I will stop playing video games, watch porn, etc for 1 month.

[Ernman]

I encourage you to have a plan for what to do with the time. Your odds of success are much greater if you substitute meaningful physical and mental activity into those wasted time slots: hit the gym, run, work on your biz, etc.

 

[minivanman]

So I can see not playing games all day but porn...... porn only takes 2 minutes 38 seconds...... not like it's a huge interference. lmao

 

[Charnell]

So I can see not playing games all day but porn...... porn only takes 2 minutes 38 seconds...... not like it's a huge interference. lmao

Big shot with his big stamina over here!

 

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[Arthur Charles]

I know many of you will think "what a F*cking sidewalker"

We are not here to judge. This forum is full of people with good intentions, don't assume anything until you read the answers to this thread.

Talking from experience, going from hours of a bad habit to suddenly ZERO is not the way to go if your goal is to get rid of this habit for good. Try reducing first. Unless your goal is only to test your discipline.

As always, make the decision that is best according to your long term goals. I also recommend Atomic Habits, a great read!

 

[Pink Sheep]

I really enjoy playing video games, and usually play a few hours a day. I know many of you will think "what a F*cking sidewalker", thats ok, I dont need your blessing.
Anyways, I have never gone cold turkey and removed myself from all instant gratification over a long time. So thats exactly what im gonna do.

For 1 month starting today I will not play any video games, watch any porn, buy takeout for convenience sake.

I will still use my social media to communicate with my friends, but scrolling is failing. Thursdays i play dnd, which i see as more of a social event than me having fun. Its the most interraction i get during the week aside from clients, so ill keep doing that
The purpose isnt to be a monk, but rather remove easy-outs for a while.

The goal of this experiment is to see how my brain reacts to it, and hopefully have some really productive weeks.

If you also want to join, feel free to! Join in the comments and let me know your feelings about it.

 

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[Ernman]

Good luck, this is just a thought, but won't it be easier to stop doing one thing at a time and establishing a habit, rather than bite off more than you can chew?

With that in mind, I also recommend reading Atomic Habits. What a great way to spend the extra time you're gaining.

 

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[Fox]

Download the Brain Buddy app and follow their program fully.

It is the most effective system for dopamine rewiring I have found.

Also, I would look at this as a dopamine issue - you have wired your brain to be rewarded with something that doesn't line up with your values.

It isn't you that is addicted - it's your brain. And your brain has ways it works so you just got to get those back on track. You can rewire things though so don't stress it - it is about awareness and putting in the effort needed to fix some bad neural pathways you have built up.

Once again - you just did things in a certain way and your brain got used to it.

It's 100% possible to fix that.

 

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[Jeff Noel]

A quick an effecicient book that would fit that challenge is The Compound Effect. It's a small book that's really straight to the point, from the creator of the SUCCESS magazine.

Execute on a business idea to fill up your free time. That's what I've been doing. Keep going, make an MVP and then make it available for potentiel customers. Give it a try.

 

[G-Man]

No, I want it there tempting me.

Sorry, but that's just silly. You wouldn't go hang out in a bar if your goal was to stop drinking.

I know many of you will think "what a F*cking sidewalker", thats ok, I dont need your blessing.

No one thinks less of you for wanting to change a bad habit.

I think someone already mentioned Atomic Habits, and How to Fail at Almost Everything is also a good one for thinking about how to build simple systems in your life that set you up for success.

To echo some other folks, you might want to only bite off one bad habit at a time, and also put some thought into what you're going to do with your time instead. If your plan is to just sit at home and try to ignore the siren call of the Xbox, you may succeed, but why put yourself through that kind of misery?

 

[Fox]

Download the Brain Buddy app and follow their program fully.

It is the most effective system for dopamine rewiring I have found.

 

[Pink Sheep]

2 weeks in.
No gaming is easy.
No porn, and no fast food is hard. Funny how things are changing!

No social media is fairly easy now. I do spend some more time browsing for example this forum, talking with other entrepreneurs, just looking for socialising elsewhere. At least its more meaninful than sharing memes and raging at news.

I struggle to find the energy to work all day after my dayjob, but im doing a lot more than i used to. I think proper scheduling and for example using focusmate or other accountability services will solve a lot of my mental restrictions.

 

[Pink Sheep]

3 weeks in.
My habits are starting to disappear i feel like.
I dont have my entire schedule timed out like many efficiency gurus suggest, so I dont spend my extra time as good as i could, but I still think it has been an interesting experiment so far.
1 week to go

 

[AshrafI]

Good luck, this is just a thought, but won't it be easier to stop doing one thing at a time and establishing a habit, rather than bite off more than you can chew?

 

[njord]

Good stuff @Creep keep us updated on your progress, like @Ernman said make sure you replace thouse habbits with good ones.
When i was kicking off PC games my main reason to relaps was because i had nothing to replace it.

A tip for not scrolling on FB is blocking the facebook feed compleetly with a chrome extention:

News Feed Eradicator

Eradicate social media noise by replacing your entire news feed with an inspiring quote

chrome.google.com

Im sure you can find the same for other brousers too if you use them.

 

[John D.]

My tip: Make reading your 'default mode' whenever you feel bored. Connect the feeling of boredom as a trigger to picking up a book.

To make this easier buy/download a shitload of books on your tablet/phone and carry it around with you wherever you are.

Obviously you also have to vanquish every single app/game/whatever that could be a source of instant gratification. You're not doing yourself any good getting tempted by them all day.

Waiting at the doctor? Pull out your phone. Big line at the DMV? Don't even think about it -- just read one page.

Soon it will become a habit + it will deepen your attention span and concentration levels.

'The Shallows' by Nicholas Carr is a great, albeit lengthy read for this.

 

[drpeppehr]

So I can see not playing games all day but porn...... porn only takes 2 minutes 38 seconds...... not like it's a huge interference. lmao

Some people are addicted and masturbate all day. No joke.

You misunderstand the challenge. Its not about saving time, its about removing instant gratification. And all the people shouting sell your xbox also miss the idea. If everything goes well i wont really have the urge to touch my xbox, its just a hobby and habit, not an impulsive addiction.

Nobody's missing the idea. We're trying to help you conquer your bad habits. It's obvious that you don't want to sell your xbox, which is exactly why you should sell it.

 

[Pink Sheep]

Sounds like a plan. Although...what do you do with your time now? Obviously, your attention, your focus, your eyes, must go somewhere. Along with your five senses. If all else fails, instead of participating in entertainment, you can start creating entertainment of some sort.

Hey mattie.

I just finished this challenge. Feel free to read the whole thread, theres not many posts

 

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[MILIANARD134]

My 2cent. Instead of playing vidéo games. 1/ sell ur ps4 or pc or 2/ instead of checking ur gaming output start a book

 

[njord]

What happens at the end of the month?

Do you filter some activity back in but more controlled? eg I will only play video games on a day/s between hours.

After all if you enjoy it I can't think why you would want to cut it out completely.

Switching off is a good ting for the brain to clear itself up. I like reading a fiction book or walking in nature for this rather than video games or TV but anything is as good as the other.

Dan

The reason I quit Gaming cold turkey is I find it so addictive, furthermore its not productive in any way and you wont get any smarter/RL skills finishing/playing x amount of games.(although if WW3 ever breaks out i would be a killer General XD)

But hey this is just my experince

 

[MILIANARD134]

After 30 days he should have realized that gaming really isn't useful in his life, considering all the other productive things he'll be doing after that time (hopefully).

I up vote this. As a heavy gamer earlier, i find it useless now, sometimes I'm tempted to buy a switch for playing in the train/plane. But after playing like 1h/2h, I ask my self "How the f*ck could I play this for a day ?"..
But sadly, some of my friends are trapped in the video games loop,and i think they will never make it.

 

[broswoodwork]

So I can see not playing games all day but porn...... porn only takes 2 minutes 38 seconds...... not like it's a huge interference. lmao

Haha. Anything worth doing is worth taking your time on, apparently.

 

[Pink Sheep]

So I can see not playing games all day but porn...... porn only takes 2 minutes 38 seconds...... not like it's a huge interference. lmao

You misunderstand the challenge. Its not about saving time, its about removing instant gratification. And all the people shouting sell your xbox also miss the idea. If everything goes well i wont really have the urge to touch my xbox, its just a hobby and habit, not an impulsive addiction.

 

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[drpeppehr]

@drpeppehr Is trying to force you to do something that's not necessary, imo. Try your experiment. If you fail, then evaluate whether or not you need to sell it. Doesn't really sound like you do.

I'm not forcing anyone. From my own experience, I was addicted to fortnite, overwatch, league, and apex legends. I did these challenges where i'd hold back from them and found that it's better to just get it out of the house. I promised myself I'd buy myself the new Xbox One S when I get my first sale... and when I got my first sale, I realized that it was because I couldnt game anymore. I still havent replaced the console and its so much better not having the xbox around. It's all just advice.

 

[Pink Sheep]

Hows it going with the challenge? How many days do you have so far?

Check post 40

 

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[Champion]

Download the Brain Buddy app and follow their program fully.

It is the most effective system for dopamine rewiring I have found.

Thanks for sharing. Gonna check it out now.

 

[Pink Sheep]

1 week has passed!
It has been very productive, but also draining physically.
I hope its my body getting used to more work and not something else.

The hardest has been to stay off facebook. I used to check it impulsively, but now i changed that into website work on pc, and programming and research on mobile during downtimes. I still catch myself in opening the app, but i close it instantly.

No porn is fairly simple with a girlfriend.

Not much more to add. Its going good, but apperently fb addicted.

 

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[minivanman]

Well, 1 minute passed midnight and I had already failed on my 1st day..... couldn't stay away from the porn.

You stated, "No porn is fairly simple with a girlfriend.", You must not have been doing it correctly.....

Glad to see you have willpower. Keep up the good work!

 

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[Pink Sheep]

Nothing wrong with video games and porn, it's all about your resolve.

In fact, maybe you should challenge yourself, set a time limit on how much time you allocate to both, and see if you can stop at will once the time reaches. That's probably a lot more difficult than not doing them.

For video games, I used to quit it by going on youtube and watching people playthrough it. Say, 30 mins a day. We all need a bit of relaxation daily. Hustling 18 hours a day is unsustainable for most, and most quit the whole thing and gave up on life altogether......why not do something sustainable?

Its not a permanent choice. Next week I will be back to some gaming
I think i will timegate it to certain days and late hours though. Daytime is for productivity, and i can wind down to some games.

 

[Pink Sheep]

It would be interesting to see if you can game once and then not do it for the next two days. Or if it will instantly make you want to play again and again.

Sure, i can try that from monday

 

[Pink Sheep]

Thats 4 weeks done.
As @biophase suggested i will play today, skip 2 days etc.

All in all the experiment had less of an impact than i thought it would. I definetly was more productive than normal, but not by a landslide.
My biggest issue was not being able to check social media, but even that got easier after a while.

Ill definetly try to keep distractions to late nights when my productive sessions are done. Earlier i would load up certains games by default and play them alongside productive work. Which worked ok, but it took away a lot of focus.

Ill call that a thread, might post an update on the 1/2 cycle