Sat 10.5 It's late, and I'm submitting this one late because it has been a busy day overall. Oh and BTW, today is officially day 3 of no social media for me, since I had that moment of weakness on October 2nd. I dunno if I'll be keeping a counter and posting here every day necessarily, but I'm recognizing it now because my cravings hit me pretty hard today while under stress taking care of all 3 kids, whilst my wife was running an errand. I did not cave, which I'm glad about, but see my reflection below. Things that I must do everyday to stay healthy Sleep around 8h - Yes; I went to bed after 11:30pm last night, later than usual, but woke up after 7am, which is also later than usual. So that is still about 7.5h hours of sleep. I stayed up late cuz my wife and I were catching up with some friends online, they are a couple who live far away from us that we met while we were in postsecondary. They are both in the middle of some upward career moves, so it was motivating for me to hear that as I am working on bettering myself too (I felt no jealousy, something I normally I would have... and I'm attributing that to being off social media). So because it's a weekend, it's not like I'll be repeating going to bed late frequently. Stretch - Yes, in the morning after waking up. Go for walks / Exercise - Brought dogs for walk with middle kid, which is exercise enough lol. All of the family also went to the farmers market in the morning; I greatly recommend checking them out near you as well, we got a lot of produce for waaay cheaper than grocery stores; no joke, I got like 30 cayenne peppers for just 2 bucks from a couple that just wanted to sell them all. I froze most of them. Drink Water - yes, not so much throughout the morning, but I did drink like 3 tall glasses between lunch and dinner. Wash face + body - yes, just finished that. Nutrition: * breakfast - yes, breakfast tacos and burritos from the market * lunch - yes, a brisket sandwhich and coleslaw from the market * dinner - yes, air-fried hot dogs Talk to my partner - yes, actually had a very nice conversation with her just recently. We talked about my moment of stress, and I opened up to her about how my journey here quitting social media has been difficult. There have been cravings to doomscroll, and I did tell her how the times I tend to just "pull my phone out" are when I have brief boredom spells like waiting for the elevator. She also opened up to me about some private things she is also dealing with around her anxiety and phone habits she is also working on (this is as much as I'll post as the rest is private for her). Overall a very good talk, one of the best we've had in a while (she said this herself). Talk with my kids + play with them - Yes, at the park with all of them. In the afternoon, the baby and my middle kid were playing with action figures in their room. My oldest was playing by himself then, but he joined us halfway in the playtime, although the two older ones eventually got bored and started getting physical with each other. My wife showed up a few min later but I had started to get a tad stressed here, which is when the cravings came. Read a book - Yes, 7 Habits again. See below. Meditate + deep breaths - Yes, this morning and after I had reacted poorly to the above. I took deep breaths to calm myself down which worked well. Making a note of that so I don't react poorly next time. Practice French - Yes, this morning before the market trip. Gratitude and reflection - Entry complete, even if it's 10:40pm at night (it's still the weekend) --------- 7 Habits - Habit 1; Be Proactive I am about halfway through the chapter. The best thing I got right now is in regards to what the author said about proactivity; how it is the foundation for all other habits. Proactivity is not about being pushy or arrogant, it's about taking action but also listening and being attentive to others needs. There are three classical ways of thinking from old Psych which we can be defined as people; from our genetics, from our circumstances, and from our current environments. But the author also noted that it is not these things that necessarily must define us; it's our responses to them. So in regards to quitting for e.g., that is a choice we are making (in my case, social media). I could just as easily blame my retreat to my phone on my work stress (environmental), or my parents and the trauma they raised with me, or my ADHD (I could say it is genetic). But I have a chocie to act differently, to respond differently. It's something I got more aware about tonight, as I was quite reactive under pressure (environmental) when I was with 3 kids while my wife was out running an errand. Usually what I do to deal with that stress is retreat to my phone and scroll, something I'm cutting out. I reflected on that, and I recognize I can do better; not just do actually, but choose a different response too. Change won't happen overnight either, so this isn't me being hard on myself. I know the way to get better here is to keep practicing listening and reflection. I'll be back with more of what I've learned tomorrow 🙂

Day 90    Ya I did it 90 days without animation expect my own. That great.     Let me tell you what I have learned about this experience. That you don’t need animation too keep you happy and the less I was away from it, the more I noticed in real life.     Something I do want address is when I was in anime I let it take over and became very dark person spiritually because anime does not have the same belief as Christians do and one of the reasons I took this because I was watching nothing but anime or animation even if I had seen the video 5 times before. So I have slowly come out of this bubble of mine. Plus I notice now how dark of it really is.     Now what am I doing going forward well first I will be reintroducing Christian animation, any voice acting projects I do, or any animation I make. This is the limit I have on it. This means no Christian anime or manga type of stuff. But how will I know the difference between anime and cartoons and the best example I can give is Justice leage is cartoon and one piece is anime as well inspired avatar the last airbender is this style. I will be avoiding these types of shows so technically I’m still on the detox.     Now why am I doing this? Simple the what I do requires to be more child like and not saying they are children but animation and videos games or even arts and crafts may be into this stuff.     So I would like to shine my light in these places either by finding good Christian stuff or resources they can use. That more of long term plan but I’m glad about.     The ultimate goal is to get well balanced place.  that it for today still reading book of Romans chapter 5 as well my regular Bible plan.    Grateful: 1.God  2.Angels  3.Safety  4.Bible  5.Church  6.Family  7.Dog 8.Friends  9.House  10.Car 

Detox Day #6 Today the digital clocks jumped forward an hour for the next half-year, so I adjusted my analog on the wall. You could say it was lucky that I noticed, waking up after a night out - it barely registered as a thought until 20 minutes passed. Supernatural. At the last venue yesterday, I also almost forgot where I was, but usually then looked up at the open sky from the yard to remind me of the wider world. Others there apparently had the same feeling. I left for the train home soon after my brain started powering down, telling one of the main guys that I hadn't really been on track to take my medication past 11pm before, and he did eventually say that I shouldn't push the boundaries of that. I was going to begin this post with 'whew, what a night', but this is what I really wanted to say - only a clown sometimes now.  It's already almost 1pm, and I want to contact 3 people, clean and exercise a little. Actively prioritising is easier while I look forward to learning something, and both doing nothing or everything ASAP have their pains, so I'll have to start practising just doing it soon enough.  Gratitude (some more from yesterday): ~ Good feelings almost all of the time from everyone out last night ~ Felt trusted as much as I ought to be whilst the way I am Forward, march Matt

Entry 5.10 Day 736: No Useless Videos Day 733: Sticking to Food schedule Day 336: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00) Day 41: Being in bed before 23:15 3 Things I did well no matter how small -morning workout -16 pomodoros -calling acquaintance for investment consultation 1 thing I could do  better -i need more real deadlines, because I feel I'm squandering time because i don't have any, spending boatloads of time just looking ad the screen

I haven't played for over a week now which is positive. It didn't take any effort; I was not even drawn to it. I think I need to focus on my goals and put all my energy into work that I also enjoy. This is the best technique for me to get away from the gaming. I had a few relapses since I started this detox but I think it is fine. I keep journaling and watch out for possible triggers.