It's been 15 days since I've stopped playing video games. It's not been easy, but it hasn't been as difficult as I initially expected.
I went from playing all day, every day, to playing nothing at all. Cold turkey, baby!
In the first few days, I did have heavy cravings. I constantly thought about playing games, and I tried to find excuses to do it. Whatever excuses I came up with, didn't work, as I had already used them before, including in the days prior. I was meaning to stop for a few weeks before, but didn't do it successfuly.
The worst part among all the experience has definitely been sleep. I haven't slept well since I've stopped. During the first week, I dreamt of video games, every single night. It was pretty bad. I had the same recurring dream many, many days in a row. It was about building a wall in the game "Rimworld". Because, you know, that's what you do in that game. It's the point where you turn from being a bum to being safe from most dangers. Maybe that has some deeper psychological meaning to it, but I don't think it's too important.
This kind of dream is terrible, as you don't really get into a resting mind state. It's like the brain is working very hard at trying to remember or create something. It definitely feels like a stressful state, and it made me wake up a lot during each night, only to have the same dream again.
It has also been difficult to fall asleep, as my mind stays active into sleeping time, but that is probably because I'm not cutting screen time to around 2 hours before bed. Maybe it is a mix between that and withdrawl. Either way, I don't want to force myself into too many new habits, too quickly, as I definitely don't want to fail at quitting games. I'll take it slow. As Confucius said:
It doesn't matter how slowly you go, as long as you don't stop.
Aside from a few days here and there in which I've had no energy because of poor sleep, it hasn't been too bad, though. I've remained active physically, at least going for a long walk each day, of over 1 hour, and doing some resistance training here and there. I've also kept my mind busy. Writting these articles, doing research for those same articles and future ones, researching about Japan - which has really caught my eye, since I've decided I won't forever live in Portugal, my country of origin. I had considered moving before, but I recently found out you can't homeschool children in Portugal, and that was the final straw for me, as I definitely will not send my future children to the same indocrination bullying camps I've had to attend. Also, sushi. God, do I love sushi. But that's a story for another time.
By staying away from video games, it has allowed my mind to wander into a creative state, which is a stark contrast from the almost robotic condition of a video gamer, who pratically only reacts to whatever is presented to them. The amount of ideas I've been having about things to write about (and not only writting), is amassing to a ridiculously long list. I'm quite happy with that, and I've been enjoying it. It's surprising to me, still, as I had never imagined I would enjoy writting.
I feel I am becoming more productive, and my focus has slightly improved. Where there was only fog, there's a clearing for creative thinking now, and that has me pumped for how the next 15 days will go, up to the final big goal of 90 days. The actual objective is to never play again, but I'm very interested in how my brain will change in these 90 days, and having relatively short term goals is very important in keeping motivation, and staying in the path to success. If you're unsure what I'm referring to, I've written an article on the effects of video gaming in the brain, and general health, as well as other online activities - it applies to social media, pornography, YouTube. I'm quite happy with that article, it's very insightful, so I invite you to read it, if you haven't.
Tiny weed in nearby woods
I've even come up with an excuse for walking more - photography. I've never done it before, so I'm not very good, but it can be quite fun looking for beauty in the surrounding world. It makes exploring everywhere into a very different experience, and makes it so I appreciate my surroundings more.
Thank you for reading. Hit the upvote button to support me so I can keep on writting more and better posts <3
Are you, yourself, changing your habits, or battling an addiction you have? I'm looking forward to reading what you have to say.