Becoming happier and more productive

[Mads]

Hello ? I'm an eighteen year old highschool student from Denmark

My journal is not going to be specifically about quitting gaming. I have a few addictions I'd say. All of them being internet/computer/phone related. I spend way too much time on Twitch / YouTube (varies which one, atm. it's Twitch). In this journal I want to write about my ups and downs related to increasing my productivity and overall happiness.

My goals for now (might change later on or very soon, not sure):

- Going to bed earlier. This means being in bed no later than 22:00 during the weekdays. Also, I want to wake up at no later than 08:00.

- Spending no time on Twitch, YouTube and social media.

- Going outside every day. Go for a run three times a week.

Some bonus info: For the time being I've quit my smartphone (It's been almost 14 days now), so that should help me accomplish these goals.

Until next time, best regards,

Mads

 

Edited December 17, 2018 by Mads
Grammar mistake

[Cam Adair]

Hey welcome! I hope to visit Denmark someday. 

[I want to quit]

I just wanted to ask you something... how do you quit your smartphone? Can you deni the communication?

Good luck, thanks!??

[dirkj3]

Hi  good to have you!!

I kept my phone in the kitchen and use the communication when my intentions are clear. I have also deleted my account to make accessinggames more difficult.

During sleep time I keep my phone in the kitchen as well because I mostly gamed through the nights.

[I want to quit]

Wow that's a great idea maybe I should try it too, putting a phone in a closet with a lock i guess? ?

[Mads]

8 hours ago, Cam Adair said:

Hey welcome! I hope to visit Denmark someday. 

Thank you! It's a lovely country ;) At least when it isn't cold...

[Mads]

2 hours ago, dirkj3 said:

Hi  good to have you!!

I kept my phone in the kitchen and use the communication when my intentions are clear. I have also deleted my account to make accessinggames more difficult.

During sleep time I keep my phone in the kitchen as well because I mostly gamed through the nights.

Good job. For me it works best to just quit it all together once in a while, though I would like to have a healthy and balanced relationship with my smartphone, haha.

[Mads]

3 hours ago, I want to quit said:

I just wanted to ask you something... how do you quit your smartphone? Can you deni the communication?

Good luck, thanks!??

I bought a cheap so called "dumbphone" instead - a Nokia in fact. So people can still reach me by phone :) My Nokia doesn't offer as many distractions given that it has no internet capability. The worst it can do as far as distracting me is the Snake game. Luckily it's far too slow paced for my brain which is accustomed to high surges of dopamine :)

[Mads]

Dec. 17, 2018

So far so good. No Twitch, Youtube and social media today. Went for a walk with some family today, so that was nice. Currently writing this at 8.40 PM, so going to bed before 10 PM should go smooth. Regarding my productivity.. meh.. I did get some work done today, but it sure would have been nice if I had gotten even more done. I'm working on a big project (it's an exam) which has to be finished by Thursday. Feeling really stressed about it because I'm quite far behind schedule, but I'm hoping that I can pull through despite that. I've just got to get a good night's rest and be really efficient with my time tomorrow. Once this project is finished I get to enjoy my Christmas holiday ? Really looking forward to that!

The urge to watch Twitch and Youtube and to check social media was definitely prevalent in me. It's hard to resist, especially when I know that what I have to do is cram to get this project done (which I'm really not enjoying)...

Thank you if you took the time to read my thoughts. Trying to get used to writing this journal. I'm not very good at it yet, but I think with time I'll improve at sharing my thoughts and hopefully I'll also improve my ability to reflect on my day in general.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Mads

[Mads]

Tuesday. Dec. 18, 2018

Damn. Not my best day nor my worst day. I did wake up early like I wanted to. I also did get nine hours of sleep which is indeed respectable. But then the day started, which meant I had to work on finishing my project. Problem being was that I didn't want to, and as a result there of I didn't do any... I actually spent most of my day watching YouTube videos (which were really interesting and informative, but that's beside the point), and I felt bad. I was, and still am, very far behind on my project. I did get quite some work done this evening, but it's not nearly enough. So now I'm contemplating if I should give up some sleep to get some more work done, or if I should stick with my sleep schedule, and hope I miraculously get a ton of work done tomorrow. ? Not too proud of giving into YouTube temptations on the 2nd day of committing not to, but it is what it is.

[Deku]

Don't worry about it! You're making a big change in your life so be sure to take it slow and be forgiving on yourself. I find a good way to fix the internet browsing problems is to take your work to an open location like a library or coffee shop where everyone can see your screen. The thought of all those judgey eyes really helps me stay on task.

[Mads]

On 12/19/2018 at 9:25 AM, Deku said:

Don't worry about it! You're making a big change in your life so be sure to take it slow and be forgiving on yourself. I find a good way to fix the internet browsing problems is to take your work to an open location like a library or coffee shop where everyone can see your screen. The thought of all those judgey eyes really helps me stay on task.

Thank you Deku! Both for the kind words and the advice. I didn't update the journal last night since I was cramming to finish my project. Worked on it for the 14 hours straight from 9PM to 11AM.. gosh I'm glad that over. It's difficult to describe how I'm feeling right now. It's a mixture of extremely tired, happy and relieved haha.

The whole not watching YouTube and Twitch thing wasn't going too well, and right now I simply don't care. I think I will care again soon enough, but I think it's okay that I enjoy my first days of the Christmas vacation after such a stressfull experience.

Once again, thank you ?

[Mads]

Hey guys, sorry for not updating the last couple of days, I've been busy with life ?

Thursday I handed in my project. Not too happy with how it went / how I managed my time, but I'm still very glad that it's over. I'll get my grade in a couple of months, so I'll just have to wait and see how it goes. I've been enjoying my Christmas break by hanging out with family, friends and girlfriend so far. I've also watched some Twitch, but not too much since I've been so busy doing other stuff, so I think that's fine. My sleep schedule is pretty off due to me pulling an all nighter Wednesday to Thursday, and because I've been hanging out with some friends into the late hours... I'm hoping to fix that pretty soon, but I know it will be hard when seeing friends and family. If fine with it not being perfect as long as I get it back to going to bed before 10 PM before school starts again on the 3rd of January. I've managed to run twice this week. Hoping to bump that up to three times this next week. Should be pretty doable.

I've also enjoyed reading some of the journals on here. I wish I had more direction in life as in I wish I had something specific to strive for. Take @Deku for example; he really really wants to go to med school which requires hard work. I on the other hand have no goal of such "caliber", I just try to go with the flow.

Maybe I should set some goals for my self. Well not maybe, I definitely should do that. I'll spend some time thinking about it. And I don't mean goals such as those that I already have (Not watching Twitch/YouTube, no social medias, having a good sleep schedule and running three times a week), but something more long term or substantial.

- Mads

[Deku]

I wouldn't worry about not having a direction in life right now. You're only 18 and yet you've already made the decision to quit gaming and improve your life, which is more than I can say for when I was that age. As long as you stay busy and keep off the games I think you'll have done great!

You're 18 so I presume you're off to university soon? I haven't the slightest idea how it works in Denmark, but maybe your next goals could have something to do with that--finishing x applications by a certain date, getting a certain score on the entrance exam, or setting some target grades for your high school classes next semester so you don't slack off. 

[Mads]

6 hours ago, Deku said:

You're 18 so I presume you're off to university soon? I haven't the slightest idea how it works in Denmark, but maybe your next goals could have something to do with that--finishing x applications by a certain date, getting a certain score on the entrance exam, or setting some target grades for your high school classes next semester so you don't slack off. 

I can start university this summer, yes. In Denmark most uni educations don't have entrance exams. Whether you get in or not is purely based on your grades. So a goal could definitely be to get some target grades, but really I'm doing quite fine on all of my grades. I should be able to get into almost everything, with a few exceptions, if I don't mess up this last half year. So it's basically a matter of whether I want to be able to get into everything (I don't know what I want to study yet).

[Mads]

Still haven't fixed my sleeping schedule, and I've also been watching some Twitch and YouTube and checking my FaceBook account. Four days ago I wrote the following:

On 12/20/2018 at 12:44 PM, Mads said:

The whole not watching YouTube and Twitch thing wasn't going too well, and right now I simply don't care. I think I will care again soon enough, but I think it's okay that I enjoy my first days of the Christmas vacation after such a stressfull experience.

Well I've reached the point of caring again ? This means that I once again will try to do the following:

On 12/17/2018 at 3:39 AM, Mads said:

- Going to bed earlier. This means being in bed no later than 22:00 during the weekdays. Also, I want to wake up at no later than 08:00.

- Spending no time on Twitch, YouTube and social media.

- Going outside every day. Go for a run three times a week.

I'm a little on the fence about my first goal since I don't think it'll be very easy for me to do during the Christmas break, but that's okay. The two others should be doable, and I'm also going to hold myself accountable on how much time I spend every day on "mindless internet browsing".

Edited December 24, 2018 by Mads

[Mads]

Welp, I'm not feeling all too good today. Having a really hard time articulating myself as well right now. I'm currently on Christmas break and I've realised that I don't feel like doing anything right now. I think that's due to me not allowing myself to do any of the things I'd normally do if I were to spend time by myself (play games, watch videos/livestreams, check social media etc.). This silence has made me rather emotional. Emotions that I previously didn't know that I have. I think I've been numbing myself to my emotions by constantly being in touch with a screen. Could also just be that I'm emotionally unstable right now cause I'm trying to quit an addiction, who knows... Feeling quite lonely even though I spent all of yesterday together with family. Furthermore I'm feeling really let down by my girlfriend right now, but I can't tell if my emotions can be justified or if I'm just being a bi*** ?

So far the most productive and enjoyable thing I've done today is running with a friend. It was just a short and slow paced 30 min run since he has asthma and forgot to take his medications.

Don't know what to make of my newly discovered lonely and emotional self, but I'm hoping these emotions will pass quickly.