Ask HN: I am a good developer but have a serious gaming addiction

Hi HN, I made this throw away account because I am shamed to post with my main one, and also I really need help. I am a great full stack developer who struggled with procrastination all my life and despite it I managed to do some great things. Lately I have quit my well paid job just because I wanted to start my own business. Things are not going that bad, I got a gig consulting for a big company and also got a potential client to sell the project I am working on. Now here is the main problem. Things are going really slow mainly because I lose focus really fast and end up spending most of my day playing(I started with LOL, now playing Heartstone and Diablo). I promised the client a MVP in like 3 weeks because I already had a lot of stuff done, but I managed to do almost nothing in the last month. The thing is I start working and after like 30 minutes- 1 hour I get bored and start playing and this goes on for hours and hours. What should I do because everything is falling apart for me right now and I tried to change it but all the advices did not work. ?

Quick Edit: I am working from home and I am living alone in my apartment, my girlfriend is 1000 miles away and we are having a really long distance relationship. I made a subscription to the gym but ended up going only 3 times. The coworking space here is not that great and maybe that is one of the reasons I did not go there. I also read a lot of books, used Pomodoro and other techniques for focus and self motivation(I also was listening to Robin Sharma while working just to get more motivated) but none of these things worked. Maybe I need some professional help.

The following is just my opinion:

This really is an issue of self control. Just commit yourself to doing the work, then do it! If you really cannot do that then it might be helpful to see a counsellor, although I am certainly no expert in that.

I think it is common for people to have difficulty getting in to a long sitting of programming, but after a couple of hours things seem to get much easier and the next 8 go by without a blink. I sometimes find that having a coffee can help get me in the zone for a long programming session.

A few random thoughts;

- Try deliberately putting obstacles in the way of your game playing. Uninstall the games, delete your accounts. If you think you have a serious problem with playing video games, then you are unlikely to be able to maintain your play in moderation.

- Try setting up multiple environments (dual boot, or 2 physical environments). One for work, one for play. That way you it is harder to get distracted by the games and there is a larger mental distinction between play time and work time.

- You are not alone! The vast majority of people that will read your post here today will be procrastinating (myself included). It happens to (almost) all of us.

Best of luck with your ventures! Sam

Try working at a coworking space, or even just a coffee shop/library. Just getting out of the house will give you fresh context and motivation. By giving up your gaming setup, you might force yourself to get work done. At the end of the day, discipline comes from within and if you want to really be distracted you will find a way to game as well. Have a heart-to-heart with yourself on a daily basis and keep telling yourself the real reasons why you left your job and want to start your business. More than likely it's for the dream that requires hard work, rather than the free time that requires you to just convince yourself that you did enough to get by for the day.

I'm in a similar boat but just taking each day as it comes.

The specific games you mention have many mechanics in them that can be categorized as "progress bars". Class XP in Hearthstone is an example literally depicted as a progress bar; the gold, quests, and cards-you've-unlocked number all follow this pattern, too.

Mechanics like these are very sticky, but it's possible to exploit them to get yourself to quit playing a game. The key is to convince yourself to go one day without playing, and every time you think of it, say that you don't 'have' to play that game today. It's a break! You don't have to do your dailies for one day, and it's rather refreshing.

I know the feeling of switching off after 30 minutes of work. For me, it's Reddit / HN. But it always feels way cooler, on those rare occasions when I can push through and keep working.

Also, it seems like you're under a lot of stress and pressure to perform right now. The key is to recognize that. If you're worried about things, but keep telling yourself that everything's fine, it's worse than if you know that what you're trying to do might be out of your reach.

Sorry, I know none of this has much chance of being helpful at all. Hopefully someone in this thread will say the right thing to get you motivated.

Your reward centers are all fucked up. You get bored easily because gaming gives you such a quick high. It's like being addicted to porn.. or smoking.. or anything else, really. My advice is to do what you have to do to start limiting your exposure until you have control over your addictive personality. Also, like someone else in this thread said.. it may not be a bad idea to go back to your day-job until you have this figured out.