I'm glad my thoughts are helpful to you - I'd love to hear what you're learning, what your plans are, and how they go - so that I can learn from you, as well!

We're all works in progress, so let's work together!

as for what i'm learning, right now its really anything i can get my hands on. when i'm on the go, i like to turn to my ipod (where i either study tanya or read through anything in the tanach, yes there's an app for that  ;D). when i'm at home, its increasingly been spent on GUE, both on the forum and the articles, both of which have been really helpful. also, recently i've been reading more into sichos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to increase emunah in my life, in all areas.

and also, even though i've been doing this for around two years, i continue to say tehillim on the monthly cycle, something that has helped me tremendously in general and also with times when my Y"H is challenging me. certainly a great mitzvah to undertake if i may say so myself.

my plans (i'm not sure if you mean for GUE and those goals, or just in general, but i guess i'll address both). as i'm sure everyone could guess, i'll just keep on truckin' (:D) and taking things moment to moment has helped a lot.  as for long term plans in my life, i'm hoping to take a year off between high school and college to study in a yeshivah, though which yeshivah is not 100% determined yet. hopefully that answers your question?

thanks for everyones feedback and for sticking with me!

Sounds like good plans overall - I was talking about plans as far as this struggle, but glad to hear about plans to go to E"Y - it's a great place! I was there for a few years, so feel free to PM me if you want some ideas on different yeshivos, or even just some cool people to go to for shabbos!

As far as learning, that's always a good thing - but I meant, as far as what you've learned in your research on time management. Please share with us any ideas you've seen, and maybe we can gain from them, too!

Keep on trucking - a great idea! But have you ever seen what happens when an 18-wheeler just drives straight? We need to make sure that we're staying on the road, and avoiding traffic (and the occasional goat). So sometimes it helps to plan out what you'll do when you're faced with a test. And to do that, you need to figure out when tests usually show up. And what happens, what kind of feelings, what does the voice of addiction  (aka, the yetzer hora) say to you? What do you usually respond? Etc, etc - and speaking all that out can be helpful.

well, on the time management topic, the most effective technique and tool that i've used has been creating to-do lists/schedules to make sure that everything that gets done needs to. for me, my list will include things that are standard every day (i.e. mincha/maariv, tehillim, shower) but also things that vary according to the day or even come up only once (i.e. a certain chore i have to do etc.). the most important thing is to make sure that you always have something to do, and even if you finish your list, you have a book to read, game to play etc. the key to time management is always staying busy (paradox? i think so)

i think at least as a fairly rough plan if i feel an overwhelming desire come over me will initially be to try to fight it off by simply continuing with the activity that i am doing. if that doesnt work, then i'll log onto GUE b/c i know that if i'm on my computer, the combination of being on GUE, the filter on my computer and the accountability group should reign me in. if this doesn't work....then i'm in trouble. but so far, i've put as many fences as possible on my life.

hopefully this answers your questions better.

it does - that sounds like a good plan - I'd recommend that you picture yourself going to GUE (or GYE ), so that the response is built into your head, programmed in.

You might also want to have a plan B - some other activity you can use to distract yourself, if necessary.

I like your time management idea...I should probably do that (if I wasn't so lazy...grrrr)...

You rock!

Shlomo,

I often obsessively schedule my time but keeping to the schedule is another matter. You seem to be able to keep busy with productive things (even if the productive thing is down-time) very well. The fact that you have been saying Tehillim consistently is a testament to your mental discipline, among other things. I know if I could cut down wasted time by a mere fraction, I could accomplish things I never even dreamed of. What are your strategies for battling the yetzer hara to procrastinate? Surely if you can beat that Y'H, you can also beat the lust Y'H.

silentbattle- another one of my strategies to keep occupied is (kind of like playing an instrument), i beatbox aka i make drum noises and beats from my mouth. i'm not sure if anyone has heard of the reggae artist/rapper matisyahu, but he also beatboxes and its something that i love doing and lets me relax. and of course, another method is always Torah study.

aryehtahor- i find that two things help with time management. 1) adding on around 5 or 10 minutes to each activity to account for any sidetracking that may happen (like is happening right now with GUE instead of writing an essay  :D)  and 2) just thinking about my mindset once the activities are done: will it be 7 oclock or 11 oclock? will i have worked hard for 2 hours or nonchalantly for 4? it kind of comes down to the "working hard or hardly working" idea. but even if you plan to work nonchalantly for an extended period of time, its still better than no set time plan, because its harder for your Y"H to get to you because you have stuff to do constantly.

By the way, if you want an extra set of eyes to proof-read an essay, feel free to ask...I don't know if it comes through in my posts or not, but I did fairly well in my english courses in college.

Yes, playing an instrument, or some other form of musical expression (like beatboxing), is a great way to relax and keep occupied. It also makes a great way to express yourself.

Do you write any of your own songs?

i dont write full fledged songs (or even lyrics for that matter), but i love making up beats or making covers of songs and putting beats to niggunim. i know a few songs that i can sing word and do a beat at the same time, but physiologically, my body/throat just doesnt allow me to have full songs with lyrics. a beat with a baseline or with notes is not that difficult, but songs....boy they can be tough.

You should write songs! Don't be bashful! ;D

I've been debating whether or not I should post some lyrics of my songs here...

I guess it would be difficult to beatbox and sing at the same time...can you record on and then do a second track of singing over it?

I wish I could write songs but I don't have the technology to do so :-\

just as an update, things are going good for me. Sorry if it seems like I'm posting for nothing, I just know that GUE is my greatest resource even during times where things are going good.

What are you talking about?
Do you think all we want to hear about is everyone's problems?! Now way man! We want to hear success!!
Keep'm coming bro.
Besides, for a lot of people, this is exactly what keeps them clean. When they let go of the crew and float back to the GYE-less world, they find themselves where they were before they found the site.
Stick around and be machazek others, that will probably help you stay clean more than anything else.

Gotta agree with KG - 1) no news is good news. 2) We like hearing your good news! 3) We like hearing from you no matter what!

Being part of this forum gave me a great support network to help me grow. I absolutely agree with your feelings about posting!


Shlomo wrote on 28 Jan 2010 21:02:


What do you mean?

well, the software/hardware on my computer is very basic (just garageband) and i dont have a high quality mic. i suppose i could make some basic stuff. and with senior year, you could say things a a little busy.

btw, i'm happy to report that my name is finally back on the 90 day chart, B"H. hopefully it'll stay on there til i work my way up to the top.

Shlomo wrote on 29 Jan 2010 03:44:

That's it, Shlomo!! Group 7 is on the way up. Look out!!!