Freelo_Is_Not_Free Posted November 30, 2018 Posted November 30, 2018 Day 1 of Youtube/Reddit detox: This is my first journal entry. While I have been able to abstain from video games successfully for a while, stuff like Reddit and Youtube videos related to gaming are still eating up an unfortunate amount of my time. I've also been feeling a bit down lately. Birthdays and holidays tend to remind me of how I pissed away a fair chunk of my prime on League/Hearthstone, which doesn't feel great. Not much benefit to worrying about that now, but that doesn't really stop me from worrying about it. My current goal is to do a 90 day detox of Youtube and Reddit. Yesterday I blocked Reddit and Youtube on my computer via the hosts file. I reflexively typed those URLS into my browser a few times today, but they were blocked so it was no big deal. I hope that in the future, I won't even have the reflex of typing the names into the URL, but for now this is fine. If it turns out I do need to have those sites permanently blocked, my life would not be diminished in any meaningful way. Goals: Finish the Udemy programming courses I bought. Reestablish the high fat low carb diet that worked for me in the past. Go to gym 3 times per week. Finish reading the books I rented from the library. 2
Samon Posted November 30, 2018 Posted November 30, 2018 Had to smile when I read that you type "reflexively typed those urls". Not because its good, but it exactly the same too me. Feels a bit sad that our body is so used to that, but in the other hand very interesting how it learns However man I wish good luck, staying from games is one thing. Many people here only have a problem with that, but I think as many people also are having issues with surfing in general. Youtube, reddit etc. those are critical sites. Or just mindless browsing. Cold turkey with that is so hard, because you dont know what to do with your time, and you think "wtf i really want to check those sites now to feel pleasure". It needs time till your head adapts to the fact you will not get dopamin instantely. Looking forward to see every day a post from you here :)! 2
Freelo_Is_Not_Free Posted December 1, 2018 Author Posted December 1, 2018 Day 2 of Youtube/Reddit Detox: Thanks for the reply, Samon! Overall, I suspect this will be an easier task than quitting playing the games was for me, because I don't have to abandon a network of online friends like I did when I quit League and Hearthstone. The real test is going to be when I google some technical question, and the top result is on Reddit. The end goal is for me to be able to use Reddit or Youtube in that scenario without falling into a pit of distraction, but in my current state, I think I am better off with having the sites blocked. There are plenty of sources of information on the internet that have less built in distraction mechanisms. I might do some experiments later with browser add-ons to see if I can change the interfaces of Reddit and Youtube in a way that makes them less distracting, but I am going to give my brain some time to "deprogram" before I start mucking around with that. Fortunately, filling the extra time is not an issue for me, because I have some MOOC's, as well as a long list of books that I was previously "too busy" to read. Today was a good day. It was mostly just caffeine and studying. I ended up unthinkingly navigating to Reddit on my smart phone when I picked it up, but didn't actually do any browsing. Smart phones are much more of a hassle to block sites on than computers. I am considering leaving my smart phone at home and treating it as a de-facto dumb phone, and only taking it out of the house when I need to navigate somewhere new. That should result in me spending less of my life being harassed by robots and scam artists, and if anyone has important stuff to say, I can check my voicemails. Goals: Dietary Compliance: check 2/7 this week Gym: 1 hour of running yesterday. 1/3 for the week Reading: 50 Pages of Polya's "How to solve it" with notes. Coursera MOOCs: Finished week 7 of Stanford Intro to Math Thinking. Udemy Programming courses: No progress. 1
Hmmge Posted December 1, 2018 Posted December 1, 2018 For me, quitting gaming media is much harder than quitting gaming, but I'm already at day 49 so it's definitely possible ? What do you do when you eat? I have this habit of always watching some stupid videos during lunch/dinner. 1
Freelo_Is_Not_Free Posted December 2, 2018 Author Posted December 2, 2018 Day 3 of Youtube/Reddit Detox: @JustTomI like to watch jeopardy during dinner, which definitely falls into the stupid video category, but I am ok with it. If I can limit my TV to 5 episodes of jeopardy per week, that's fine. Yesterday, after I finished my post I was able to finish the final 50 pages of the Polya book, but I only got four hours sleep and was not thinking quite as clearly today, but I did go to the gym. I read some journals in the forums here and am going to try the pomodoro technique out. For my diet, cravings for sweets seem to be at their worst during my drive home, but I have been able to ignore them so far. A few months back, I had a routine where I batch cooked three weeks worth of lunch in one afternoon. I lost a lot of weight during this time, and barely thought about food, but the routine fell apart after I went on a vacation and one of my family members tricked me into watching Great British Bakeoff. Everyone on that show seems so nice and British, but they are gains goblins, hellbent on my destruction. Going back to the no sugar diet. Dietary Compliance: Check, 3/7 for the week Going to gym: 2/3 for the week. Reading: Finished Polya's How to Solve It Coursera Courses: Watched week one of UCSD Learning How to Learn Udemy Programming courses: no progress
karabas Posted December 2, 2018 Posted December 2, 2018 Agreed with @JustTom: I'm 111 days of no gaming now, but video content has been a far greater challenge. Keeping your phone away from yourself is a good idea. The less I'm around my phone, the less I waste time. It is known.
Freelo_Is_Not_Free Posted December 3, 2018 Author Posted December 3, 2018 Slept in until 4pm today and been feeling drowsy, so not a productive day. It might have something to do with my medication. Not much I can write about today though. Just did some reading.
karabas Posted December 3, 2018 Posted December 3, 2018 3 hours ago, Freelo_Is_Not_Free said: Slept in until 4pm today and been feeling drowsy, so not a productive day. It might have something to do with my medication. Not much I can write about today though. Just did some reading. As long as the detox is intact, the day's a win in my book ? 1
Freelo_Is_Not_Free Posted December 4, 2018 Author Posted December 4, 2018 Day 5 of Youtube/Reddit Detox: Good day for productivity. I spent most of the focusing on the MOOC's and doing assignments for them. I have been staying off youtube and Reddit, and am loving the approach where I keep my smart phone at my house. I did mess up my diet today, so that wasn't great. Had some fancy holiday season coffee shit instead of an iced Americano like I normally get, and also had some wings glazed with something that contained sugar. Oh well. Dietary Compliance: Failed today but succeeded yesterday, 4/7 for the week Going to gym: 2/3 for the week. Reading: About 40 pages MOOCs: Finished assignments for two classes. 1
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