Vladimirs journal

[Mr. Ém]

Hi! 

I just wanted to congratulate you for the progress you've made so far! I'm currently doing my 4th day and reading this gives me motivation to go further!

Good job and go on!

🙂

[YasnoSolnishko]

22 hours ago, Mr. Ém said:

Hi! 

I just wanted to congratulate you for the progress you've made so far! I'm currently doing my 4th day and reading this gives me motivation to go further!

Good job and go on!

🙂

Keep going, bro. 

 

[YasnoSolnishko]

Days 52-67 (12 Nov - 28 Nov)
I am recovering from the coronavirus. Overall, the consequences are not problematic for my wife and me. 
I neither play games nor watch the video about games. I am not attracted by game advertisement on Instagram.
I think one of the good points is that I do not spend much time in social networks (approx. 1-1,5 hr per week), therefore do not see much advertisement, and, as a consequence, fewer temptations. I wish I write more here, but it looks this journal is not very important for me. I have my personal offline journal where a lot of work happening and also have weekly sessions with the therapist, which I assume works well. 
Sometimes I have cravings for games, but now they are changed. If before I want to play to increase the dopamine level, now I want to play in some game with a scenario. For example, when my wife and I are watching the Mandalorian series, I want to play some Star Wars game. My wife says that I should allow myself to play like one day in a month because it's giving me some joy. I think this is not a good idea.
I have finished 30-days challenge at the course at CodeCademy. It wasn't hard; however, I feel some proud of myself, and also I see that even with the small efforts, but continuously, the progress could be significant.
I also started to follow the NFL league as I did in the past. The football(not soccer) is not very popular in Russia; however, I like it a lot. My wife also started to watch games with me. I explained (and continue to explain every game) the rules. She likes it too. It's a pleasure to do something with someone you love. The more shared interests - the better, I think.

[YasnoSolnishko]

Days 67-74(28 Nov - 5 Dec)

Relapse

Days 1-8 (5 Dec - 12 Dec)

Relapse. I know the reasons why I relapsed. There was a series of stressful situations at work, and I think I tried to escape from the problems. It was a game on the mobile phone, and after 30 minutes I realized that again I'm falling into gaming trap. That I want significant progress at the game and to gain this progress I need to spend a lot of time playing. Then, I call to mind my resolution to quit gaming, why I want to stop and which life sides will suffer from gaming. Therefore, after 40 minutes, I removed the game. However, I still take it as relapse. Sad, but true. I do not blame myself, but it's a pity that I zeroed my score.

So, there were two stressful weeks at work. I am trying not to push myself hard. I postponed all my other activities. So it was just a lot of work, a lot of sleep and some walking to keep my body in fit.

These two weeks are in the past, and I can focus on other activities more. Spend some quality time with myself and my family.

 

There are two important things I realized for the past two months. 

1. The power of small steps
2. Sleep is the most important thing.

We all live our lives in one way and then, by some external influence, suddenly decide to change life significantly. But it's very hard. So, do the small steps. 

Start small. 

If you want to run a marathon and never run before - start walking 1-2 km per day. Note the progress. It will be your wins. Keep the streak of wins. Gain self-confidence, then increase the goal a little bit. If you fail, do not blame yourself, think why you fail, probably you are tired or stressed. If it's true - take the pause. Rest a little bit. Check your life; probably there are too many resolutions or responsibilities. Drop something or put on hold. Do something that increases your energy. For me it's read a book (some fiction, not self-development), go to massage (I prefer Thai), go hiking (3-7 km in the near forest).

 

Regarding the sleep, I like this lecture 

https://www.ted.com/talks/matt_walker_sleep_is_your_superpower#t-17257

And also I bought the Oura Ring. I gained so much knowledge from the information that it provides and from articles on their website.

Edited December 12, 2020 by YasnoSolnishko