The Mad Pharmacist's Journal

[Primmulla 149]

June challenges:

1)Study for 160 hours (8 000 minutes) - so far 15/160 (750/8000)

2)Write 50 000 total words and finish 750 every day - so far 4239/50 000 day 3/30

3)510 minutes of exercising - equivalent for 17 work outs - so far 0/510

4)15 hours of tutoring (900 minutes) - so far 1/15 (80/900)

5)Learn 5 new cooking recipes - to eat more healthy - so far 0/5

50 000 words? Are you writing a novel for NaNoWriMo or similar writing event? NaNo is exactly the number of words you gave, but it is organised in November (the full name is National Novel Writing Month), though there is a "Camp NaNoWriMo" in July. I guess you mean working on your dissertation and not creative writing, but the number of words really caught my attention, why did you choose this exact number, equal to that on NaNoWriMo? Is it a coincidence? I once participated in NaNo when I was still a student, I reached about 30 000 words but I did not "win" NaNoWriMo (to "win" you have to write 50 000 within one month, November), as I considered my studies and getting good grades more important than writing. This time I am more free as far as my academic demands are concerned, so I guess I would try for this year's Camp NaNoWriMo or NaNo itself.

[hycniejsy 1,198]

@Cam Adair

Thanks man! I'm gonna beat'em all!

@Primmulla

You're absolutely right. On 750words.com there is a badge for writing 50,000 words during one month called NaNoWriMo, but anyone can get it despite the month.

I'm working on my consistency so today I wrote 2,5 thousand! It's better to start with more than average per day (about 1700) needed to accomplish NaNoWriMo to avoid rapid panic attack the day before it!

 

04.06.2016

• Day 19 - 456 hours
• Day 0 - 4 hours

Completely improductive day.

Failed with masturbation 2 times. But it's not time for regrets, it's time to wake up, and get back on track!

I know what to improve thanks to that relapse, and I've already implemented it.

However, exercises done + 2 500 words! Hell yea!

And yesterday I passed EVERY colloquium left for this week (6 out of 6), and did some awesome tutoring! Hell yea x2!

 

June challenges:

1)Study for 160 hours (8 000 minutes) - so far 19/160 (950/8000)

2)Write 50 000 total words and finish 750 every day - so far 6203/50 000 day 4/30

3)510 minutes of exercising - equivalent for 17 work outs - so far 30/510

4)15 hours of tutoring (900 minutes) - so far 3/15 (250/900)

5)Learn 5 new cooking recipes - to eat more healthy - so far 0/5

 

 

Ah, and by the way don't tell me that masturbation is good for health and all that crap. Anybody. I was researching this topic for couple of years and I know this is just weird. And I shouldn't be doing that. All other people who thinks that masturbation is cool, well you're egoists and probably should learn more about what true love really is.

Sorry for being harsh, but last time I saw couple of comments under my post about masturbation that it's a good habit. Well, no, it's not. And I don't wanna be triggered.

Edited June 5, 2016 by hycniejsy
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[Piotr 702]

 

Ah, and by the way don't tell me that masturbation is good for health and all that crap. Anybody. I was researching this topic for couple of years and I know this is just weird. And I shouldn't be doing that. All other people who thinks that masturbation is cool, well you're egoists and probably should learn more about what true love really is.

Sorry for being harsh, but last time I saw couple of comments under my post about masturbation that it's a good habit. Well, no, it's not. And I don't wanna be triggered.

Someone here said that masturbation is even worse addiction than gaming. I must admit that it's true, unfortunatelly from my own experience. Although, in my opinion, same rule apply from gaming, that some people can play, some can in moderation and some shouldn't at all. Thats where diffrent opinion on masturbation come from, because everyone is diffrent and everyone reacts diffrently. I belive, that if you don't feel like you should do something or/and you see it's bad effects on you, than you shouldn't do it. We just need to be reasonable and think what actions we take and whats gonna happen afterwards.

Greetings, Piotr.

[Cam Adair 5,003]

Any idea what recipes you're going to learn yet?

[hycniejsy 1,198]

@Piotr

True. I know what works best for me and for many other people with the same issue and I'm just sticking to it.

@Cam Adair

Well, I need to learn to cook tomato soup, or any other soup I don't know how to prepare. I have also a source of inspiration here, so it should be really fast to prepare dinners.

Thanks for that question!

 

05.06.2016

• Day 20 - 482 hours
• Day 1 - 30 hours

That was an awesome social day! Spent time with my family and friends, even talked with some strangers in train!

I really like that in my life! Travelling and discovering new places or even well-known places again.

 

June challenges:

1)Study for 160 hours (8 000 minutes) - so far 19/160 (950/8000)

2)Write 50 000 total words and finish 750 every day - so far 6999/50 000 day 5/30

3)510 minutes of exercising - equivalent for 17 work outs - so far 30/510

4)15 hours of tutoring (900 minutes) - so far 3/15 (250/900)

5)Learn 5 new cooking recipes - to eat more healthy - so far 0/5

Edited June 5, 2016 by hycniejsy
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[Cam Adair 5,003]

Awesome! Excited for you to improve your cooking. I love cooking

[AlexTheGrape 986]

Happy Birthday you mad pharmacist! I hope you have a fun day

Your June challenges look like great ways to keep you accountable and moving forward, and it also takes into account the time(s) that you won't be able to do those activities.

It's great to see your progress, so keep on keeping on! 

[hycniejsy 1,198]

@Cam Adair

I love it too. Good pharmacist means good cook, because pharmacist is always following the recipe restrictly just like during preparation of the drug.

@AlexTheGrape

Nice to see your comment, but I don't have birthday today! I have them in August, so what's going on?

 

06.06.2016

• Day 21 - 507 hours
• Day 2 - 55 hours

That was an awesome social day again! I'm completely exhausted, but it was worth it.

June challenges:

1)Study for 160 hours (8 000 minutes) - so far 19/160 (950/8000)

2)Write 50 000 total words and finish 750 every day - so far 7799/50 000 day 6/30

3)510 minutes of exercising - equivalent for 17 work outs - so far 30/510

4)15 hours of tutoring (900 minutes) - so far 3/15 (250/900)

5)Learn 5 new cooking recipes - to eat more healthy - so far 0/5

[AlexTheGrape 986]

Oh that's akward. Skype told me it was your birthday so I assumed that was true

Edited June 6, 2016 by AlexTheGrape
Added photo

[hycniejsy 1,198]

@AlexTheGrape

Well that was just trolling

 

 

07.06.2016

• Day 22 - 519 hours
• Day 3 - 67 hours

Back from my hometown. Need to do some houseworks, however I'm waking up really early for last 3 days (about 5 a.m. or even earlier!)

June challenges:

1)Study for 160 hours (8 000 minutes) - so far 19/160 (950/8000)

2)Write 50 000 total words and finish 750 every day - so far 8671/50 000 day 7/30

3)510 minutes of exercising - equivalent for 17 work outs - so far 30/510

4)15 hours of tutoring (900 minutes) - so far 3/15 (250/900)

5)Learn 5 new cooking recipes - to eat more healthy - so far 0/5

 

[Piotr 702]

Its interesting technique with getting up earlier. How much hours do you sleep?

[hycniejsy 1,198]

@Piotr

I'm trying to sleep 7 hours, but sometimes it was even less, however 7 is the optimal value for me.

Before quitting I was able to play video games for 7 hours straight, now I need to sleep for 7 hours straight

 

08.06.2016

• Day 23 - 545 hours
• Day 4 - 93 hours

I slept for 10 hours and I'm happy for that. Now I have even more energy.

Yesterday I didn't study, but I was tutoring a bit! Great experience!

June challenges:

1)Study for 160 hours (8 000 minutes) - so far 19/160 (950/8000)

2)Write 50 000 total words and finish 750 every day - so far 9710/50 000 day 8/30

3)510 minutes of exercising - equivalent for 17 work outs - so far 60/510

4)15 hours of tutoring (900 minutes) - so far 4/15 (320/900)

5)Learn 5 new cooking recipes - to eat more healthy - so far 0/5

[hycniejsy 1,198]

09.06.2016

• Day 24 - 578 hours
• Day 5 - 126 hours

Tough day. Tutoring, preparing herbarium, studying a lot. I'm gonna finish and pass all of it and then I'll relax a bit with my friends!

June challenges:

1)Study for 160 hours (8 000 minutes) - so far 27/160 (1350/8000)

2)Write 50 000 total words and finish 750 every day - so far 10465/50 000 day 9/30

3)510 minutes of exercising - equivalent for 17 work outs - so far 60/510

4)15 hours of tutoring (900 minutes) - so far 6/15 (475/900)

5)Learn 5 new cooking recipes - to eat more healthy - so far 0/5

[Cam Adair 5,003]

Great job man. You're in your flow

[WorkInProgress 1,695]

Hey you rock! Here is a easy recipe I like to cook a lot for me and my wife:

One of my simplest favorit foods are cooked potato’s with spinach(spiced wit salt, pepper and nutmeg) and fried eggs(add some bacon if you miss meat in tthe dish.  Frozen spinach is fine and fast to prepare.

want tos ee a 1/5 in that part of your journal

 

[hycniejsy 1,198]

@Cam Adair

Sure I'm in the flow, and I'm gonna thrive!

@WorkInProgress

I gonnaa try it today. Thanks for support!

It's really important skill - cooking - even in daily basis!

 

11.06.2016

• Day 26 - 617 hours - game free
• Day 0 - 2 hours - masturbation free
• Day 0 - 0 hours - control computer usage

Failed with my second streak, however this was a great lesson for me.

I must learn to control my computer usage. What does it mean?

I need to plan everything I need to do on computer the day before, just like daily plan. Without it I'm still able to waste ton of time on it on things I don't necessarily needed for me. Instead of working or studying I'm just procrastinating on it.

Let's see how long I'm gonna survive, shall we?

June challenges:

1)Study for 160 hours (8 000 minutes) - so far 32/160 (1600/8000)

2)Write 50 000 total words and finish 750 every day - so far 12049/50 000 day 11/30

3)510 minutes of exercising - equivalent for 17 work outs - so far 60/510

4)15 hours of tutoring (900 minutes) - so far 6/15 (475/900)

5)Learn 5 new cooking recipes - to eat more healthy - so far 0/5

[hycniejsy 1,198]

13.06.2016

• Day 28 - 665 hours - game free
• Day 1 - 38 hours - masturbation free
• Day 0 - 0 hours - control computer usage

Well, not everything is easy to do at the same time. Today my trial on 750words.com had ended. I'm waiting for money transfer to pay for membership, however I didn't receive it so far. And this was something that completely crushed my day combined with waking up 3 hours later than I planned. I spent 5 hours on YT mindlessly browsing Internet. Now I have terrible headache and I'm gonna clean up my room a bit to feel a bit of relief.

I see that the success will be when I'll get 90 days on every streak of this challenge. Now it's still struggling with urges and cravings.

June challenges:

1)Study for 160 hours (8 000 minutes) - so far 34/160 (1700/8000)

2)Write 50 000 total words and finish 750 every day - so far 14217/50 000 day 12/30

3)510 minutes of exercising - equivalent for 17 work outs - so far 150/510 - both exercising and running yesterday!

4)15 hours of tutoring (900 minutes) - so far 7/15 (545/900)

5)Learn 5 new cooking recipes - to eat more healthy - so far 1/5 - finally +1 new recipe! And I'm gonna try one more this week!

[Primmulla 149]

I love writing, but I have never used the 750words website, I did not know that you have to pay for it. And it should not be a reason for you to stop writing, as every text editor has the function of counting words, so it is easy to find a replacement. I use FocusWriter, you can set your daily goals there and it works full screen so that you can avoid distractions. 

I did not know that cleaning rooms cured headaches, I usually use painkillers for that

[WorkInProgress 1,695]

I did not know that cleaning rooms cured headaches, I usually use painkillers for that

And now you know better

[hycniejsy 1,198]

I love writing, but I have never used the 750words website, I did not know that you have to pay for it. And it should not be a reason for you to stop writing, as every text editor has the function of counting words, so it is easy to find a replacement. I use FocusWriter, you can set your daily goals there and it works full screen so that you can avoid distractions. 

I did not know that cleaning rooms cured headaches, I usually use painkillers for that

Well, yes, that was an excuse. I should write yesterday, but I missed it.

And I don't wanna take painkillers when I know that pain came from overusing computer without breaks. That's the reason why I needed to switch activity for something else. And cleaning rooms seriously was great substitute, so I can tell you that it cured headaches.

14.06.2016

• Day 0 - 6 hours - game free
• Day 0 - 2 hours - masturbation free
• Day 0 - 6 hours - control computer usage

Relapsed. Even to games. For 5 hours straight.

And that was a great lesson for me. When I played I felt like it's not me anymore, it's somebody else who wants to play. Strange, but it's just something I'm not associating myself with anymore.

And why I relapsed? Well, what triggered me was couple of things, I'll pinpoint them and obviously give a solution for each:

1)Excessive amount of Internet usage - That's the reason why I make a list of what I want to do during computer usage and stick to it. This is why I created my third streak.

2)Board game! - I played recently a board game with group of friends. It was a strategic game, however all I sucked in it. So I wanted to train myself to be better in online version of this game. And that's the point when my ego was sitting on the throne. And solution to this is easy - board games are created to be fun and to spend time with people socialising! That's much more important than winning!

3)Too much of free time & Being tired - I did couple of things yesterday like cleaning up my room, so I said to myself - all right, time for reward I deserved it.

4)90 days commitment is too big time period - I can't imagine in my mind how long 90 days really is. To be honest it's like infinity for me right now. So I decided to survive 24 hours on every streak. That's my commitment right now and we'll see what I'll do tomorrow.

And by the way, everything is fine!

June challenges:

1)Study for 160 hours (8 000 minutes) - so far 34/160 (1700/8000)

2)Write 50 000 total words and finish 750 every day - so far 16472/50 000 day 13/30

3)510 minutes of exercising - equivalent for 17 work outs - so far 150/510

4)15 hours of tutoring (900 minutes) - so far 7/15 (545/900)

5)Learn 5 new cooking recipes - to eat more healthy - so far 1/5 - I'm gonna try one more this week!

[Cam Adair 5,003]

Good to see your goals going well overall. That's a big positive

[hycniejsy 1,198]

17.06.2016 - Day 0 (9 hours)

I had a little break as Mad Pharmacist in journaling, but now I'm back and I'm gonna speed up my recovery a bit?

You're probably askin' : How is this possible?

I analysed completely every journal entry I did wrote since joining GameQuitters. And I have some conclusions to share with you:

1. Mad Pharmacist joined here 27th December 2015.
2. Since today, he did exactly 22 relapses to games OR masturbation. (Average every 8 days)
3. He menaged to be 104 days game free (so he completed detox) and 72 days masturbation free.
4. However, GQ wasn't he's first attempt to quit playing video games and masturbation.
5. 8 years ago he realised something is wrong with him, because he was able to spend up to 10 hours a day on video games. So he decided to stop, and the best attempts ended on couple of months (4 months was the personal record) of being game free.
6. Unable to find a solution himself, he decided to find a support. At 1st September 2014 he joined CGAA and started to implement 12 steps programm.
7. The best what he get was 153 days of game-free streak. Personal record, however he realised that it's not for him. It's too much about faith and believing in higher powers.
8. So he decided to join here, and to become completely free from addiction person. That's he's dream he wanted to fulfill.
9. However he didn't realise one thing: during last 8 years he did a great deal of work on himself to harness himself. So now, he has to take lesson from every relapse he did and try to concentrate on being at least 3 months free from 3 things:
   1. Playing video games
   2. Masturbation
   3. Uncontrolled computer usage.
10. So, the truth is that I'm fighting for 8 years straight. And that's my personal score. And I'm not starting from square one, but I'm just counting up my record.
    1. Even when I relapsed I was coming back to my commitments and instantly stopped playing. Now I see that it takes less amount of time (days of addictive behavior in a row) to get back on track.

Why I'm writing it in new post? Because it's my own personal commitment to stay away from these 3 addictive behaviours. Nothing is so addicting to me, even alcohol, like these 3. And I'm not gonna count a streak for every one of them, but I'll count one streak alltogether.

I can lose a battle, bit I'll win a war.

Also, I'll start writing my journal with a bit of agenda:

1. How do I feel right now?

2. What I did well today/yesterday? (I'm writing during morning, so I'll also relate to the day before)

3. What could I do better?

4. What will I do tomorrow/today?

5. Gratitude list (I'm grateful for...)

6. Achievements list

7. Month's challenge list

So, let's start it!

1. How do I feel right now?

I feel determined to my commitment I'm doing here. Also, I feel like I have serious task to deal with today. I have 8 hours left for my first final exam and I didn't even started to prepare yet. So I feel a need to take action!

2. What I did well today/yesterday?

I've made a firm commitment I'm gonna stick to for next days.

I've cooked up a great dinner, which took me 3 hours to prepare. +1 to recipes!

And I think that's all.

3. What could I do better?

Obviously, I wish I played so long video games. But it's a past and I can't change it. So, no regrets at all!

And I also could at least start preparation for final exam.

4. What will I do today?

Preparation for exam, I just know I can pass it, just need a bit of revision

Writing 750 words obviously.

And I'll also prepare some materials for tutoring.

5. Gratitude list (I'm grateful for...)

• Being a Game Quitter
• Mad Pharmacist's coming back!
• Common reason
• Fighting 'till the end
• Optimism in my life
• Living without sedatives
• first 9 hours of freedom!
• Sense of taste!
• Feeling good!
• Having a fully functional supercomputer inside my skull called cerebrum (or just having a brain )

6. Achievements list

• Commiting to 3 months detox (or 90 days or 2160 hours, or 129 600 minutes or 7 776 000 seconds, so I don't have much time left!)
• New recipe tried!
• Planned today!
• Waking up!
• Exercised a bit!

7. Month's challenge list

June challenges:

1)Study for 160 hours (8 000 minutes) - so far 39/160 (1950/8000)

2)Write 50 000 total words and finish 750 every day - so far 17272/50 000 day 14/30

3)510 minutes of exercising - equivalent for 17 work outs - so far 180/510

4)15 hours of tutoring (900 minutes) - so far 8/15 (635/900)

5)Learn 5 new cooking recipes - to eat more healthy - so far 2/5

[WorkInProgress 1,695]

Hey nice job restructuring and analysing your progress. And your numbers climbing up.!

[Hitaru 1,054]

The pharmacist can into space - and beyond! As always, best wishes, I'm restructuring as well and when I do proper adjustments we'll continue with our calls if you want. Looking forward to next posts 

[Cam Adair 5,003]

LET'S GO!