Shmeeb 😙's profile picture

Published by

published

Category: Life

4/12/26 - New Goal: Lowering Hedonic Baseline 🏞️


Something I've been noticing in my life recently is that I don't have much motivation to work on projects or creative outlets. I want to do them, but I rarely have the energy to even pick them up. Last time I was able to open up Ableton Live and work on one of my songs, I quickly grew antsy and bored.

What I have been doing for many hours a day is playing video games - Hades, especially. Ever since I was a kid, I've gravitated towards video games for various reasons - as a coping mechanism in hard times, and mostly because I just find them really enjoyable.

I did some research into if I'm exhibiting video game addiction, and my conclusion is that I'm not really, but what is happening is that my hedonic baseline is elevated to the point where simple pleasures like savoring fresh air, reading a book, and working on my music can't compete with the stimulation that video games elicit.

So, I've decided to change up my routine and follow this schedule:

10am-noon: Projects block (e.g. presentation for activism group, trying to find a band to join, completing paperwork for my upcoming counseling internship next year, etc)
Noon: Lunch + restful downtime (cuddling with Beans 🐱, reading, having RLM in the background)
1pm: Music block (practicing instruments and working on new songs)
2-5pm: Flex block (work on online piano tuning school, listening to new music (without doing any other activity), blogging on here, reaching out to old friends)
5pm: Reading
6pm onward: Social commitments or one intentional film (my current plan is to watch the original Star Trek series - watched the first episode last night)

So far so good! I am experiencing some craving to play Fallout 4, which I had just downloaded and planned to start playing before coming to this realization. But I'm feeling good about my already-increased productivity and the enjoyment of the days feeling longer.

Do any of y'all experience an elevated hedonic baseline too?

Would love to hear your experience and thoughts! 💕

Kudos: 0

Comments

Displaying 0 of 0 comments ( View all | Add Comment )