HOW DO I SERIOUSLY GIVE UP GAMING

[NetNinja]

Ahh I have all three! They tempt me daily!
X-Box 360
PS3
Nice computer with Dual 23inch monitors with Gigaslappy's of Ram and CPU power and enough graphics power to find life on another planet!

I was a WOW addict. It wasn't until Mists of Pandara came out that I listened to the wisdom of the Panda's. I retired to my farm and I now grow vegetables and try to sell my WOW food but there are no takers.

Here are some WOW lessons

1. Make love not war
2. All is good in the world
3. You will never get that epic toy
4. You are getting fatter by the day
5. You really do suck

I have over a year played time on my Level 90 Rouge. Oh yeah I was nasty! I griefied so many players.
I loved the game but grinding was a full time job. Then one day in bottom of an empty bag of Cheetos I saw a reflection of myself! Dear lord! I am as fat as a Panda! I screamed like Homer Simpson and I decided to let me current subscription run out. Well actually some hacker stole several million credit cards and mine was on the list and my bank sent me a new one and my WOW account still had the old number! I said HAH! take that WOW Pigs! You will not get my new credit card number!

And that is how I stopped playing video games.

I was on a server called Eldre' Thalas named Warninja.
I even bought the URL and have a cheesy website with just pics running.
The URL can be had for a cool 6 figures.
If that happens I can renew my account and I can kill all the Pandas for stealing my life away.

 

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[RadioActive]

Hey man, i feel what you're going through. What i did was sell all my games and my console so when i felt bored, i'd get on here. It helps just getting rid of everything.

 

[Jack Ruder]

Although quitting is probably your best option at this point, if you don't want to quit entirely if I were you I would take your gaming habits and turn them into something positive. Gaming is a really just a phase and most people at one time or another have been addicted to atleast one game, but some people just take longer to "grow out" of gaming, and once you find something better to do you will eventually realize that gaming itself isn't a great use of time. I've been able to do really well on YouTube because of my gaming experience (I was borderline addicted for most of my childhood until eventually I became interested in other things and grew out of gaming.) While I was at the stage of spending all my free time on videogames I was able to develop a successful YouTube channel that still brings me very respectable passive income today even though I no longer play. YouTube is just one example (although it isn't a true fastlane business), but there are many ways to channel your addiction into something positive. Now I'm working on leveraging my large social network presence and experience/connections on YouTube to create an e-commerce store catered towards gamers/YouTubers. Long story short, gaming is what has led me towards the fastlane and while I definitely regret spending so much time on gaming atleast I honestly believe it has helped me to improve my life.

 

[DST]

 

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[Stephanos83]

Have some children, that'll mess it up for you

Haha! Beat me to it!

 

[Marvinyo]

I used to be an avid gamer, came home from school everyday and went straight to my xbox. It wasn't until last year when I put things aside and started to learn web development. Definitely a turnaround. I recommend uninstalling your games and get rid of them every way possible. Try setting goals for yourself and do something new everyday.

 

[Ryan Oshe]

If all else fails a great way to clear computer related addictions/dependency is to clear off travelling for a while. I used to waste hours and hours dicking around on sites like Reddit and Facebook everyday. Took a month out to go interrailing around Europe where the only internet available was the iffy hostel wifi you could use on your phone and any desire for the net just evaporated. I remember walking in to a new hostel in Barcelona and being excited because they had some nice computers I could use to check my fb or whatever. 10 seconds after logging in I'd already turned the thing off realising I no longer cared about the random shit online that has nothing to do with my life.

Give your brain a whole month at least without that stimulus and it will really start to change

I remember I took a school trip for a robotics competition for 3 or 4 days. No wifi on my phone for those days (even the hotel didn't). I learned so much about myself during those days, i think that was what made me start on the path of self improvement that eventually led me here. I can't imagine how useful a whole month would be for change!

 

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[biggeemac]

I finally just outgrew my addiction to games. They literally dont do anything for me anymore. I pick up COD every once in a while, but nothing like the addiction to WOW that I had. I cant remember how long i played but Blizzard keeps your time spent recorded and it was pathetic.

 

[Aidan]

I used to have a 1Tb HDD FULL OF STEAM GAMES. As soon as I finished MJ's book, I formatted the entire thing. I still have my gaming PC, but I haven't used it for games ever since.

I had spent so much time trying to be the best at this game or that game. So pointless. In the end, I'm playing a virtual world sitting my a$$ in a chair cutting off my circulation -- bringing me to my next point...

Sitting is the new smoking of the 21st century. I actually have an infographic for you all:

Get off your a$$, and go (re)invent something useful for the people of this world. If an electromagnetic wave were to hit earth right now, and destroy every electronic system in existence, your video game accomplishments, and TV knowledge mean even less than they already do right now. Stop being a useless sack of meat, bones, and 60% water, and BE PRODUCTIVE.

 

[Mattie]

In my case It went from gamer to using it as a another tool or how you change it into an opportunity. I went from gamer with my son, to Second Life, and joined groups on writing. The writing was more gratifying, and took me away from gaming, which led to other things. lol

Start making your own video games and selling them. Like my son designs them, learns all about making them, and tests them out on people. I just told him maybe he could sell. On the other hand, you could just gather all your stuff, donate it to a hospital or organization that deals with teens on a daily basis. It's out of your hands, and gives patients, or teens like in a youth center activities to do. Out of sight, out of mind.

If you're really dumb, Go to the psychologist and be labeled Addicted to games according to DSM5. I had to laugh at that one. Gamers may have bad habits, but they don't need to be diagnosed with a disorder. Game over is when they make a choice to stop playing.

 

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[vinisterz]

I used to have a 1Tb HDD FULL OF STEAM GAMES. As soon as I finished MJ's book, I formatted the entire thing. I still have my gaming PC, but I haven't used it for games ever since.

I had spent so much time trying to be the best at this game or that game. So pointless. In the end, I'm playing a virtual world sitting my a$$ in a chair cutting off my circulation -- bringing me to my next point...

Sitting is the new smoking of the 21st century. I actually have an infographic for you all:

Get off your a$$, and go invent something useful for the people of this world. If an electromagnetic wave were to hit earth right now, and destroy every electronic system in existence, your video game accomplishments, and TV knowledge mean even less than they already do right now. Stop being a useless sack of meat, bones, and 60% water, and BE PRODUCTIVE.

This is a great motivation to stand up instead sitting down. I'm actually in the process of transforming my current sit down desk to a standing desk with the use of some pvc pipes.

 

[Blhhi]

Here's the solution:

1. Download firefox if you aren't already using it
2. Uninstall EVERY OTHER BROWSER
3. Uninstall Steam
4. Install leechblock plugin for firefox (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/leechblock/)
5. Block steampowered.com, and every other website you might use for gaming (include battle.net). I actually have these gaming sites blocked everyday but Sunday. On sunday I redownload steam and one game and play it, then uninstall again. The website is blocked all week.
   
6. Find the download link for every browser you could imagine ever using, and block the page.
7. Block links to download browsers from sites like brothersoft, etc too.
8. Make it as hard as possible to get back to steampowered.com. Go out of your way to block download links you wouldn't even click unless you were desperate.

This is how I stop myself from gaming. I make it basically impossible to do. I've even installed leechblock on the computer my family uses in the living room, just to stop myself. I purposefully make Sunday the free day, so I can get the games again and play and then realize that it's not nearly as awesome as I thought it was when I felt like procrastinating. I get it out of my system.

Leechblock is awesome because it can block you from even getting to the config file for the browser, meaning you can't manually unblock the website. You absolutely must wait. Even taking the steps above, it's not IMPOSSIBLE for me to play games, but it's really hard. The harder I make it, the less likely I am to dive in.

 

[RHL]

Keep the goal of production rather than consumption in mind:

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/need-more-time-make-your-day-25-hours-long.51342/

 

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[Aidan]

I'm going to make a second suggestion:

Download F.lux (<-Click)

Computer monitors were designed to emulate aspects of the Sun. This being said, it can cause a bit of a psychological issue toward the night when it's pitch black outside, but the brightness of your monitor is telling your brain "Hey! It's still daytime!" No it's not, it's night; which is exactly what Flux tells your brain. It tints your display to a warmer colour tint of choice toward later hours, so you'll feel more inclined to get to bed early rather than stay up all night in an internet timewarp wondering why it's 3am already (we've all been there).

Aside from using F.lux, Turn the brightness down on your monitor. It'll make quite a difference on how exhausted your eyes are throughout the day. Being that I am (re)learning web design, I spend a lot of time on my screen typing code. The turned-down brightness increases my stamina. Getting up to walk around every half hour or so gets my blood flowing/brain accelerated, and reduces health abnormalities/risks. Flux tells me it's getting dark out/the sun is setting, and that it's time to go to bed (I wake up at 5am everyday by the way; read The Miracle Morning). Why code in the morning instead of staying up late?

Think about this: You take a sponge, and over the course of 10 seconds wring it out all the way. Now, take this dry sponge, and wring it out again for another 3 or 5 seconds. You probably weren't able to wring much (if any) water out of it were you?

That sponge is your brain, that water is the energy. When it's late at night, your brain is drained, and needs to be recharged. Think of working on a project for a week with a drained brain, and then the latter. You're going to be able to accomplish much more with a brain packed full of energy.

Fun Fact: The Human Brain Collects Toxins Throughout the Day, and Uses Sleep as a method to Clean itself up.

DONT WORK ON TOXINS, AND A DRY SPONGE

 

[DaRK9]

I'm going to make a second suggestion:

Download F.lux (<-Click)

Computer monitors were designed to emulate aspects of the Sun. This being said, it can cause a bit of a psychological issue toward the night when it's pitch black outside, but the brightness of your monitor is telling your brain "Hey! It's still daytime!" No it's not, it's night; which is exactly what Flux tells your brain. It tints your display to a warmer colour tint of choice toward later hours, so you'll feel more inclined to get to bed early rather than stay up all night in an internet timewarp wondering why it's 3am already (we've all been there).

Aside from using F.lux, Turn the brightness down on your monitor. It'll make quite a difference on how exhausted your eyes are throughout the day. Being that I am (re)learning web design, I spend a lot of time on my screen typing code. The turned-down brightness increases my stamina. Getting up to walk around every half hour or so gets my blood flowing/brain accelerated, and reduces health abnormalities/risks. Flux tells me it's getting dark out/the sun is setting, and that it's time to go to bed (I wake up at 5am everyday by the way; read The Miracle Morning). Why code in the morning instead of staying up late?

Think about this: You take a sponge, and over the course of 10 seconds wring it out all the way. Now, take this dry sponge, and wring it out again for another 3 or 5 seconds. You probably weren't able to wring much (if any) water out of it were you?

That sponge is your brain, that water is the energy. When it's late at night, your brain is drained, and needs to be recharged. Think of working on a project for a week with a drained brain, and then the latter. You're going to be able to accomplish much more with a brain packed full of energy.

Fun Fact: The Human Brain Collects Toxins Throughout the Day, and Uses Sleep as a method to Clean itself up.

DONT WORK ON TOXINS, AND A DRY SPONGE

I LOVE F.lux.

Makes reading eBooks much more tolerable as well.

 

[GuestUser113]

This is your future.

 

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[ArthurDayne]

Your gaming isn't due to some sort of uncontrollable problem, you game because you don't care enough about the other things you should be doing instead. If you care about your fastlane venture or whatever it is you're not doing enough of, grow up and uninstall your games. Pretending like they have some kind of power over you is a bit pathetic.

It's about priorities and values, and if you can't get over this problem then it's clear where yours lie.

 

[Aidan]

Honestly I don't think this is worth a thread. You don't game because you have some sort of problem, you game because you don't care enough about the other things you should be doing instead of gaming. If you care about your fastlane venture or whatever it is you're not doing enough of, nut up and uninstall your games. Pretending like they have some kind of power over you is a bit pathetic.

It's about priorities and values, and if you can't get over this problem then it's clear where yours lie.

I wouldn't say that it's 'not worth a thread,' but yes giving up gaming is essentially the same process as giving up any unproductive activity. I think this thread is worth existing for reason that is comparison to process.

Same Process, Different Burden.

 

[ArthurDayne]

I wouldn't say that it's 'not worth a thread,' but yes giving up gaming is essentially the same process as giving up any unproductive activity. I think this thread is worth existing for reason that is comparison to process.

Same Process, Different Burden.

Fair enough. I just don't like the tone which insinuates it's not within his control. "How?", he asks in the thread title, as if the answer isn't plainly evident.

 

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[Joe Cassandra]

I had a semi-gaming problem . It was more a procrastination play rather than an addiction. "Just 1 game of madden," turned into five.....

About a month ago, I put all the games on CL [PS3]. Sold them all for $75, I haven't thought about them since. Although the World Cup had me itching to play Fifa again, but I got over it

SELL IT use the money to start something new and productive, you'll never look back. If you have a lot of friends who play, if you want them to still be your friends, you're probably screwed and will probably get back into them. It's tough, good luck!

 

[Mattie]

It may be more like this. Why bother at life? Escape mechanism because life isn't the way you'd want it to be. Not motivated because of out side negative influences or negative circumstances. A bit of depression mixed with I don't see what's the point. Everything I've done so far in life hasn't gotten me any where. People like to call it lazy, but it's really not being lazy as much as understanding why things haven't turned out well in the first place. What contributes to the situation. Sacrificing those negative influences whether it's friends, family, alcohol, drugs, habits, belief systems, thought patterns. It's also an emotional attachments. Mental attachment. It's like breaking up with a partner.

One way to look at it is we've had a really great time, but it's time for me to move on with my life now. It is not for my highest good, or well-being. When we have to make a lot of changes in our life, it may also seem overwhelming. It may seem like a mountain to climb when it's a a small hill. It can also be you may be to hard on yourself, or beating yourself up. This may even be self-worth, self-confidence, self-esteem, and believing in you. Lazy is overused and doesn't apply to everyone. Lazy is when someone deliberately doesn't do something with full awareness. Many people find themselves in situations where traumatic things have happen, loss of a loved one, loss of a lot of things in life, divorce, etc, and fall for a moment. You can be judging yourself for failures. There are multiple variables to why you are doing what you're doing. It's getting to the root of the problem. It is also chopping the dead wood from your life so you can truly live.

We have a society that the majority will say "snap out of it" or "Pull yourself up by the boot straps". Otherwise it's an excuse. Tough love at it's finest where it becomes abusive and promotes depression more than success. Really you're the only one that knows the answers, and has to get to the root of the problem, versus the surface problem everyone labels lazy.

 

[MorgothBauglir]

Nothing like a good night of gaming after spending weeks busting your a$$. Will never give that up.

 

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[Choate]

Nothing like a good night of gaming after spending weeks busting your a$$. Will never give that up.

This just made me feel better about my 12 hour binge I had today, and the 5 hours I played last night until the wee hours of the morning.

Just deleted my account, blocked the website with the blocker recommended in this thread. I haven't played in weeks, then its almost like a relapse. Relieved to find alot of information and support in this thread. Going to maximize my productivity this week because of today's slack.

 

[RHL]

Uninstall all your games. When it takes you 40 minutes to begin playing and you have to start at square 1 when you begin, you will have set in motion a counter-process to ward off the bad event. Right now the event is too easy to access, and it's creating an unintended process of failure and wasted time. When you've got the money to vacation in France for three weeks, you're not going to be crying about how you miss GTA.

 

[Angus]

listen to podcasts and take notes when you learn new things
play while listening to the podcast, an hour
you will learn something new and still be able to play
it's not about all or nothing, you can't work all day without doing something that you enjoy, expect a burnout from that
it's all about balance and routine, you worked for 4 hours? fine, now it's time to do something that you really enjoy, maybe you don't even like videogames that much, maybe you'll find them boring in some time, be water
or you can go full nuclear bomb mode, uninstalling everything, not wasting a minute of your time, being paranoid about using every minute to do something productive, faking actions to make yourself feel good... how much do you think you'll cope with it?
just focus on a single goal everyday. reach it. then do what you want

 

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[ArthurDayne]

This just made me feel better about my 12 hour binge I had today, and the 5 hours I played last night until the wee hours of the morning.

You're missing MorgothBauglir's point - notice how he uses video gaming as a way to relax/reward himself after doing a ton of work (a great way to kick back), not as an excuse for missing out on work.

 

[Wolf]

Nothing like a good night of gaming after spending weeks busting your a$$. Will never give that up.

Same here, will always be a part of my life.

 

[ped89]

I'm friends with Cam Adair who gave a popular TED Talk "escaping video game addiction" I can connect you if you want?

Let me know.

 

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[Mattie]

I'm sure you'll figure out to either keep things in balance or move on from video games. Neither way is right or wrong. It just depends on whether you allow it to consume and take over your life that it becomes a problem.

 

[Choate]

You're missing MorgothBauglir's point - notice how he uses video gaming as a way to relax/reward himself after doing a ton of work (a great way to kick back), not as an excuse for missing out on work.

You quoted me out of context. Besides that, I also spent a few good weeks busting my a$$. So it wasn't excusing anything. I guess I just took the fun to the extreme. Regardless, I'm done with it now and just had a productive day which began 13 hours ago, starting with my miracle morning routine, now going to work on fastlane ideas and read.

Video games are such a time suck.