speaking had such an impact career-wise, but I suppose it would improve general confidence and that helps with a lot of things. Cheers for the advice!

 

Here is my post for yesterday:

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 46

Today was a day of studying for me, I learned many calculus formulas and got into my physics revision. It wasn't as productive as it could have been, but I think that being active is a key part of why I wasn't successful. Despite me using timed and schedules tasks, I just got distracted by thinking and my mind would often wander off. I'm not exactly sure why that was but I'll look into it if it happens again.

Today I got a some of a morning workout done, but redid it in the afternoon. My cold shower was fine. I got my meditation and visualisation done.

 

Today's post:

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 47

I can't believe I'm 47 days into my third attempt already! I'll be whizzing by my previous 'high score' in no time! I have practically zero chance of relapsing since I'm back into the school term, so I think I'll make it for sure this time around.

Today I was back to school for the week. I set my alarm to be as late as possible because I had lots of trouble getting to sleep, so I didn't have time for exercise or meditation in the morning. I also had a warm shower, and as expected it took longer than 5 minutes (my cold showers are always a tad short of 5 minutes). I also tried out having a 15 minute rest after getting home from school, and I was able to get into my work pretty well! I will also try having breaks where I run, this has worked a couple of years ago really well, but I stopped because I couldn't be bothered.

I feel my discipline is slipping though, so for my own benefit and whoever's reading I'll recite by typing out some of my favourite Slight Edge wisdom:

"The alarm goes off. 6:00am. Without conscious thought your hand shots out and hits snooze. A ten-minute reprieve. You tentatively slip a foot out from under the covers. Brrr. You open one eye. Still dark out.

Now you face a choice.

You could sit up, switch on the light, and start grinding your brain into gear, prod your groggy gray matter to search out three things you're grateful for so you can jot them down. You could then fire up the machinery of tired legs, hips, and back to crane yourself out of bed and go do the twenty sit-ups you promised yourself you'd do every day. When you said that, did you mean even on Saturdays? Today is Saturday. You yawn. 

Or you could slip back down under the sheets and catch some more Z's. No, that's lazy. Compromise: flip on the news. Catch the follow-up on that unfolding joicy political scandal, see what's happening with the manhunt for the murderer of the week.

You reach for the remote.

And you just set the direction your life will take.

"Oh, c'mon!" you protest. "Give us a break here! It's one Saturday morning- a few minutes out of one Saturday morning. That hardly has life-altering consequences!"

But it does. Greatness is always in the moment of the decision, and so is fate. The wealthy man's gift to his sons, the wisdom to recognise the slight edge, shows up in the mundane little choices we make every day, not in some big dramatic moment with the orchestra swelling in crescendo behind us. And those private, unseen, everyday moments are what determine the path your life will take. 

Where you end up in life isn't about whether you are a good or a bad person, or whether or not you are deserving, or your karma, or your circumstances. It's dictated by te choices you make- especially the little ones. I know i doesn't seem like it. It seems like you're just choosing how to spend the next hour, not the next forty years. But you are choosing how you'll spend the next forty years."

 

I just typed that straight out of my book, and has reminded me that it is in the everyday, small decisions from where we decide on our fate and how our lives are move forward.

3 Things I'm grateful for:

I am grateful for the Slight Edge principles that have been paramount to me improving my quality of life.

I am grateful for Ed's advice and support. Public speaking may prove to be a big challenge for me but I plan to ride over it with style.

I am grateful for having such an amazing maths teacher that knows how to get things done.

One amazing thing that happened today:

I learned today that one of my closest penpals is only a day younger than me! It is pretty insane that our birthdays are only a day apart in the same year, but despite us living on different continents we found each other by coincidence. It certainly made my day.

What I will do differently tomorrow:

I will run in the morning and meditate on the bus. I'm only going to change those things or else I'll overwhelm myself with making changes.

 

I'm going for a run right now, I haven't exercised today and I must set the ball in motion that I am running every single day (that I physically can, of course).

 

I hope you [the reader] have a wonderful day and appreciate the Slight Edge Wisdom!

Posted

Hi Alex,

I like the message fo the book too. It is pretty logical and if you choose the right and not the easy way, your life will improve .Atleast if you realize your choice or made it to an habbit to choose the right one(working on that). I hated the start of the book though. Was too much "american dream" and too less scientific background for me. In the mid and end parts of the book it was more practical advice wich i really liked. It is an awesome(and easy) philosophy in my mind. Just remember the slight edge and life goes your way.Period.

Posted

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 52

I'm very busy now with exams, internals, and projects I need to complete, so I will likely be keeping my posts short for the short term in the foreseeable future.

Today I had a crack at getting a lot of homework done, but didn't do this very effectively since I didn't exercise in the morning; I didn't start my morning routine properly. I need to reflect on what I've done every day so that I can improve on it. These past few days I've just been living normally from day to day without much guidance to improve, without reflection I can't see where I've gone wrong and therefore make the same errors in judgement daily.

What I'll do differently tomorrow:

I'll make sure to exercise in the morning, even if I need to be super quick about it. I won't have time to meditate since I'll be driving early in the morning, but the morning run should clear my mind well enough.

 

I am grateful for the reflective powers of my journal.

I am grateful for having the experience to write.

I am grateful for having time to spend with family.

Posted (edited)

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 54

Good luck on your exams! Proud of you man. :)

Thank you once again Cam! I really appreciate your encouragement, having you as a success example who keeps in contact with fellow game quitters has been a huge driving force for many of us. To be honest I don't see why I should be proud of myself at the moment since I'm making very little progress in terms of helpful habits and daily disciplines compared to what I did earlier, but I suppose I didn't have much else to do in the holidays so I'm being rather hard on myself. I'll still try my best to get in my daily exercise, it is the one thing I can improve on that will really help me in many areas of life.

Today I was back to school for the week, I was very tired after getting back from a camp training as part of a school event but made good use of my time during school hours. I'm going to jump straight into critiquing my time usage today:

I wrote a lot for an email to a penpal on the bus, but I really should have used that time to organise what work I needed to get done and in what order. I watched an episode of t.v. when I got home while eating my leftover lunch, but I definitely could have reduced the time I spend doing that. I spent some time learning some python programming skills as part of a school project, but I struggled with my other homework. Overall I didn't make very good use of my afternoon and I plan to make some changes tomorrow.

I got up later so that I could get at least 7 hours of sleep (I got home very late last night) and so didn't have time to exercise in the morning. I exercised yesterday morning and a bit during the day though, it felt great to have those morning chills. Warm shower today, but I'll be back to exercise and cold showers tomorrow. I'm going to be on camp from Wednesday to Friday so if I don't post for a bit don't worry.

What I will do differently tomorrow:

I will sort out my afternoon plan on the bus home so that I have the most possible time at home to do this work, and without the need to plan it at home.

I will have a short run upon arriving home so that I am energised to do work (I am an active learner so this is essential for me to retain focus)

I will write a timed schedule for more pressure to stay within my set time constraints.

3 Things I'm grateful for:

I am grateful for having clean water to drink wherever I go.

I am grateful for having a year planner to write in anything and everything I want done.

I am grateful for having people from across the globe that I can learn from whether they be accountability partners, penpals, or inspirational figures.

 

Have a spectacular day! :D

Edited by AlexTheGrape
spelling mistake
Posted

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 60

Whoa, this detox is whizzing by with school to keep me busy!  Also I think I've beaten my previous 'high' score for detox days.

So camp was good, I might post on that later. I may have taken tutoring the young ones a bit more seriously than necessary, but was a learning experience to say the least. I might post when I've got more time, I've got stacks of work and study to catch up on since I went to that camp, so I'm going to have even less time to post.

My twin brother and I are going to go running in the morning together for the first time ever! I'm surprised I didn't try to get him into it earlier, but it seems my (mostly) consistent running every morning and success over time has convinced him he should try it as well. My ripple is now showing!

Today I mostly tried to catch up with work. It didn't work out the best but I reckon I did fairly well. I need to do more exercise breaks in future though, I'll be doing those with James tomorrow afternoon.

Thanks to the reader for reading my journal! I appreciate your interest :)

Posted

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 64

I have felt something has been missing from my life in the past couple of weeks... I now know what that is! Without my daily journalling I have been aimlessly wandering from day to day without sense of improvement or much purpose. I'm posting now and I know where I'm headed next as I have an idea of what I could have done to make my day better.

This morning I ran with my twin for 10 minutes or so, and meditated a bit on the bus to school. I did well at school today and dedicated my lunch time to getting my maths homework finished where I could get help where needed. In the afternoon I came home and instantly started snacking and relaxing, which took up a good 40 minutes of time I won't get back. My previous attempts at simply not having afternoon tea to save time just makes me frustrated or feel a little down, but I've just come up with a solution. I think I should pack my afternoon tea so that I can eat it on the bus home, and at the same time plan what I'm doing in the afternoon to make the most of my time. I've got this!

What I could have done to make my day better:

I could have gotten up quicker to have a longer morning run

I could have worked more efficiently to get my stack of homework and revision partly done.

What went well today:

I made good use of my lunch time to study hard, I did amazing at programming a calculater GUI for windows today, and I got up to have my run despite having a bad sleep. I asked questions during class which helped with my learning.

What I will do differently tomorrow:

I'll pack my afternoon tea so that I don't endulge on too much and make the most use of my time after school!

I will meditate for 5 minutes before having a run.

3 Things I'm grateful for:

I am grateful for enjoying programming again by getting tangible progress done.

I am grateful for my Eureka! moment of finding that reflection is essential for my sense of purpose and wellbeing.

I am grateful for having so many opportunities that I actually have to drop out of some things because I'm so busy.

Posted

Who eats their tea? ;) :D 

Here in New Zealand, 'afternoon tea' or 'morning tea' refers to a snack or meal you have in the morning or afternoon. I never thought about literally eating tea as the name suggests though! It is great to see things from somebody else's perspective in many ways, I did not think humor would be one of them :D

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 65

I'll make this quick as I am supposed to be sleeping. Today I made good use of my time at school again by grinding out my lunch time to do work whilst eating, and got the physics help I needed. I stuck to my plan to eat afternoon tea on the bus (I didn't eat any liquids, don't worry!) and managed to get a good plan sorted of what I needed to get done, and how long it would take approximately. I missed out one vital thing though... Actually doing the work. I have a habit of doing nothing on a Friday, and sometimes do python programming as a productive activity that is semi-enjoyable. I just became a blob though and browsed D&D reddit for a few hours.

I also have come to the realisation that I may need to stop listening to D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) podcasts and looking up its rules in my free time. I have had a suprising and somewhat unhealthy interest in the role playing game (non-video game, it is social). I am still thinking on this but it uses video-game-like mechanics with a levelling system, and I think I need to stay away from solely virtual or imaginary pursuits.

I have a fencing competition tomorrow and am working at a wedding, so I'll hopefully post in the afternoon about that!

Posted

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 67

Today I got a decent amount of revision done, but I know I could have done much better if I did my morning run. I reckon I should do the run all mornings, even if I'm going to be doing more exercise soon after, because it wears down my discipline and I end up flunking off some days like today. I'll get my brother back into it so we can be more accountable.

Yesterday I worked at a wedding reception and fought in a fencing tournament! A stressful but very interesting day.

What I did well today:

I made sure to do mostly timed working sessions to up my productivity, and worked to an extent.

What I could have done to make my day better:

I certainly could have gotten to sleep earlier and had a proper morning run (I didn't run too far today), both of which would have helped me a lot today to get all my work done.

What I will do differently tomorrow:

Meditate as soon as I get up, morning run at 6:05, and giving it my all for the two exams I have during the day.

3 Things I'm grateful for:

I'm grateful for the fan my brother gave me for Christmas.

I'm grateful for the wonderful meals I have had today.

I am grateful for the work opportunities I have been offered.

Posted

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 68

Today was a busy but good day on all accounts. Despite me not getting much sleep, I braved it out to get up and run in the morning, and I felt great afterwards! It woke me up and I wasn't very tired throughout the day. I have a benchmark to compare myself to because my brother went to bed at around the same time as me, didn't run in the morning, and was groggy and sleepy for half the day. I know I'm like this without a run so I feel very appreciative of my own effort to do so.

I had two exams today, and l think I did pretty well in them. About a year ago when I knew I couldn't get a high grade after doing a similar exam, I was frustrated with myself for many days. Strangely enough I don't feel that anymore despite being in a similar situation, perhaps because I know that I'm just not the best at trigonometry or because I know it doesn't change who I am.

I've been leaving my penpals hanging for a while now, I need to email them very soon... But I also have a stack of homework and study I need to get done... I think I'll just try to make emailing my penpals more fun by listening to music and sharing more of my week.

3 Things I'm grateful for:

I'm grateful for the alertness I derive from exercise.

I'm grateful for the trust others have in me.

I'm grateful for the reliable pens I now have!

What I've done well today:

I've done well to go running in the morning and meditate despite my tiredness. I did very well in my physics exam and gave the trigonometry one my best shot.

What I could have done to make my day better:

I could have written times for getting homework done whilst in the bus: without those concrete times I tend to procrastinate.

What I will do differently tomorrow:

I will make sure to write in times to do my homework, I will get to sleep quickly, like now!

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