Good point Jacques. I guess that's another aspect of this--it sure as heck felt like a responsibility towards the end. And that was a large contributor to why I deleted it. If a game feels like a responsibility, it is no longer a game in my mind.
It is also why I never understood why my friend enjoyed being an MMO guild leader when I was young. It seemed like real work. Once a game crosses the "work" threshold, I tend to lose interest pretty rapidly. The fact that it took this long for it to get bad enough where I could kick this game to the curb is perhaps testament to the efficacy of the game systems they have in place to drive DAU/MAU.
I have an extremely addictive personality, no matter what, if I like something I have to be really careful not to get sucked in. My way of dealing with those things is to ruthlessly cut them out of my life, if I have to spend the energy required to fight the addiction then I might as well give in, the end result is a net reduction in energy available for useful stuff.
So, I did what you did when I realized that computer games had this power over me, and got rid of them completely (early 20's at the time). Since then I got sucked in exactly once, the game of Mahjongg, and as soon as I recognized that I was being sucked in I deleted that as well. (this happened when I was 28 or so.)
It's super annoying that I can't seem to set myself limits on what is ok and what is not, but in the end I come out ahead because I then have to be utterly ruthless about it which saves even more time (and in the case of alcohol and other goodies it saves me my health and money too).
When I got sucked into computer games the world of games was a lot friendlier than it is today. I worked for a game company for a while, and in the end realized that that world really wasn't for me (though I enjoyed the programming immensely, the only addiction that I've allowed to run completely without restraint). Computer games nowadays are more like crack cocaine compared to the ones that were available when I was a kid.
Congratulations on your recognition, it's going to be an interesting time for you now that you have a really large chunk of extra life that you can allocate in whatever way that you see fit.
Thanks for sharing your story--it is definitely encouraging to hear successful people who have struggled with similar situations.
I wish it were really a significant chunk of my life compared to some other things though. It saved me maybe 10-20 minutes/day. Sure that adds up, and I have to start somewhere, but I need to chop more. Reddit is a huge one that I'm on the fence with. I use it as one of my primary news sources, learn a ton from the more educational subs, and even do some valuable professional networking there (in fact, I just had coffee with someone whom I met on Reddit to chat about work stuff). But I inevitably also read things that don't add that type of value, or get sucked into responding to stuff that I could have avoided, etc. Would love to hear how you tackle integrating the various "feeds" in your life in a productive manner.
Also, back to the gaming note--were you actively playing any games on a regular basis when you started having your first major entrepreneurial successes? I'm pretty established in my career by now and senior in my field. Objectively I'm "doing well", but I sometimes feel like I'm being held back by my leisurely pursuits (gaming, gardening, watching a little TV with my wife after dinner). I justify it as something I need to do to manage stress from my life/job, but I simultaneously feel guilty when I realize how "unproductive" that time is. I could be practicing coding, working on side projects, reading something educational, etc. It is really starting to be its own source of stress.
As for the games, it was long long ago and I don't think I would have done much of anything if I had not cut the habit. The one that really did it for me was Elite, I played that so much that one evening I saw the afterimage of the main screen superimposed on the wall paper when I looked away and I realized I should really stop this before it got even more out of control.
20 minutes per day... I wish. More like 12 hours per day or so, I remember one time I arrived at the office on a Saturday because I'd totally lost track of time.
It is also why I never understood why my friend enjoyed being an MMO guild leader when I was young. It seemed like real work. Once a game crosses the "work" threshold, I tend to lose interest pretty rapidly. The fact that it took this long for it to get bad enough where I could kick this game to the curb is perhaps testament to the efficacy of the game systems they have in place to drive DAU/MAU.