A journal, through and through

[Ambassador]

On 6/26/2019 at 1:01 AM, NannerZ said:

Hey man, can I ask where you live? I've noticed you studying french. Mon francais c'est pas tres bon. I studied french for many years also. It's one of the official languages of Canada although definitely not as widely used where I live. I've been thinking since I started the detox that I wanted to refresh with my French, I haven't seriously used it in many years. 

Best of luck to your GF btw.

Dude! Didn't see your post when I commented, sorry! I'm from Brazil and I'm not going to try and type in French because I'm undoubtedly going to butcher it massively! I remember it took me quite a while before actually being able to try writing basic English without being embarrassed by silly mistakes, French probably will take much more time.

Well, you could try some apps, there's quite a few of them. It ain't the perfect practice, but it's better than nothing. There are some good podcasts, too.

[Ambassador]

Missing days

Those last days I've been doing misc errands and going to social events. I didn't even start the computer, which means I didn't do most of my stuff. Since I ended those days AFK, I skipped the entries. In fact, this habit has become closely related to me using the computer, and I'm thinking about changing its format. I'm willing to move for a physical journal after I complete my 90 days detox, which is less than 30 days away, at which point I'll only write weekly or even monthly in here.

Anyways, nothing much has moved forwards these days, and it's been hard to go back to a strong routine because it seems every day there's something getting in the way of me starting early on to work on my stuff, and that demotivates me a lot to get on with it in the afternoon, which is very slow for me. I need to draw strong lines and start to say no to people. It would help to start saying no to myself first. Gonna give another try in building a strong work ethic, I have no other option besides keep trying again.

Onwards.

[Ambassador]

Messy

Right now I'm a mess. Didn't do most of my stuff for the day and I have no one to blame besides myself. My workroom is a mess, it has books and paper all around it. My schedule is a mess, I don't do the stuff I assign myself to. I have to review my goals and reconnect with my reasons for doing everything I want to do. Without knowing my why, I won't make the effort. I need a major rework on my routine, my tasks, and the environment I work at. And that's what I'm going to do.

[taichi]

No-one can be perfect all the time, we all have our bad days and bad weeks. Keep smiling, even amidst a mess?

[Ambassador]

Rebuilding, refocusing, moving forward

Yesterday I worked on something that might be a huge step in the right direction. I revisited my goals and aspirations, which motivated me again, but I also built a carefully made schedule for the whole month! Day by day, I know what I have to do including wake up time, meal time, and sleeping time. Of course, there'll be days it'll not be followed perfectly though, because I'll do things that aren't listed, and not even should be. For instance, today I'll not go to bed at the scheduled time because I'm going out with GF (BTW, Wednesday she presented her graduation thesis and got a perfect grade, I'm very proud of her). But that's life, right? Unexpected things happen, you have to spend time with your beloved ones, do things you didn't plan. That isn't a sign your schedule isn't working. But when you look to a long term task you just finished you know it is working. And that's where my hopes are.

Moreover, I'm going to detail every task of the day in the morning and reflect on my achievements in the evening. I'll also give myself a general goal or theme for each week and each month, and measure the success likewise. I'm too messy of a person, that's probably my main weakness, and min-maxing my time is probably the best way to go. I used to dread this kind of approach, but I don't feel like that anymore after meditating over it and seeing I must tackle my weakness and make a strength out of it. Sun Tsu FTW.

Today I already followed with most of the stuff I planned to do. Tomorrow will be even better.

Onwards, and get out of the way cause I'm outta breaks!

[Ambassador]

On 7/3/2019 at 7:12 AM, taichi said:

No-one can be perfect all the time, we all have our bad days and bad weeks. Keep smiling, even amidst a mess?

Taichi!! How's it going?? Thank you for your kind words! ???

[Ambassador]

Officially starting

This weekend had a lot of unexpected things going on, and I relaxed on my planning because it would not be followed for the most part, anyway. But now it has officially started. Going to bed in time, after doing an evening ritual about focusing on my next week's objectives. I lay the seeds and I plan to reap a more stable and conscientious lifestyle. This is an everyday effort and a goal in on itself.

Onward.

[Ambassador]

Follow up

It's been ok up until now. The plan is going mostly well, especially because I maintain a flexible approach to it so that I can make the most out of my time no matter what. If I'm stuck working on something, I change tasks and come back later. If I feel tired, I take a break. If I feel like working over the time schedule to stop, I do so. The important thing is to keep me motivated. And it's working.

I forgot to set up a weekly goal, but I'm going to set up a reminder so that I do not repeat that mistake next week. My monthly goal is in place, though. It will be a challenge, but I'm up to it since I'm advancing it every day.

Onward.

[Ambassador]

It's working!

Not a perfect day, today. Neither yesterday. Still, good days. Did quite some work, completed a good amount of tasks. Had a date with GF yesterday, that's why I missed the entry.

My general feeling is that, although I have plenty of room to improve the management of my time and my work, setting up a strict daily routine is really working great! If anything, I procrastinate a lot less and I use my prime time, during the mornings, a whole lot more effectively. Afternoons are still a drag for me, but even that is improving.

Next things I'll do to try and be even more effectively are:

1) Break down my daily tasks even further, so that they are easier to manage and measure;

2) Organize further my working environment and find optional places I can work at, to add variety and maybe improve my afternoon output;

3) Separate my projects into different notebooks and give them priorities and schedules of their own, so I can better keep track of all of them;

Onward!

[Ambassador]

Minor bumps

I've been sleeping late, getting up later than I should and missing out a part of my morning, which makes me less productive. I have to correct that soon. Other than that, I've been mostly ok those days, doing some work and getting some progress. Not as much as I would like, but some is better than none. I have to remember that less than 3 months ago I was coming out of the gaming whole. I'll not fix decades worth of mistakes and addiction in just a couple of months. This is just the BEGINNING. A good one. I'm thankful for having found Cam's work and for being able to share the load with this amazing community. I don't say those things as often as I should, I don't express my gratitude and my appreciation of people as much as I would like to, this is something I also have to improve.

I didn't follow-up with plans I laid down on the last entry, but I'll do it tomorrow, without fault. GF has no academic activities to do, so she'll come to my place and we'll study together. I hope I can get a hitchhike on her work ethic and be really productive tomorrow.

Onward.

[Ambassador]

Slowly but surely

I've been correcting my sleeping and waking up times with success. Thing is: now and then I have to completely throw my sleeping schedule out of the window, generally because of some social event, and it's really hard for me to come back to it. Oh, well... life is like that. Other than that, I feel I'm being slightly more productive each day. I changed my working environment for a while, and that gave me a big boost. I feel like I have to do that from time to time.

Will keep it short today.

Onward.

[Ambassador]

Last entry

I've done it. 90 days without gaming, today. In the beginning, I was not sure I could pull it off. But each day of these last 3 months taught me a little bit about my own strength and my own capabilities. The effort was totally worth it. I feel I'm a better person now, I fell I've grown a lot in this period, more than I've done in the last few years, probably. I feel I've come to know myself a lot better. Not fully. Not completely. But much, much more. I'm far from done with my journey, though, and I'm entirely conscient of that. In fact, this is merely the beginning. The end of the first page of a book I'm as much of a reader as I'm a writer.

This week has begun with the strongest craving I felt during the entire detox process. I resisted it, but for very, very little. I even got to download the game I was craving to play. But I didn't install it. I told myself that I'm not ready, that I would probably end up binging and relapsing. Part of me was telling myself that it was going to be OK, that it would be just one hour each day, or that it could even be only during the weekends. My addicted brain was negotiating with myself and I know I can't trust it when it comes to games. Then I promised myself I will get to play that game after I've done with my most immediate objective, which is to conclude and present my thesis. I'm not sure if I'm going to fulfill that promise, though. After such a strong urge to play, I don't know if I can ever play responsibly. I fear a relapse as much as I fear death, now. Anyways, I've managed to go through it unscratched.

Speaking of my thesis, I've been doing good progress on it. It has taken a good shape, the subject is getting clearer for me, I've got a lot of material and some good thoughts on it set on paper. Soon enough I'll finish the project and submit it to my advisor. I was planning to do it this week, but external things took priority over it. It's OK, such is life, and I have plenty of time, yet, provided that I don't waste it away procrastinating, and I've been managing to steer procrastination away quite well those last two weeks. I'm confident I can do it this next week or at the beginning of the other at most. I will deliver my thesis at the end of the semester, no matter what. I'm confident about it more than I ever was, and this time is not merely wishful thinking, I have concrete work a hand to empirically base my confidence on.

GF is a little stressed out with the celebrations of her graduation and I've been trying to support her as much as I can. Mother is also doing her best to help her. But I think what really is bothering GF is the uncertainty about her future. No work at sight, no masters course, she's suddenly seeing herself with a lot of time at hand, something she hasn't had in a long time. I need to try and influence her to make the best use of her time. I've got a bunch of books for her to read and I may set up schedules for us to study together often if she agrees with it. It'll be good for both of us.

I'm also starting a prep course to take TOEIC at the end of the year. My original goal was to study French, which I'm still doing with good consistency, but I'm too far away from fluency and I think to focus on getting a good score on an English language test is better right now, with aims to maybe take a post-grad or a masters degree in a foreign country in the not-so-distant future. I'm confident in my communication skills, but my grammar is somewhat poor - don't let my entries fool you, Grammarly is an amazing tool -  so I have to take this prep course if I'm to attain a decent score.

With this, I'm closing this journal. I'm not going to write on it anymore. I will certainly hang around the community, though, share my experiences with people here and learn with other people's experiences as well. But no further entries will be put in here. It's a page I'm closing. I intend to be more consistent in maintaining a physical journal then I have been in here. But this journal helped a lot and it has certainly been a turning point in my life.

I want to thank you all that have taken part in this with me. You folks helped me a lot with your insights, with the experience and wisdom you were so kind in sharing with me. I owe you. Seriously. Whenever you need to talk, whether you want to share something, ask something, unburden, whatever, just PM me, or @ me in your post. I'm here for you. We do this together, we unlock our lives, we take it back from gaming together.

“Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power.”

                                       - Lao Tzu

Onward.

[NannerZ]

Congrats on a successful detox! A little bummed I won't see your journal at the top of the forum anymore but am super happy for you. You always gave me great advice and insight, for that I thank you. I wish you success in all your pursuits.

[Ikar]

5 hours ago, NannerZ said:

Congrats on a successful detox! A little bummed I won't see your journal at the top of the forum anymore but am super happy for you. You always gave me great advice and insight, for that I thank you. I wish you success in all your pursuits.

We can still keep it there for a while!

I could copy what NannerZ wrote. I can also agree 100% on your first paragraph from my perspective. I enjoy your analytic approach to your own issues and the issues of others. I also hope your gf can find the courage to smartly contend with all the free time that she has been given, much like we did when we started the detox!

Well done and good luck!

[Ikar]

10 minutes ago, Rudygreen said:

I think you are the right person to guide me on this issue. I updated WhatsApp a few days ago and since then WhatsApp has not been working properly. As soon as I open WhatsApp, WhatsApp crashes. It seems to be stuck. I have deleted the updated version and reinstalled the old version which I was using before the update but as soon as I open this old version of WhatsApp it is written that this version this out dated I've  to updated I have also search on the net about it, but I haven't found anything that can fix the problem, but when I found out about this Whatsapp Plus Apk at ( https://gbapps.net/) modified heritage, I tried to use it and that Solved my problem with this WhatsApp Plus Apk but since it is a modified version of whatsapp then i can't use it forever

I have zero idea on how to help you out. I think the best idea is to keep searching the net.