New Chapter

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Day 0

Starting again. Time to regain focus and get back on the right track.

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Day 1

Good day today. Had a lot of stuff to do and had no real urges throughout the day.

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Day 2

Had a weird day. Didn't get enough sleep last night, so I took a nap around noon for an hour and a half which freshened me up a bit. Still far from ideal, so I need to get better with keeping my sleep schedule consistent. Other than that, I studied for a good amount of time and got a haircut by my sister, who actually did a pretty good job despite it taking a couple of hours total. I have this weird feeling now at the end of the day that I could have accomplished more today, although I've been busy the whole time. Sometimes it just feels like there isn't enough hours in the day.

Didn't have any strong urges today, though thoughts keep popping into my head trying to tell me it wouldn't be the end of the world if I just saw one gaming video or took one short look at some e-sports website. I need to actively remind myself to be firm in my decision.

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Day 3

Not really feeling motivated currently - feeling a bit sluggish. Some urges today, mostly because I was bored for some time. Got a lot of stuff tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get a good night's sleep so I can have enough energy.

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Day 4

Wow. Really had the worst start to the day possible. Woke up with a painful headache, not really sure why. Got stressed due to all the stuff I had to do. Went for a walk which helped momentarily, but right when I returned home, everything came right back. Couldn't get any stuff done due to my headache and lack of energy. So instead I just lay in my bed and fell asleep for an hour and a half around noon. Luckily that helped a bit. As the day went on, I started feeling better and actually managed to get some stuff done. I feel sorry for my family for having to cope with me today, but I guess some days are just like that.

In the coming weeks I want to return to a normal, consistent sleep schedule and be more physically active. I can really feel the lack of physical activity is making me feel like shit and makes me unable to focus for longer periods of time. Also want to improve on a lot of other stuff, but don't want to put too much pressure on myself.

[Jason70]

Sorry you had a headache this morning, I am glad it's gone away. I am glad the nap helped with it. 

For your stress, it's a normal thing we all face. What's helped me is instead of thinking "oh my god i have all this stuff I have to do, how am i going to finish it all?" I like to break my work done into smaller chunks. So this morning, I was stressed because I have two projects tomorrow that have to be turned in, but once I broke things down like "ok I will format how the poster will look, then I'll take a 5 minute break, and then I will return with writing what I want to say on draft paper." it got a lot easier.

Also yes, you will sometimes have days where your family might find you intolerable. The important thing is to remember the good moments of the day, and lay the not so good ones to rest. 

2 hours ago, Ben0 said:

In the coming weeks I want to return to a normal, consistent sleep schedule and be more physically active

These are good goals, I wish you luck on them!

Best 

Jason

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Day 5

Pretty busy day. Few urges, but managed to brush them aside pretty quickly. Played some piano, finished an assignment and spent some time with the family.

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Day 6

Worked, studied, talked to some friends, went for a walk, and cleaned up some stuff. Also made a (hopefully) idiot-proof plan for how I'm going to make sure to go to bed on time. Overall pretty satisfied with today. Fewer urges and felt like I had more energy and motivation today. Tomorrow I'll try to get a small workout session going in the morning.

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Day 7

Worked out, studied, talked to friends and had a good laugh, worked a little bit, went for a walk, made dinner and started cleaning my room.

Probably my best day since I started a week ago. Managed to get around 8 hours in bed, which means the plan from yesterday succeeded. Woke up at 8am, not because I had to but because I wanted to, which felt great. It's been a looong time since I last did that. Also got a short morning workout done. I'm trying to slowly re-build a solid morning routine, because the day just gets better if you start off on the right foot.

The only urges I got today were urges to start producing music again. I haven't touched a DAW for over a year at this point, so I kind of want to get back into that at some point. Going to keep focusing on sleep and exercise for now though.

[Average_Guy]

I want to get into producing music a bit, I'd love to hear something if you ever feel like sharing.

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Day 8

Things didn't really go as planned today. Woke up late because I for reason thought it was a good idea to experiment using the snooze button. Also spent a lot of time surfing the interwebs, watching videos, and achieving nothing instead of studying. Did manage to complete my exercise though and finished cleaning my room. Also spent some time with the fam.

What can I do in the future to prevent wasting half a day surfing around? Probably a few things:

• Break tasks into smaller chunks to not get overwhelmed. Pomodoro.
• Take (healthy) breaks when necessary. Rather a bit too many than too few. E.g.: Go for a walk, read a bit, play piano, eat a snack, or just do nothing.
• Also, don't snooze in the morning. It's never a good idea.

[Jason70]

I am sorry today didn't go as planned but I am glad you brainstormed some things that might prevent useless surfing. I have used the pomodoro technique too and its super useful! But yeah like you said our breaks should be productive breaks, surfing as a break will most likely just keep us distracted. Usually my breaks are 10 -15 minutes, i hope you are able to find a time that works for you!

Best 

Jason

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Day 9

Exercised, studied, worked, rearranged some stuff in my room, went for a walk. Pretty boring day honestly.

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Day 10

Today was alright. Glad weekend is finally here.

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Day 11

Some nights I like to sit in my room in total darkness. Looking out my window at the silhouettes of the trees blowing in the wind, the city lights in the distance. Quiet lofi playing in the background giving me a sense of calm and safety. Like I'm in an entirely different world where nothing is wrong. Just for one moment, everything is as it should be.

[Pochatok]

2 hours ago, Ben0 said:

Day 11

Some nights I like to sit in my room in total darkness. Looking out my window at the silhouettes of the trees blowing in the wind, the city lights in the distance. Quiet lofi playing in the background giving me a sense of calm and safety. Like I'm in an entirely different world where nothing is wrong. Just for one moment, everything is as it should be.

Oh yes, I totally did that in High School all the time, and still do that, just in different ways. The world really, really sucks right now, and I think that a bit of escapism is necessary for keeping your sanity in place. I'm glad you're choosing to let your mind and body truly relax through activities like this one rather than resort to watching movies, scrolling social media, or gaming 🙂

Hope tomorrow you'll feel better, and have a good night @Ben0!

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Day 12

Chilled out for most of the day which was nice. Did some studying and talked to friends and family. Also made dinner.

Positives this week:

• Exercised daily.
• Followed my study plan (though I've still got a bit of catching up to do).
• Kept in touch with friends almost daily.
• Didn't spend time on games.

Negatives:

• My sleep schedule was all over the place.
• Lacked motivation from time to time.
• Didn't really feel challenged at all.

For next week I want to continue my daily workouts. Also really need to get back to a consistent sleep schedule so I don't feel mentally fatigued throughout the day.

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Day 13

Woke up a bit late but still did my daily workout. Worked for a bit, then did some group study. Also, got an idea of how to challenge myself: Be more active during group work. Lately I've been finding myself leaning a bit back during group work sessions and only give input when I have to instead of coming up with ideas and solutions. This is really a bad and lazy habit to develop and only contributes to dragging the group down, so I'm going to try to change that and be more (pro)active during the next session.

Sleep goal for the rest of this week: In bed before midnight and wake up at 8am.

[Jason70]

14 minutes ago, Ben0 said:

Lately I've been finding myself leaning a bit back during group work sessions and only give input when I have to instead of coming up with ideas and solutions.

This is kind of what I told myself when it comes to virtual college classes. "You are only young once, make these times count!" I also noticed that when I actually contributed it was kind of fun. I hope you experience a similar feeling!

16 minutes ago, Ben0 said:

Sleep goal for the rest of this week: In bed before midnight and wake up at 8am.

I am also trying to fix my sleep. For me its bed before 10 PM, and wake up at 5 AM. Best of luck to both of us!

[Endeavors]

@Jason70Exactly! Just sitting there and being silent is no fun at all. Good luck on your goal!

 

Day 14

Worked out, studied, chilled for a bit and also ordered some stuff online. Today's group session went much better than yesterday. I was much more engaged and contributed quite a lot. We were only three people today (compared to five yesterday) which also made it a bit easier.

Unfortunately I didn't wake up on time. Watched a couple of videos about waking up early, and I think my problem was not having a clear reason for waking up earlier than I need to. So here are some of my thoughts and reasons for waking up earlier:

• I want to have more time in the day.
• I want to be done with study and work by 5pm and have more time in the evenings to chill and do stuff i enjoy.
• I am more productive in the morning.
• I want to do my daily work out in the morning.

Also hit 14 days, so yay! Definitely starting to spend my time better and slowly build solid habits.

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Day 15

Worked out, studied, procrastinated a bit and had a meeting with some friends. Woke up early today, so that was pretty sweet. Pretty tired now, but still have some videos to watch before tomorrow because I didn't really manage my time well today. Planning on making ramen for dinner tomorrow which I've never done before, so I'm looking forward to that. Anyway, I better watch those videos and head to bed before I turn into a zoombie.

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Day 16

Worked out, studied, worked, made dinner, studied some more and talked to friends. Feeling pretty tired.

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Day 0

Relapsed, so starting again. No excuses, no moderation. Goal is 90 days.

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Day 4

Going fairly well so far. Been watching movies, studying, reading, watching f1, walking, working out, talking to friends, playing piano. Just kind of taking things as they come at the moment, which is probably not the best strategy but it's alright for now.

[Stawrogin]

Hey, good that you're trying this whole challenge again. I'm sure that you'll make it till the end this time. Do you use a calendar to plan your activities?