June 21, 20178 yr Hey everyone,Before I get into my intro I just want to say that I've decided that for me it's about more than just quitting video games, it's also about quitting a lot of my media consumption habits (think YouTube, tv shows, music, podcasts). I don't know how relevant this is for this forum but I think a lot of us in this generation including myself have a hard time being in silence or being alone for temporary periods of time and that causes us to distract ourselves with all this technology. We are afraid to be bored.I've done a simple calculation - if you browse the net or play games for even just 2-3 hours a day, in a month you kill about 3.75 days I am talking about 24 hours a day non-stop (about 90 hours a month) distracting yourself, not being productive - just wasting all this time on stuff that doesn't really truly fulfill you.I was already able to go cold-turkey on media consumption and video games for 3 months on my first try, then had a relapse for a month, then quit again and went cold turkey for 2 months. In the end I relapsed this summer because of the reasons Cam mentions in his YouTube videos (lots of free time, crap mindset, no social life, etc.) for about 2 months. I'm finally committing myself to go cold turkey again on video games and use some of the methods mentioned in Respawn to fill my time with something that would actually contribute something to my life - and balancing out my media consumption to something where it's not a crutch but a tool.In the end all this technology is substituting something in me so my plan is to fulfill it in other ways.
June 21, 20178 yr Welcome ! Yeah loneliness its our common problem. Man make everything whats makes you happy and love yourself as much as you can. Love is our common saviour. Edited June 21, 20178 yr by Onlysoul
June 25, 20178 yr I know what you mean - there was a great podcast I listened to toward the start of my detox that talked about people "being in the moment". I think it might have been the Minimalists. The fact that everyone doesn't want to be in the moment without their technology these days, whether that be in a queue, waiting for a bus, or just sitting outside, means that they will never really be satisfied with their surroundings. It definitely influenced me and my goals, and I now spend as little time on my phone as possible. By spending more time in the moment not only do I find myself more relaxed in general and less anxious about not knowing what is going on every single second, but it has made me notice that a lot of people around me are slaves to media consumption. It grinds my gears a little bit, so I am glad to see you are trying to give it all up!Podcasts can be very useful though. Listening to some motivational ones first thing in the morning and news after work really helps me round out the day and keep me going. I guess if you can't moderate it and it is a vice then remove it, but maybe you just need to find different shows!
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