All positives!
More gear selling planned here too. Just got to figure out which bits, to avoid regret/re-buying and kicking of GAS again, but I’m in no rush to do this having mostly sorted out debt & finances from last years selling spree.
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Interesting observation / side note: inflation made my previous GAS madness a pretty good deal:
- The Hydrasynth Explorer I bought brand new last year was sold at 95% of the purchase price a year later. I essentially rented brand new gear for a year for just 5% annual interest.
- My Korg Minilogue XD is regularly being sold at 125% of my purchase price. It’s up on sale right now so I don’t know what the final price will be but I’m pretty sure it will sell for more than the purchase price.
It seems like my GAS didn’t end up costing me in terms of money at least - just lots and lots (and lots) of time… 
Like an idiot I went to a local club that had a used gear sale. Almost bought a midiverb 4 for 30€ but was able to resist. TBH I went there to see if any friends happen to be there as I’ve been kinda avoiding seeing anyone lately. There was a brief mental battle in my head I must admit. 
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Rauma had one of those? In Brummi?
Lucky I wasn’t visiting my old hometown. Feel like I dodged a bullet.
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In Brummi indeed. Nothing too cool for sale this time though.
They’ve had auctions and these kind of sales almost annually.
Mostly stuff like spot lights, Behringer live mixing gear etc.
The prices are ridiculously low though which presents a challenge none the less.
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I told my friend I’m committed to NGNY 2023 and he laughed at me. He seems committed to influencing me to break down … invited me to go up to a music store where he intends to do some guitar shopping.
I can probably stay strong … that music store would have to have a killer deal for me to feel tempted, and I don’t figure they will. But those “dusty rackmount gear for $65 or best offer” harpies seem to appear & start to sing when I least expect them…
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Yes, it’s clearly part of the deal. Oftentimes when someone is attempting to get their shit straight others feel the need to make it fail so that they don’t feel bad about theirselves.
There must be a term for this phenomenon.
Alcoholics and drug addicts face this thing and it’s twisted. When they ask their friends money to get wasted no one wants to borrow but when they declare they want to quit there is immediately someone offering it for free.
Of course I’m not saying true friends are quite like that and with gear the stakes are not as high but the general idea seems to be eerily similar.
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Even a true friend may not fully realize what they are doing, as this “bring you down to their level” behaviour is quite common and almost subconscious. But a good friend will usually agree if you ask them to help you rather than oppose you.
I don’t see much reason to expose yourself to temptation because you think you can “stay strong”. A special or unique event would be another matter.
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I have a friend who buys and sells guitars and find the vicarious thrill of advising his purchases quite satisfying.
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There’s nothing wrong with that in itself. The point of this exercise as I see it, is to gain a healthy relationship to whatever you end up doing. If you become obsessive about it and don’t attain any joy from it, it’s good to give yourself a break by stepping away from it for a while.
This thread acts as a support network, simple as that. All the discussion (including your input too of course) is adding to that. To understand an issue it’s good to be given a multitude of opinions to it to help people see it from multiple sides. It’s a personal journey even when taken together.
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I do really like the NYNG thing - it has value. Both this thread and its contributors, and the mindset in general.
I’ve been massively struggling this last few days. I had a really intensely stimulating weekend with busyness, relatives, travelling, loud restaurants, and I’ve noticed that as soon as it finished, a very low energy state kicked into gear. Motivation and doing things got harder, and I lost myself in scrolling through youtube/elektronauts, eyeing up gear, seeing what is available on ebay etc.
It’s been pretty frenzied, and has taken up precious hours of some annual leave time - I feel like I just wasted away 2 of the last 3 days, and I’m feeling more drained than recovered from work 
I feel a bit at a crossroads here. I’ve given up a lot of stuff that my stupid ADHD brain has got addicted to - lots of problems I’ve been proud to conquer. But I’m struggling with this one. This GAS that is a combination of many strands of things that make me feel exhausted, waste my time, lose my money, lower my overall self esteem over time, seems harder to overcome than almost any other addictive behaviour I’ve had to face up to.
In the end the thought I end up at is - how can it be helpful that I keep ending up here. This thread is a small island in a sea of fuel for GAS that is almost impossible to ignore, and music/gear youtube is equally as bad. I can’t really see much other option than to somehow just cold turkey all the online fuel for the problem out of my life.
I rarely see anyone, amongst quite a lot of common sense talking, go as far as to say that… If you have a serious problem then maybe hanging around this site is a bit like being an alcoholic and going to the pub, a heroin addict and strolling down to your local dealers house for a chat, or going down the bookies and expecting to not make a bet?
Just throwing it out there in case anyone else benefits from considering this issue.
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I totally get what you mean and we talked about it last year. It feels really weird because it’s an AA meeting in the middle of a liquor convention.
However, on the opposite side this group wouldn’t be as vibrant if it was created on a totally unrelated website. And there are also worthy conversations between people passionate about the same subject.
Maybe you could just bookmark this topic instead of Elektronauts. Or even setup e-mail notifications when new things are posted here and never come to elektronauts otherwise?
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I also have similar problems with adhd and also ditched lots of bad habits / addictions like nicotine.
to be more in peace with what I have and stop looking around at other stuff, instead of just browsing endlessly I’m looking for inspiration by watching on youtube only things relevant to the gear I already have and see what other people do with it or listening a lot to the music I want to make and try figuring out how I can do that with what I have.
works great, I’ve discovered lots of cool music and I practice more instead of browsing Thomann/Sweetwater/whatever all day looking for deals.
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I know exactly the feeling. While I don’t have ADHD, I always GAS the most when I’m emotionally or physically exhausted. It’s normal and it’s good that you’re aware of it. My best advice is to zoom out a bit: why are you making music? What’s your goal? Part of it should be to have fun. And getting stuck in an endless loop of “what should I buy?” is anything but fun.
You most likely don’t need any of the gear you’re looking at. Maybe that’s something you can even say out loud every once in a while. There are surprisingly strong psychological effects that come from talking out load to yourself, about yourself.
Just throwing some ideas out there as someone who recognizes some patterns and can empathize with how you may be feeling.
Also, let’s play the AA game in this thread. Let us know what gear you already have and what you think you need, and we’ll do our best to talk you out of it. 
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Yeah that low energy state is a bugger for wasting time on the internet. I can relate to what you’re saying - I’m always wiped out after a few days of social interactions that are outside the normal pattern.
I think that state is traditionally one where people used to veg and binge television. I’ve noticed a huge difference in myself when in that state if I’ve watched 3 or 4 episodes of a good series vs spending a couple of hours visiting my internet haunts (which I do enjoy). Watching a show does often leaves me feeling rejuvenated.
Why? I don’t know, but I speculate it’s a combination of actively choosing to spend x amount of time on it (vs scrolling blackhole time expansion), it’s a passive yet absorbing activity (whereas GASing mentally is damn hard work I reckon), and lastly I think consuming stories is a pretty damn important part of being human. I think of it as brain food.
In terms of visiting this forum, this is an incredible resource to support the hobby, and yes it does unfortunately fuel some GAS. It’s hard to be steely and impassive in the face of someone’s enthusiasm and productivity with a piece of kit.
But I think that’s where it’s a good time to take stock of your setup and think objectively about what is actually missing. I find having a bit of a roadmap about what needs to be added helps put the brakes on a bit for me.
The other thing I like to do is make lists of things to try with my gear, and those low energy moments are a good time to do it. Use X with Y and so on, or just small parts or features that I’ve not yet explored. I find just having that list makes me think ok, I can want new things, but that voice that says I will use 100% of the new thing is a big fibber, so maybe once I crack through this list I’ve earned a nee toy.
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When I’m in the state you describe, I have a glass of water, go to the bathroom, and go take a nap. Or at least lie down with no screen or stimulation. Scrolling the internet is fake rest, not real rest. Good luck, and well done for resisting!
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I totally get that tired but still agitated state, wanting to do something but not really having the concentration. I think I have a lower threshold for general life stuff than many people, and even just a normal day with no particular stress can leave me feeling worn out, empty and resentful (I’m currently working through depression with therapy & meds).
Doing something simple with a very low bar usually helps. Reading a book (especially graphic novels) or a simple game (say Jenga), or picking up a sketchbook (I started doing some drawing again recently). Or going for a walk or bike ride. Scrolling through a forum or social media, or using the internet at all definitely does not help!
This other activity does help me with a bit of motivation for music. Been finally learning my MPC a bit recently - practising some finger drumming without recording anything most times, is like playing an instrument and no pressure to produce stuff, just practise to improve timing & skill.
Stick with it @Habit_Reform! As others have said, this thread is the AA meeting in the middle of the (gear) chaos 
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@subduct and @Habit_Reform sorry to hear that, stay strong, it will pass.
When I’ve been in such mental and physical state, it may seem counter intuitive, an intense sweat really made me feel alive again. If you find the strength,
something like following a 30 min HIIT video on youtube makes you feel such a rush. You’ll feel strong and proud and full of energy. I usually want to do a lot more after such a session!
But yeah, maybe it could be a good idea to create a separate discussion on another website/app?
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Me too, for some reason my friends have no faith I can pull this through 
I don’t blame them, considering the amount of gear that has passed through my studio at times 
It’s all good though, I can tolerate their friendly kicks, and they understand my wish to spend less time digging for esoteric old fart boxes that only function now and then…
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Appreciate the responses - was feeling a bit glum.
I have installed a site blocker. I can get around it if I want, like now, but generally it reminds me to just do something else most of the time, and shows me how habitually I fill up slightly bored moments with opening up chrome and heading here. It’s way too often, and too much time spent doing so!
I managed to pull myself together about 75% of the way. I’ve already failed NYNG a few times over… But I pulled out of a polyend tracker at the last minute (okay - I had a helping hand from being outbid on eBay / didn’t bid higher, so I had some luck).
I’ve ordered the necessary stuff to have a crack at Headless M8, which isn’t actually that expensive.
The issue with having ADHD, I feel, is there is a bit of balance that might need to be found, but in a healthy way… Which is a big challenge. I feel like I might NEED some novelty sometimes, to enter an motivation/activation state. But I also need to not exhaust my mind and my finances in researching, and to actually arrive at non costly decisions quickly and actually start creating rather than ending up in endless research loops.
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