My Journal

[ajaski708]

Hello Friends,

My name is Alan. I meant to write a journal two days ago, but my camera broke and I wanted to record a short video of myself everyday. So, I decided to make today my day 1. I'm just going to give a little background about myself below:

I am currently 20 years old. I started playing video games since I was little kid. I never really had an addiction to them. I would just play and stop whenever and never really felt like I needed them or depended on them in my life. Fast-forward a couple years and one of my friends introduced me to League of Legends. I started playing and at first I thought the game kinda sucked because I was so bad at it. I was playing on and off for a while, but when I got to college, my addiction to video games started setting in. I don't know if this has something to do with hormones but maybe it does. It got to the point where I would tell myself I would only play like one more game, but then I would end up playing like 10 and the day would be gone. The reason I want to quit is because I think video games have really waited so much time in my life where I could have done so much better things. Right now my plan right now is to get myself into exercising. I feel like I have a great start because I am already in a gymnastics club and I occasionally practice breakdancing/bboying. I just want to live a more fulfilling life. If you have any questions or comments you can leave it down below.

Thanks

My introduction post: http://forum.gamequitters.com/topic/3448-quitting-gaming/

My youtube day 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJqBV90gBYM

 

Edited January 22, 2017 by ajaski708

[WorkInProgress]

Welcome.

Quitting LoL was really hard for me too. For me it was mainly an outlet to escape from the feeling of not knowing/learning anyhting at unviersity. Unsurprisingly it didn't make things better. Starting a journal here helped me a lot and i am sure it can help you too. Check some of the other journals and you'll see people go through similar problems. I personally managed to quit all games around 10months ago and it made my life way better. I feel a sense of purpose and improvement and my self-respect improved a lot. Hang in there. It is worth it. If you have any questions or need some suggestions just ask here. I will check in from time to time.

Best of luck. We got your back!

[ajaski708]

@WorkInProgress thanks for your reply. I will work as hard as I can to stay consistent to quitting. Can you link me to some people in similar situations?

[Pierce]

Hey Alan, I'm glad you're with us! Gymnastics sounds like a great replacement for LoL. The benefits physically and socially that will come from that will make it much easier to quit, since they're competing with an activity that doesn't really have any real-work benefits (gaming). The only other thing I would recommend is having an activity that you can do when you can't go to the gym or hang out with other people. For me, it's reading. There are lots of other ideas out there, but few are coming to mind at the moment.

I'm looking forward to hearing about what benefits this journey brings to your life.

Edit: After reading your introduction it looks like you've chosen reading more books as well. If you ever choose to post what you're reading here I'd enjoy hearing about it. I can also give some good recommendations if you let me know of any fiction/non-fiction genres you're interested in. 

Edited January 23, 2017 by Pierce

[WorkInProgress]

Hey here is someone jsut starting with the detox too: http://forum.gamequitters.com/topic/3451-day-by-day/

Someone similar going strong allready a little longer: http://forum.gamequitters.com/topic/3417-rubis-writings/?page=1

Another perspective to widen your horizon: http://forum.gamequitters.com/topic/3436-destoroyahs-meltdown/

 

[ajaski708]

@Pierce I have a few ideas in mind. I'm currently in college so I have a lot of homework assignments that keep me quite busy. I have thought of playing piano and getting a subscription with hd piano. I'm also considering Duolingo and learning a language. Reading is also another option I am considering. I could do a mix of all 3 but I don't think I can budget my time for them all.

[ajaski708]

@WorkInProgress I will make sure to take a look

 

[Raelana]

Hey man, great to have you here with us! My main problem game was League of Legends, too. It just eats up so much of your time and energy for so little payoff. Glad you've got some things that could replace it already, especially the physical activities like gymnastics. Balancing a lot of hobbies with school can be a little hard sometimes, but I'd definitely recommend taking the time to explore potential interests now that you won't have League taking up as much time in your life. Piano or language learning sound like great ideas, and even with just a little time with those each day, you can see the progress add up over time and it's a great feeling. Something like Duolingo can be good to get started, or Memrise. Looking forward to seeing more posts from you! 

[Schwing]

Congrats on starting your journal. One thing you will begin to love about this site is the sheer multitude of journeys and experiences being shared. It's truly something special. great to have you on board and I wish you the best of luck in the tough times about to come.

Edit: just saw your breakdancing videos. You've got some serious moves. Keep up with it and you will fucking slay. One thing i have learned is that your enjoyment of a hobby will only get you so far in the start and you will have to grind out to get gud for a spell then you will start feeling the passion kick in again. Kind of like in a videogame. Interesting what those wretched things have taught us about life.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Schwing

[ajaski708]

@Raelana I agree with you when you say League of Legends eats up a lot of you time. My problem is sticking to what I want to do. For example, if I say to myself I'm only going to play one game, I only want to play one game. The problem is I often find myself unable to control and limit myself to one game. That is why I feel like it is best for me to quit. I will make sure to take time to explore as many potential interests as I can.

@Schwing Thanks, I  started break dancing a while back but eventually stopped a little bit because of injuries. It is definitely something I would like to work on in the near future.

Day 2

Hey Guys,

Today was kinda of an easy day not to play games. I was pretty busy all day with classes and meetings. One thing I did notice is that when I'm in my classes I often get distracted by my phone. To combat this, I will try to put my phone on airplane mode so it wont happen again. I woke up today a little later than I would have liked so I wasn't able to workout. I think that's okay as long as it doesn't become a habit. I got in a Facebook conversation online about intermittent fasting. If you don't know what that is, that is only eating during a 4-8 hour period and fasting for the rest of the day. From what I've heard from people online, it isn't bad for your health and it could potentially grow muscle. I think I will try it for a week and see if I like it or not. All in all, I would like to thank you all for your support. It has been quite amazing as several of you have commented on my previous journal with your thoughts.

Alan  

Edit: I just wanted to say that I am currently reading The Intelegent Investor for those of you that are interested in what I am reading.

youtube video day 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X41Vu2FfSQw

Edited January 24, 2017 by ajaski708

[Wildee]

I love that you record yourself! I bet it will be awesome for you to watch it a year from now! Keep the momentum!  

[ajaski708]

@warrumin thanks for the support!!!

[ajaski708]

Day 3

Hey guys

This is the third day of my detox. Today, I didn't game but I'm not 100% satisfied for what happened today. I wasted a lot of time just mindlessly browsing the internet. I feel like this is my next step in the process, I need to figure out ways that I can utilize the full capacity of my day instead of just looking at a bunch of internet videos and posting yik yaks and stuff. To combat this I've decided to permanently delete my yik yak account. I just feel like posting in there just doesn't gain me anything except for a few likes that I really don't need. As for watching YouTube videos, I feel like something needs to be done but I also feel there is a lot of useful content on youTube that I want to watch. I appreciate the support I am receiving so far and any further comments you all may have for improvement.

youTube day 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA8X48aeUjY

Alan

[Mad Pharmacist]

Hello!

How about instead of browsing mindless you'll browse, but with full awareness?

How to do it?

Instead of looking for e.g. "funny cat memes" make a list of topics that interests you and skills you want to develop.

It can be anything that'll be much more productive, I'll give you some of the examples:

• Motivation
• Discipline
• Consistency
• Willpower
• Building habits
• Slight Edge
• Emotional Intelligence
• Confidence
• Self-Esteem
• Playing an instrument
• Learning a language (Memrise rocks!)

Give me the answer on next entry/vlog how well you managed to deal with my quest

Greetings, Mad Pharmacist

[Mhyrion]

Hey! Another League quitter here Good job making your journal and videos!
As for youtube, I have to agree with hycniejsy. What might also help is to remove your preferences/cookies on youtube so you can start to get recommendations that are more useful for you and not distracting (like game streams or cute cats :P).

[Wildee]

I have found the best Chrome addon ever. It disables recommended videos and other distracting things: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/df-youtube-distraction-fr/mjdepdfccjgcndkmemponafgioodelna  You can even disable comments with it

[ajaski708]

@hycniejsy That is interesting, I'll give it a try.

[ajaski708]

@Mhyrion It's nice to meet you. I'll give that a shot as well. I've got to see what works best for myself.

[ajaski708]

@warrumin Never heard of that. Interesting.

[ajaski708]

Day 4

Hey guys

It's day 4 and I think today was a pretty good day. I got a lot of things done that I wanted to. I got up a little later than I wanted to but that's probably because I stayed up pretty late doing some assignments. I think something I'm going to do to keep myself from mindlessly browsing the internet is I'm going to take out a piece of paper and just write down things that I want to do. It can be anything other than looking at videos online or wasting time. I think this will help me get my priorities straight. I also did some gymnastics practice today and I am pretty soar from that. As far as reading goes, I am reading The Intelligent Investor. I'm hardly through the book unfortunately.  Thank you all for the support, and I will continue to post journals.

Edit: forgot my youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5v6spxNVJ8

Alan

Edited January 26, 2017 by ajaski708

[Mad Pharmacist]

Nice video, can't wait to the response about trying my previous advice!

[Cam Adair]

Love the videos. Keep 'em coming.

[ajaski708]

@hycniejsy I'll let you know how it goes when I get the chance

@Cam Adair Thank you

Day 5

Today went pretty well. Only thing I'm not happy about is how late I woke up. I was kinda lazy today and didn't get myself out of bed until 11:00AM. I feel like I wasted a ton of time just laying there and not getting much done. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with how the day went. I was able to get an adequate amount of work done for the time I was out of bed. If any of you guys know any tips on how to get out of bed or anything please let me know. I will appreciate it.

Day 5 Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtzJpTbZLrA

Alan

[ajaski708]

Day 6

Hey guys

This is kind of an early journal but I wont have time late in the day to do it so I figured I would just write it now. So, this will be a little less about what I am feeling and a little more about what I am working on. I am currently working on getting flares. If you don't know what that is it is a bboy move. You can see what it looks like online. I started practicing this move two weeks ago consistently. I have been on and off training it for about a year, but I have kind of got my grove back so I'm training it again. It looks pretty bad, but practice makes perfect. As far as other things I'm doing, I'm mainly focusing on school work because it is time consuming. I will continue to post journals in the future and I really appreciate the support I am receiving.

Day 6 youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTCBRI4NUnk 

Alan

[ajaski708]

Day 7

Hey

Today was kind of an unproductive day. Today actually was the first day I really wanted to game or thought about gaming really hard. It was probably because it was a Saturday and normally I don't have much planned for Saturdays. Anyway, I'm glad I resisted the temptation and didn't game. I did however watch a little bit of twitch which I think is fine because I am not actively involved in the process but I want to avoid days like today in the future. I think a good way to do this is to make a schedule the day before, especially for Saturdays. I would make a schedule for tomorrow, but I have a lot of stuff already scheduled so I don't really see the point. Anyway, I appreciate any support or advice you can share.

Alan

Youtube day 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXjx0OVPoZU