My Journal - Alex

[giblets]

Sure am! Need to do more running off the roads. Let me know if you're around.

[AlexTheGrape]

Quick update: Sunday went well without games, and I haven't gamed since then. I spent more time with my brothers and did some reading. I've come to realise the nature of my relationship with games, and it simply reflects how I gamed before I quit. I was not addicted to games as I find it manageable to simply not play any, but I just played a lot when I have nothing better to do and no urgent tasks that need doing. I may also be naturally drawn to fantasy types of things as I find it fun to play tabletop games such as Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. Even the books I love most are about adventure in fictional worlds. Hence I won't reprimand or try to change myself for desiring these things.

So far my week has gone well, I'm currently working full-time hours some 3-4 days a week. I've been spending a good amount of time with my girlfriend, but I should catch up with some of my friends sometime soon.

I managed to sort out some of my previous tasks, but I am still short on goals at the moment. I talked to some family and it seems I'm not expected to have any big goals or achieve anything for the world to see, as I'm only a human after all. I don't wish to live a life of mediocrity, but it is comforting to know that I don't need to be constantly working myself to the bone.

What does this mean? I'll be enjoying life as much as I can by having everything in moderation.

[AlexTheGrape]

On 27/11/2017 at 11:53 PM, giblets said:

Sure am! Need to do more running off the roads. Let me know if you're around.

Nice! I wouldnt expect you to come here just for the run. What length of run are you wanting to do? Message me pls

[Laney]

ALEXX!!!!! So great to see you wanted to say hi in your journal ♥♥♥

14 minutes ago, AlexTheGrape said:

I may also be naturally drawn to fantasy types of things as I find it fun to play tabletop games such as Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. Even the books I love most are about adventure in fictional worlds. Hence I won't reprimand or try to change myself for desiring these things.

I am in a Shadowrun campaign of 3 years, and am in a newer 5e D&D campaign. Science fiction and fantasy is MY JAM AND BUTTER broski. I completely understand

Edit: also jeesh all these bangin' professional face photo's in these journals make me wanna put one up too!

Edited November 28, 2017 by Laney

[AlexTheGrape]

It's been a while! I think I'll make a post here for some self reflection and forever wishes to look.

My holidays have been going relatively well, I've been working hard to earn money, keeping fit, and I've made sure to catch up with friends. I certainly could see more friends I haven't seen in a while, but I'm relatively happy with how I've spent my time.

I have been gaming for a few months now and it has been good. I managed tk keep it at a healthy level and only play a couple times a week, and sometimes not at all during the week. It has been a great journey on Game Quitters, and I've learned a lot about myself along the way. This may be goodbye, but I hope to continue a journal here if I feel incmined once university starts again. Bye for now Game Quitters!

[Hitaru]

Spoiler

*Pressing F to pay respects so hard right now*

You are a legend man, this is only the beginning!

[Cam Adair]

Thank you for sharing yourself with us so fully brother. It has been a true honor and seeing where you are today makes my heart smile.

[AlexTheGrape]

On 24/01/2018 at 11:08 PM, Hitaru said:

  Reveal hidden contents

*Pressing F to pay respects so hard right now*

You are a legend man, this is only the beginning!

Thanks Hitaru! I hope you end up great places as well.

[AlexTheGrape]

On 25/01/2018 at 9:18 AM, Cam Adair said:

Thank you for sharing yourself with us so fully brother. It has been a true honor and seeing where you are today makes my heart smile.

Thank you Cam for your continuous and tireless support for myself and all the other game quitters. I've become a much better person with your guidance?

[AlexTheGrape]

Hi again friends!

I'm just about halfway through my second year of university now, and things are going alright academically. I'm still working out which has been good out of that, but I'm facing the issue again that I'm not growing as a person and am lacking clear direction. I'm happiest when I feel I'm consistently working towards a meaningful goal and challenging myself. Lately I've been sticking inside my comfort zone a lot, which isn't good at all. 

First things I wish to change: I want to be exercising every morning, improve on my sleeping habits, phone usage, study more effectively, and waste less time.

Daily reflection is a necessary part of not making the same mistakes over and over, so I'm returning here to have greater accountability to do so. 

I've only played some 10 or so hoirs of video games this year. I don't seem to find it very exciting anymore, and they now seem a little pointless. Recently I've been getting into reading more, and am loving reading The Maze Runner.

Today I'm going to schedule studying time and break time, and make sure to get 6-8 hours of studying done.

As always, feel free to leave a comment or another way to prod me if I haven't posted in a while!

[AlexTheGrape]

Today has been a useless day in terms of studying, but it wasn't bad overall. 

I took a friend to the supermarket and went to go print some wallpapers for the flat, which I've been meaning to do for a while. I then studied for about 2-3 hours before heading to the gym for a really decent workout. I then went to support a friend at a comedy play they were part of. I didn't get anywhere near as much study done as I needed to, so tomorrow I;m going to restart my self-disciplined school-style study routine where I stick to the schedule I would have had at high school. This worked for me in my last study leave and will still work now. I'll also start the day with a quick run, which will be necessary to get me going quickly.

[AlexTheGrape]

The past couple days I got some decent studying done. I'm not getting to bed as early as I probably should. I'll have to focus on being in bed by 11pm. 

The school style routine kinda went out the window when I started doing practice exams. 

I need to make a two week plan of where I want to be in terms of my exam study, that'll put how much work I need to do into perspective.

I haven't been exercising every mornung, but I'm starting to incorporate running into my study schedule to keep focussed.

[seriousjay]

Hey Alex, good to see that things seem to be going well for you still. If you ever want to catch up feel free to hit me up on Skype!

[AlexTheGrape]

Hi Game Quitters,
It's been a while! 6 years, in fact.

I've visited the forum briefly a couple of times the past few years, but I didn't post. I think I felt embarrassed to be experiencing trouble with games after having gone without it successfully for a long time. I certainly was at the start of this year.
Thankfully my life is going fairly well at the moment, but video games had made their way into my life time and again the past few years. Although I kept focused for months at a time, there are times when I let down my guard, or gotten into a rut over a holiday season. I've found my priorities change if the easy and fun option is available, and my patience for productive activities (such as programming in my spare time) evaporates.

This year has been quite successful compared to my last three years as a professional - I've made really great progress with my programming skills. It is in no small part due to kicking the habit again in Jan or Feb or so - it freed up a lot of time. I've just had a couple weekends of playing a few hours of games recently, and I've already noticed the pull to play more, and deprioritisation of activities I'd consider important.

So why post now?

I want to be held accountable for committing to zero video games. Making my intentions public adds an extra barrier of entry to playing games. Plus, it helps tracking this as a small win, that I can stick to something and succeed.

Secondly, if I journal regularly, I'll be reflecting regularly, and that's essential for growth. That way I can continually refine my focus. As the saying goes, "what get's measured, gets managed."

Thirdly, being part of a community committed to bettering themselves has only done good things for me in the past, and I will get the opportunity to encourage others too.

I'm also going to take a break from consuming alcohol. More on this later, but I've been sober curious. I suspect it will help my wellbeing and productivity over the long term.

That's all for today, being Day 1 of my 90 day games and alcohol detox.

[Yan]

On 12/9/2024 at 11:55 AM, AlexTheGrape said:

Hi Game Quitters,
It's been a while! 6 years, in fact.

I've visited the forum briefly a couple of times the past few years, but I didn't post. I think I felt embarrassed to be experiencing trouble with games after having gone without it successfully for a long time. I certainly was at the start of this year.
Thankfully my life is going fairly well at the moment, but video games had made their way into my life time and again the past few years. Although I kept focused for months at a time, there are times when I let down my guard, or gotten into a rut over a holiday season. I've found my priorities change if the easy and fun option is available, and my patience for productive activities (such as programming in my spare time) evaporates.

This year has been quite successful compared to my last three years as a professional - I've made really great progress with my programming skills. It is in no small part due to kicking the habit again in Jan or Feb or so - it freed up a lot of time. I've just had a couple weekends of playing a few hours of games recently, and I've already noticed the pull to play more, and deprioritisation of activities I'd consider important.

So why post now?

I want to be held accountable for committing to zero video games. Making my intentions public adds an extra barrier of entry to playing games. Plus, it helps tracking this as a small win, that I can stick to something and succeed.

Secondly, if I journal regularly, I'll be reflecting regularly, and that's essential for growth. That way I can continually refine my focus. As the saying goes, "what get's measured, gets managed."

Thirdly, being part of a community committed to bettering themselves has only done good things for me in the past, and I will get the opportunity to encourage others too.

I'm also going to take a break from consuming alcohol. More on this later, but I've been sober curious. I suspect it will help my wellbeing and productivity over the long term.

That's all for today, being Day 1 of my 90 day games and alcohol detox.

"I'm not telling you it's going to be easy, I'm telling you it's going to be worth it"
-Quote from the Sober Time app I use 🙂

[AlexTheGrape]

Day 8 of games & alcohol detox
Things are going really well. I managed to not only get through, but really enjoy the end of year work event without any alcohol. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was grateful that my choice to of drinking a 0% beverage was met with interest or indifference, and I didn't get pressured to do otherwise.

The first couple days after stopping playing games had me in a bit of a rut mentally, but that's somewhat expected after taking the toys away and the dopamine levels resettle. I'm aiming to get more productive with my time - this evening was great, and I aim to keep it up.

I've found proper exercise makes a massive difference to my day. Perhaps I could do with doing it first thing in the morning.