Default Behaviour

When I was totally hooked on WoW and gaming in general, as soon as I’d get home, the first thing I’d do would be to turn on my PC. Even if I was hungry or needed the loo, the PC got switched on first. If I had some free time coming up, there’d be no question as to how I’d spend it. Even when I wasn’t able to play games, but still had a few minutes to myself, I’d likely spend them on thinking about games, if not on browsing websites related to gaming. Gaming was my “default behaviour”: The thing I’d do by default if there was nothing else I had to do.

I was recently thinking about what my new default behaviour is, and to be honest I don’t really know. There are things I schedule to get done at certain times (outside of day job commitments), like studying, writing, or going to the gym, but I don’t have one particular thing I fall back on if I find myself with a chunk of free time and nothing in need of doing. I’ve recently enjoyed tinkering around in GameMaker, but I wouldn’t say that it’s my default behaviour. Sometimes I’ll just take a nap if I’ve been busy, or do other fairly tame stuff. Does that mean I’m without a passion for the time being, or does it mean I’m free from obsession? Maybe both.

When it comes to studying, writing, or gym-ing, I have scheduled times for doing those things, and I also record my progress when I do them. I’ve tried recording progress for other positive habits too, but to be honest I think my limit is three. Whenever I’ve tried to start recording progress with four or more habits, the whole process of recording progress feels like a chore. Outside of work, I record my progress with studying Korean on a daily basis, gym is three times a week, and writing is once a week.

I might like creating my own games to become my new default behaviour, as it’s a creative thing which still somewhat scratches that gaming itch, but we’ll just have to see how that pans out. For now, I’m happy with just tinkering as and when, without any pressure to do so, and that’s probably a good way to start with any new interest. I’ve heard many times that the best way to learn something new is to “dive in the deep end”, but I think that’s a poorly planned strategy that will likely result in drowning. Perhaps get your toes wet first, then your feet, and then slowly but surely progress further as you feel more comfortable.