I've played an MMO for the past 11 years, so I've never found myself trying to find something to do as there's always more to do on there (for better or worse, mostly—almost entirely—worse). I really want to quit, hopefully by 2016 I'll be at a point that I only play a few times a year, though I currently have nothing to replace it (hoping a job will be that something).
I have a huuuge to-do list that I've just been dumping stuff into for the past 5-6 years. So there's always that as well (but that stuff is scary and actually requires work, so I almost never do that). Really hoping to get everything done this summer, though, so I can finally be done and get a ton of weight off my shoulders (I've said this for the past 3 years, though, so I hold out no hope for this to actually happen).
I used to read a lot of tech/startup blogs, nowadays I just read their "top story" email digests and follow some websites on Twitter. Reason being: at least where I live and go to school, nobody else is interested in the startup scene, so everything felt pretty pointless as I could never bring anything up in conversation with people. However, I didn't completely stop reading about it as I plan to eventually get in the startup scene myself and don't want to be a complete newb (also the personal interest is still totally there and needs to be fed with something).
And of course, link aggregators like Digg, reddit, Snapzu, and dozens of others. After several years of working at it I've finally lowered my usage of these services to somewhat normal levels (though I still have some progress to be made to actually consider it "normal" usage). I've done this basically for the same reason as the tech/startup blogs - I'm trying to limit my time spent on things that don't help me socially.
Other than that, really got into watching YouTube about two years ago. I used to just watch the occasional video, now I take my subscriptions seriously and watch just about everything they upload. This dramatically lowered the time I played the MMO - it started as something I'd do while AFKing, but it's become a time-consuming activity in itself. Last year I actually took a break from the MMO for a few months (I was burnt out) and just watched YouTube videos all day in its place... I never want to watch that much YouTube again. I seriously earned my YouTube PhD that year. I think a reason I find myself using YouTube so much nowadays relates to the points I made above - YouTube has become a totally normal activity that everyone I know does (for several hours per day), so I do it with less guilt.
EDIT: Oh yeah, I message friends a lot. Right now through Facebook Messenger, though this summer I hope to finally get with the times and get a phone so that I can use other apps (2014/2015 is finally approaching the point that "I can just do everything on my computer" doesn't fly anymore, you really need a phone unless you want to be weird and do everything in an emulator like BlueStacks).
I'd like to get into movies and watch some TV series someday, but so far I've never been interested in these things. Something I plan to never get into is gaming (unless VR is really sweet and changes my opinion); MMOs ruined gaming for me.
I feel you man I don't play much MMO's but I do play a lot of league of legends. At the very least once a day for my first win bonus and there are times where I stopped playing for a month or two at a time just because I got sick of it. I do end up going back to playing league since all of my Irl friends play it and we usually duo queue or we play on our ranked team.
I wont preach to you about the benefits of unplugging for a month suffice to say, you should try it out.
I plan to eventually get in the startup scene myself and don't want to be a complete newb (also the personal interest is still totally there and needs to be fed with something).
This is fascinating to me. If you have a genuine passion for something that could turn into a career, you are leaps and bounds ahead of most people! Run after that dream as hard as you can, my friend. Most people spend a good chunk of their lives trying to figure out a way to monetize something their passionate about. Go at it with zero expectations and don't stop going at it, you only get 1 life and you have the opportunity to spend it doing something you love!
steps off of soap box
All that said, if you ever need socialization, come here or PM me, I love to chat in the comments on this site, everyone is very friendly and the conversations are always fascinating.
I've played an MMO for the past 11 years, so I've never found myself trying to find something to do as there's always more to do on there (for better or worse, mostly—almost entirely—worse). I really want to quit, hopefully by 2016 I'll be at a point that I only play a few times a year, though I currently have nothing to replace it (hoping a job will be that something).
I have a huuuge to-do list that I've just been dumping stuff into for the past 5-6 years. So there's always that as well (but that stuff is scary and actually requires work, so I almost never do that). Really hoping to get everything done this summer, though, so I can finally be done and get a ton of weight off my shoulders (I've said this for the past 3 years, though, so I hold out no hope for this to actually happen).
I used to read a lot of tech/startup blogs, nowadays I just read their "top story" email digests and follow some websites on Twitter. Reason being: at least where I live and go to school, nobody else is interested in the startup scene, so everything felt pretty pointless as I could never bring anything up in conversation with people. However, I didn't completely stop reading about it as I plan to eventually get in the startup scene myself and don't want to be a complete newb (also the personal interest is still totally there and needs to be fed with something).
And of course, link aggregators like Digg, reddit, Snapzu, and dozens of others. After several years of working at it I've finally lowered my usage of these services to somewhat normal levels (though I still have some progress to be made to actually consider it "normal" usage). I've done this basically for the same reason as the tech/startup blogs - I'm trying to limit my time spent on things that don't help me socially.
Other than that, really got into watching YouTube about two years ago. I used to just watch the occasional video, now I take my subscriptions seriously and watch just about everything they upload. This dramatically lowered the time I played the MMO - it started as something I'd do while AFKing, but it's become a time-consuming activity in itself. Last year I actually took a break from the MMO for a few months (I was burnt out) and just watched YouTube videos all day in its place... I never want to watch that much YouTube again. I seriously earned my YouTube PhD that year. I think a reason I find myself using YouTube so much nowadays relates to the points I made above - YouTube has become a totally normal activity that everyone I know does (for several hours per day), so I do it with less guilt.
EDIT: Oh yeah, I message friends a lot. Right now through Facebook Messenger, though this summer I hope to finally get with the times and get a phone so that I can use other apps (2014/2015 is finally approaching the point that "I can just do everything on my computer" doesn't fly anymore, you really need a phone unless you want to be weird and do everything in an emulator like BlueStacks).
I'd like to get into movies and watch some TV series someday, but so far I've never been interested in these things. Something I plan to never get into is gaming (unless VR is really sweet and changes my opinion); MMOs ruined gaming for me.
I feel you man I don't play much MMO's but I do play a lot of league of legends. At the very least once a day for my first win bonus and there are times where I stopped playing for a month or two at a time just because I got sick of it. I do end up going back to playing league since all of my Irl friends play it and we usually duo queue or we play on our ranked team.
I wont preach to you about the benefits of unplugging for a month suffice to say, you should try it out.
This is fascinating to me. If you have a genuine passion for something that could turn into a career, you are leaps and bounds ahead of most people! Run after that dream as hard as you can, my friend. Most people spend a good chunk of their lives trying to figure out a way to monetize something their passionate about. Go at it with zero expectations and don't stop going at it, you only get 1 life and you have the opportunity to spend it doing something you love!
steps off of soap box
All that said, if you ever need socialization, come here or PM me, I love to chat in the comments on this site, everyone is very friendly and the conversations are always fascinating.