NoFap Diary Day 14: The brain changes in two weeks. The realistic effects of abstinence to break free from smartphone addiction
The moment I woke up this morning, I was surprised by a lightness in my body that I hadn't felt before.
Getting out of bed might have been the smoothest it has ever been.
I have finally reached the major milestone of two weeks.
However, as if aiming for that gap in my guard, the biggest wave hit me at night.
The real battle began here, as my brain started to go wild, craving new stimulation.
Where I stand now: Changes in physical condition and mental state after breaking the two-week mark
First, I will share my realistic condition without holding anything back.
Sleep duration: 7.5 hours (I didn't wake up once during the night and had a deep sleep)
Mood: I feel invincible in the morning, but I get strangely restless after 9:00 PM
Workload: I finished all the tasks I had planned and even wrote one extra article
SNS usage: 20 minutes (I consciously kept my distance from my smartphone)
Going out: I took a 20-minute walk in the evening to get some fresh air
Stress: Work is going well, but I have a vague sense of impatience regarding my future goals
Physical condition: Extremely good, but I have a feeling of having too much excess energy
The more energetic my body becomes, the more I wonder where that excess energy will go.
By day 14, just living my normal life makes my brain crave stimulation and go wild.
Even though I defended myself with squats and cold water yesterday, the temptation attacked from a different angle tonight.
The dangerous time when reason melts and data on desires
Today's realistic wave of desire feels something like this.
Desire level: 9 / 10 (The most persistent wave yet)
Danger zone: 9:00 PM to 10:30 PM (The empty time after work when I finally relax)
Trigger: Visual stimulation from a thumbnail lined up in the recommendations on a video sharing site
"I've already endured for two weeks, so it should be fine to relax a little, right?"
My brain keeps coming up with one plausible excuse after another.
This moment, where fatigue and a sense of accomplishment are mixed, is exactly when reason melts away.
A dangerous moment when my fingers stopped in front of the computer
It happened after dinner, when I was casually watching videos at my desk.
My eyes were caught by a slightly provocative thumbnail displayed in the corner of the screen.
Before I knew it, I was gripping the mouse tightly and about to click on that video.
"If I look at this, all the effort of the past 14 days will be wasted."
My gaze fixed on the screen grew intense, and I felt cold sweat running down my back.
Whether I moved forward or turned back here would completely change my future. It was truly that turning point.
Reset actions that forced the brain's runaway train to a stop
Before being dragged into this quagmire, these are the actions I immediately took.
I slammed the laptop screen shut with a loud noise.
I jumped up from my chair and pushed myself to do 35 push-ups, my limit, right there on the spot.
I immediately headed to the washroom and splashed my face with cold water multiple times to force a cooldown.
The time spent thinking "what should I do?" in the face of temptation means you've already fallen into the brain's trap.
To leave no room for thought, I physically turn off the screen and move my body.
Just by doing this, the blood that was about to rush in the wrong direction disperses throughout my body.
If your fingertips start moving suspiciously, turn off the room lights and stand up before you spend even a second worrying.
Day 14's Big Discovery: A system to avoid creating idle gaps
What I deeply felt today is that what's necessary for continuation isn't strong willpower.
It's about how to kill the "empty time with nothing to do" after work is finished.
In my case, it was pushing my body to its limit and resetting my brain's excitement with cold water.
Humans are creatures that don't think of anything good when they have free time.
That's why you build a system to fight it in advance.
By deciding on your night routine beforehand, you should be able to definitely protect your life of abstinence.
Tomorrow's Strategy: Entering the territory of Day 15
Tomorrow is Day 15, the start of the second half at last.
If I let my guard down here, I'll be taken away in an instant, so I'll make my defensive lines even stronger.
Strategy: When I get home, I will leave my smartphone in the living room and not bring it into the bedroom.
Task: Log out of the internet world completely after 9:00 PM.
Let's go grab that feeling of controlling your own actions yourself again tomorrow.
Finally
I used to think NoFap was just about "guts."
But in reality, environmental factors like "free time, smartphones, staying up late, and stress" were much bigger.
Now, I think understanding the "system of collapse" is more important than NoFap itself.
There are some things that were quite helpful in that regard, so I'll leave them here just in case.
For people like me who have failed many times, these are genuinely useful.
Previous day's NoFap diary
Next day's NoFap diary
The background of how I started NoFap
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