that damned game

[ravnsdaughter]

I have been SO inspired by certain people on my friends list on here and on Facebook (ahem, vanagnessayem and melspeth and wulfstan and songstress1973 and ooo_shiiiny) that I've decided it's time to wean myself off of that damned game (which will henceforth be my euphemism for World of Warcraft) and start doing some of the other things I enjoy doing. Actually I'm not going to wean myself off completely, just learn to not spend all my spare time playing it.

So what I've decided is this. I have until the end of this week to play freely, and I will be focusing on getting my mailboxes, banks, bags and bank alts cleaned up and selling off all the crap I have stashed. That way I won't have stuff rotting in mailboxes and getting deleted because it's being ignored. Starting next Monday, I am going to limit myself to approximately 15 minutes per day (however long it takes me to do the jewelcrafting daily quest, the fishing and cooking dailies on my main character, and transmute an epic gem), 2 raid nights per week, and a maximum of 2 hours per day on the weekend. When those times are up, I have to go do something else. Initially the challenge to myself is for a week of this. If I make it through a week, I will go for a month. If I manage a month, I will then allow myself a bit more WoW time, to see if I've learned to balance things better. If I slip back, I will go back to the more restrictive plan until I really CAN balance things well.

I'm going to make a list of things I can do, print it out in a large font size, and post it next to the computer to remind myself of what else I can do with my time. I am thinking I might also print up those items and cut them up into bits that will fit into a container, and if I'm really at a loss for what to do, I can close my eyes and pick one at random and tell myself to do that for an hour. I think I might also do the same with the specific projects I have going.


Things I can do instead of playing WoW:
Clean
Organize
Cook
Bake
Practice the piano
Practice the harp
Read
Knit
Sew
Embroider
Weave
Spin
Dye
Make beads
Make jewelry
Needle felting
Work on scribal stuff
Go to archery practice
Work on my websites
Play on the Wii
Play Torchlight
Play Portal
Go downstairs and work out
Go for a swim
Play with the cats
Learn to use my camera properly
Take pictures
Work on my Dedicant program
Study a foreign language.
Pick a goal from my 101 goals in 1001 days list and work on it.
Work on designing a budget that works for me
Call Mom and yap
Call Grandma and yap
Call my sister and yap
Invite a friend out or over for coffee

Projects to Work On instead of Playing WoW
cross-stitch: Dragon
cross-stitch: dragon & sword banner
beige apron dress
red apron dress
navy underdress
Bow & arrow case
Work on learning Claire de Lune
Work on learning Linus and Lucy
Work on my personal website
Work on my cooking blog
work on my craft blog

Comments

[belladonnastrap.livejournal.com]

Good for you! I've just come back to WoW after a year plus break and I find myself more appreciative (and screaming more at the AH prices) of the game AND life offline. I love the game but I love a non-sore ass more.

Linus & Lucy! I can play bits of it but Vince Guaraldi I am not.

The cake is a lie.

[ravnsdaughter.livejournal.com]

Ahaha. I don't get a sore butt (probably all the extra padding), but I do get sore wrists, elbows and shoulders. I'm just spending WAYYYYY too much time on it, to the detriment of all my other hobbies.

I've always wanted to learn Linus and Lucy, so it's going on my list of pieces to learn well and memorize so I can just rattle it off anytime I want.

LOL! I haven't even started Portal yet, but I know that quote. :)

[hyperbard.livejournal.com]

Aww, I wanna learn jewelcraft sometime, but not yet. I understand the sore butt thing: I've cut stuff down to half days or every other day, depending on what else I know I need to do. *G*If I get a writing idea, I end up logging off for that moment.

My own little fuzzball is the one who reminds me when to get off, otherwise; he sits atop joe_chin's computer and stares me down! (pay attention to the kitty)

Otherwise, I'm on Fizzcrank and Argent Dawn servers, if you want to hang sometime:)

[songstress1973.livejournal.com]

DOOD You have a workout room at your apartment???
Ok so here's the deal... we should workout together... then we can motivate each other... we both need it and we both need a swift kick in the ass so...

And then there's the music thing too... Heh. I'll have to dig through my PILES of sheet music and bring you some stuff to work on for me (accompaniment stuff I mean)...

[ravnsdaughter.livejournal.com]

ROFL yup! It's down on the 9th floor, it's got a couple treadmills, an elliptical, a bike, a universal machine, some free weights, a ball, and a steam room. Right now, all I can handle is about 10 minutes on the treadmill, but I would be TOTALLY up for motivating each other and stuff. It would totally help me if we had a set time like 3-4 times a week where you came over and we went and worked out together. Then I'd actually DO it. LOL.

And that sounds good with the music stuff. :)

[songstress1973.livejournal.com]

Alrighty... let's start next week... (because this week is a wash).
Evening or afternoon?