Obsession, over-obsession, and burn out.

[jedi]

My current obsession is my interest in chess. You know, that board game that has some "odd" moves which people hardly ever seem to talk about. The game you know is difficult and can't really be bothered 'working out' all the moves that are possible. It is an obsession for me. I have spent countless hours studying learning material on it. I stopped for a while. I'd run out of local competition because of my remoteness/lack of access to a club. I used to run a club as well - back when I spent every waking moment buried in books on chess, playing through old games between masters, and of coarse attending my own club once a week to oversee everything. That went on for no less than a year. I burnt out on theory; I needed more practice and I didn't have the internet - I never had the net at my disposal until a couple of years ago. Now it seems chess is back on my top priorities again and I'm hitting the learning material again. But I've been considering quitting for good. I don't know why I like chess anymore. The constant pressure to learn more about it. The lack of guidance from living, breathing individuals, the remoteness of where I live still effects my progress. Considering I have the net now: I am able to play chess in real time. I don't know if it's worth it to me. To strive to become better at chess . . . What does it mean? Am I tired of the same activity everyday? Am I sick of chess? At the same time as not knowing whether I have any true motivation toward mastering chess, I'm there deep in study of opening variations, strategy, psychologically preparing myself for tournament play.

My concern is that I'm continuing this way of life out of habit rather than enjoyment. Maybe I'm too 'all-or-nothing' so engaging in the practice to an unhealthy extent. Does anyone here feel this way about their own obsession(s), past or present??

 

[PanPaniscus]

My concern is that I'm continuing this way of life out of habit rather than enjoyment. Maybe I'm too 'all-or-nothing' so engaging in the practice to an unhealthy extent. Does anyone here feel this way about their own obsession(s), past or present??

I get what you mean. I get obsessions where it's past the stage of "I really like this" to "MUST.. KEEP... ON... LOOKING... IT... UP", like now.
I'd like to have one week where I actually have quite a few casual interests that I persue to a normal extent like most people, instead of a few that I am batshit crazy about and a lot of other things bore me.

 

[Kempy]

This happens to me a lot. I make films as a hobby and although I have the advantage of being able to work obsessively, I am aware that after a period of time I am trying to finish a project just for the sake of it. My best projects are those which took the least time. I made a short film back in October/November and worked on it obsessively until it was finished. It only took a few days and I literally didn't think about anything else.
I am currently looking to start a new project. I was on holiday last week and I was trying not to come up with too many ideas so it doesn't become an obsession yet. When I have done everything else I need to do at home I'll turn it into an obsession.

 

[Heritor]

I know what that's like all too well. I am that way with World of Warcraft. I play it several hours a day, constantly reading online about tips and general information. It was fascinating at first, but I lost pretty much all pleasure in engaging it anymore. However, that has not ceased my play time at all. Now I just have this burning passion to accomplish things on it. From when I log on to the time I log off, I can't honestly say I had fun. I set goals and work on them very hard. For example, I am aiming to get all ten classes to eighty before Cataclysm (the next expansion). That way I can make a lot of gold through quests and not have to worry about old leveling areas so I can just continue with the new content. It is an obsession, plain and simple, and it really does burn me out. I lose a lot sleep over getting things done with that game, and I rarely do things in real life anymore. I don't fully understand why I try so hard to get things done there. It's just- I feel so drawn to to play that I don't even question it. Seeing a luscious brownie doesn't spawn any thoughts as to why, I just want it to be eaten. Though my only working eye starts to burn and my mouse finger gets a blister, I just can't pull away. So I understand what you're enduring and I hope you find where you need to be in all of this.

 

[KinksFan]

I was obsessed with a website on the Internet and I've decided that enough was enough. I'll be sticking around here, for a while.

 

[IdahoRose]

Between '06 and '09, I was obsessed with two anime series: Hellsing and Trinity Blood. I was so crazy about them that it was bordering on fanaticism. But when the day came when that passion ran out, I was very reluctant to find something else to become obsessed with. During that time, I was undergoing a lot of changes in my life, and I stayed with Hellsing and Trinity Blood because it was the one constant, familiar thing I had. So I wound up being stuck with Hellsing and Trinity Blood for a lot longer than I should have been. I think the best way to describe it is to compare it to a loveless marriage - no more passion, but sticking with the same thing for fear of change.

Then, in January of this year, I discovered the work of Tim Burton, which led to me seeing Alice in Wonderland in March. I have been passionate about AiW ever since then. The only thing that has come close to rivaling my love of AiW is Doctor Who, which I discovered only several days ago. I can tell when a huge obsession is about to sweep me away, and this one definitely is.

 

[King_Oni]

I don't know if it's actually obsession with me, but I do know this... I can get into things to the extreme if I like them and along those lines I can also safely say that I do have a really, really, really hard time getting in and out of those... that is probably what causes distress with me.

So, rather than what people usually do by means of enjoying it a bit everyday I actually have to live my interest and just make it interesting and worthwhile along the ride. It's for a big part what I'm doing now. I have problems in adapting to situations a lot, so before I am settled in again to enjoy something I usually know that I have to quit again and move on to something else... that's what causes my distress, the fact that I can't get into a deeper zone... and that's also the reason why I might burn-out on obsessions and therefore rarely have any.

 

[Greezus]

I occasionally produce breakcore [an obscure subgenre of hardcore techno] with my spare time, and breakcore is really, really sporadic, so it's difficult to come up with a myriad of effective ideas in one production session. I'll often sit behind my blank computer screen, trying to force my brain to come up with good ideas and stuff when I really should be chilling and doing something else.

 

[JessH0601]

I tend to get hooked on one thing really hard at a time. They change, every couple of months, but I never truly entirely lose interest in the big ones. Riight now, everything is snakes. Which people find odd for a girl. My biggest issue is that I find little restraint for talking about them, and the people around me go far past burnt out into frustrated, annoyed, or even angry that I can't just stop. I always tend to take it too personally and think that people hate me because they dislike what I'm interested in so very much

 

[Sagigirl14]

I have a few obsessions, but there's one in particular that's a REALLY BIG ONE right now! Let me start off by saying that this one started back when I was 14, (I'm now 33). I had/have a HUGE infatuation with a movie star right now. I don't know if many people are familiar with who he is. Mainly because he's not that "Big" in movies. His name is Todd Field. To name a few movies he's beeen in; Twister (Beltzer), Walking and Talking (Frank), Sleep With Me (Duane), Eyes Wide Shut (Nick Nightingale), Broken Vessels (Jimmy Warzniack), Rip it Off (Jack Toretti), and many more! I know almost everything about him. I'm slowly getting ahold of most of his movies. My friend has been telling me that I have an unhealthy obsession with him, and that I need to stop. But I can't help it, which she doesn't understand. I've been single for a long while now, and he popped into my head after I dated a guy that kinda looked like him. So, now I have soooo many pics downloaded to my computer and cell phone! He's always been way older than me, but I never really cared about that. He was my age when I was 14. Lol! He's still very good looking though! I constantly talk about him on my Facebook, (in posts and to friends) and that one friend has told me that I'm letting it "consume" me and that I'm in denial about it. He's constantly on my mind at work, when I'm online, even in my dreams. I've toned it down a little lately, mainly because I think people are tired of hearing about it. So, every now and then I'll make a little comment about him, but leave it at that. Unless they continue the convo, which I always welcome! Lol! I'll leave a pic or two at the end of this message. So everyone can get an idea of who he is.