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

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

#61
post #22

First off: don't feel too bad. The behaviour you describe is super-common and I think probably the norm, rather than the exception. Most people don't have to battle with it though, because they have regular jobs with commitment-reinforcing routines and regulations. What you need is to somehow get that same level of external "force" on you in this new running-your-own-business environment, where otherwise it is so eas…

Be warned though, this kind of intense visualization of bad consequences (or positive rewards) can also back-fire: if you start associating thoughts about your work with potential negative consequences it could drive you to shut down / try to distract yourself harder, and if you start daydreaming about positive consequences it could satisfy your reward circuitry and reduce your motivation. In other words, you have to…

Yep.. I find that an addiction analogy is useful. If you told a heroin addict to visualize how crappy their future will be if they keep using, how effective do you think that would be? It's not a rational process. Reminding one of how awful a person they are might simply trigger a stronger urge to fix.

Being mindful of future happiness definitely keeps me on track. But I think the core problem is that one's "body" has learned strategies for temporarily ameliorating stresses that are nearly impossible to talk down. One must simply deny the body the fix in the hopes it will reduce its chemical urge.

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

#62
post #47

I'm in the same boat. But I was able to move on from games some years ago. I think you've reached an important point where you are able to see it as an enemy to your happiness in life, and that you have a serious self control problem. That is a significant first step. For me, my game addiction was causing all kind of wrist problems, in addition to making me feel crappy about my lack of life/productivity. A couple ins…

Same situation here. I agree with all your points and in addition a big help for me has been to sell my desktop computer (mainly built for gaming) and work from a laptop with no gaming capabilities.

good idea...I have a mac and a alienware ..I do all the gaming on the alienware and never played on my mac

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

#63
post #41

A friend alerted me to this post because he thought it was me. I too have (or had, just left) a well paid contracting gig at bigco and have struggled with computer game addiction since I was 13 (now in my early 20's). My addictions are Dota 2 and online poker. I've long since lost count of the number of times I've stayed up all night or until 7 or 8 am. The procrastination, feeling like I've gotten nothing done over…

Ugh dota. I've been horribly addicted to that damn thing THREE times now. First dota, then HON, then dota2.
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