A video game ruined my life

Why is it so easy to be lazy and so hard to stop being lazy? 
 
So if you follow along with these Boring Issues, you would have read in last week's Issue that I was addicted to playing a video game called Stardew Valley.
 
The addiction started while I was sick for three weeks and couch ridden. 
 
Even writing out the name makes me want to play… 🥲
 
Should we? Just a quick game…
 
No.. we can’t play right now, we’re telling a story.
 
Sorry about that… my subconscious wants to play again.

So you might already know this, but for many businesses, you have busy seasons where you could be working 12-14 hour days for projects or with lots of client work. 
 
And then you have quieter seasons, where you could work more like 4-6 hours a day. 
 
Right now, we are in new project mode and it’s just Eden and I, so our work load is huge. 
 
We’re in that 12-14 hour day season. 
 
But just two weeks ago we were in brain rot, video gaming, sick, doing nothing season. 
 
And making that transition from playing video games and working very little into working 12-14 hour days is never easy. 
 
We’ve done this transition before… maybe 10 times. Not always from being sick. Once from quitting our 9-5s and other times from holidaying, being in a festive season or just plain old laziness. 
 
Honestly I forget every time we start the transition and I’m like “why is it so hard to concentrate? Why am I getting no work done? Why do I just want to scroll?” 
 
And I’ll tell you why… because your brain wants more of what you give it - dopamine from junk food, video games, scrolling. 
 
My brain got used to the laziness of playing Stardew Valley and getting takeaway for three weeks. 
 
So on the flip side, my brain can also get used to working again, right?

Right... but its not as easy. 

It can get dopamine from working on a new project and going to the gym if that's what you give it though repetition and patience. 
 
Ahh patience. My least favourite of the virtues...
 
But who cares what you’re doing outside of work if you do the work? 

Well if that works for you, yippee, but for most of us, you can’t eat chips all day, scroll TikTok 24/7 and have a productive business - it’s just not how it works. 
 
You might think that the actions outside of your working hours don’t matter too much as long as you're scheduling your work hours in, right? 

You’re absolutely wrong. 
 
Everything you do outside of your work affects your attention span, your mood, your health, your work and ultimately your business.  
 
Say you go out drinking late and then you work the next day. You’re going to be hungover, tired and not performing to the best of your abilities. 
 
The same goes for;

• Eating junk food late at night > you wake up groggy.
• Scrolling all day > the next day you have no attention span
• Playing video games for 3 weeks straight > absolutely do not want to get back into work.

It’s all about routine and choices. 

And it’s fkn hard - I get it. And when you’re sick or busy, building a healthy routine is even harder.

So when we started this new project after being sick for three weeks, both Eden and I were struggling to get back into the groove of working hard. 
 
What did we do? We had to make hard decisions…

• No video games during the week
• Going to bed earlier
• Cooking and planning meals again
• Starting every day with sunlight and water
• Daily movement
• No phones during working hours 

Did this transition happen over night? Absolutely not. But we are 1.5 weeks into this busy season and it does feel easy again. 
 
It started with getting back into cooking meals when we had the energy again. Then dropping the video games.

After that, the early nights came naturally. Movement came next and then no phones.
 
1.5 weeks later, and the 12 hour work days are actually enjoyable. 
 
I won’t lie, I am looking forward to a gaming session this weekend - I’m just not feigning for it like an addict… anymore. 
 
So my friend…
 
It’s not about rehauling your entire life or routine.

You don’t have to completely cut out things you enjoy. 
 
It’s simply about making small changes.

And stacking those changes on one another to give yourself the best chance at completing your goals. 
 
The greatest thing about that?
You start small and each small change directs you towards the person you want to be. 
 
For me? 
When I envisage my greatest potential, she is definitely not playing video games 24/7. 

She’s working hard on her business, with the attention span to work 14 hour days. 

Now who do you see? 
 
Be that person. 
It all starts with one small change. 
Put down the controller. 
 
Xoxo
Penelope