Half-Addicted Teen Introducing Himself

[idkbro]

Hi everyone. I wasn't sure if I should post here, mainly because I wouldn't call myself an addict. I mean, I am a good student, and I do everything I am supposed to. To give some of a backstory, I used to play 3-5 hours a day on League of Legends, then somehow, League started to be boring to me, so I switched to Overwatch, which has consumed my evenings for the past 2 months or so. I'm not going to lie, there are times where I do all-nighters and I do things that negatively impact me. I run an esports team at my high school, which actually counters video game addiction and gives a positive light to video gaming, but the truth is, Is that I almost never play with the other members because of my low skill. I also am not required to play video games, as I run the team, not necessarily play for the team. Anyways, the past week, was one of the best weeks I had in a while because I stopped playing games for that week. I went out to a concert and a carnival, I ran a couple of laps, but it didn't last long. On Sunday, when I was at a cousins house, he had overwatch up and ready to go so I spent the next 4 hours playing it while he went somewhere. The hard part was letting go, and since then, I've had a hard time not reinstalling.

Not every week can be coincidentally exciting, so it's hard finding things to do that aren't Netflix, Overwatch/League, Reddit or Instagram. According to my phone, I spend about 3-5 hours a day on Discord, Netflix, and YouTube. The week before, when I decided I wanted to quit, I realized that I didn't really want to it on my chair any longer, and play this game. I wanted to do something, I just didn't know what. Thanks, let me know what I can do!

[Jaspar]

Another Overwatcher, or ex-overwatcher!? ?

Not much advice to give on the gaming part, as I'm also looking for answers there. Although uninstalling it, needless to say is a pretty great start. Exercise or look for someone to talk to instead when you get a significant urge to add it back. A combination of jogging and walking is excellent, so is weights training. 

In terms of your phone use though (and this can apply to video games too) you want to increase the number of steps before you do something you deem negative or a waste of time. 

Don't make your phone as easily accessible. Even if that just means putting it an extra metre away or into a drawer. 

Also leave discord servers you don't have meaningful conversations with people in or have any tangible benefit to you. It's super easy to have them stack up into a long list, and then waste time switching between them without actually getting anything done.