# Does anyone else find cubing to be depressing?



## Snoutmol (Mar 15, 2013)

I love speedcubing, but whenever I try to sit down and practice it, I get depressed. I feel like I'm slowly wasting away in my room. 

Then I get addicted to solving it over and over and I can't stop. I have to force myself to stop.


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## uniacto (Mar 15, 2013)

then don't sit in your room. do it somewhere else.


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## Snoutmol (Mar 15, 2013)

uniacto said:


> then don't sit in your room. do it somewhere else.



That helps a little bit. But I still feel like I'm being incredibly unproductive and wasting my life.

Then again, I do sit and practically do nothing for 2-3 hours a day at school. I should bring a workbook to school or something...


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## Ollie (Mar 15, 2013)

This is partly why I took up BLD and memory sports simultaneously. At least by improving my memory whilst cubing and then taking it even further to pack of cards, names and faces, numbers, letters etc I felt I was practicing a useful real world skill as well.


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## AlexByard (Mar 15, 2013)

Snoutmol said:


> That helps a little bit. But I still feel like I'm being incredibly unproductive and wasting my life.
> 
> Then again, I do sit and practically do nothing for 2-3 hours a day at school. I should bring a workbook to school or something...



I have felt this too. But as I thought about it I realised it wasn't the cubing I was just generally unhappy, shared no common interest with anyone. It wasn't untill my friends got into cubing I stopped feeling this. So it could be that it's not the cubing but rather your perspective of where you stand right now. You just need too fins more drive for life.  I hope this could possibly help.

Sent from my MT11i using Tapatalk 2


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## JianhanC (Mar 15, 2013)

after a while you'll get sick of it. take a break or try out a different event.


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## cxinlee (Mar 15, 2013)

To me, improving my times and learning new things are achievements. Thus, I fell great when that happens.


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## SenileGenXer (Mar 15, 2013)

Clean your room and put some bright stickers on the cube? Add some light and new music. Exercise. Exercise outdoors.

Change your environment because you can and because it helps. 

I'm not trying to be personal and I'm not projecting but you may be seasonal. You might have been thinking these "wasting my life" "can't control x,y,z" "I get depressed when" kind of thoughts all winter and be due for a big change in attitude and energy very soon. That energy is going to flood in to whatever you are interested in. The hardest thing to overcome is the fact that all the "wasting my life" "can't control x,y,z" "I get depressed when" thoughts are false conclusions that you have repeated to yourself too many times. Your only wasting your life if you give up something you have worked on or decide to do it poorly, you can control a great number of things if you set yourself to it, and you got depressed because it was winter.


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## kunparekh18 (Mar 15, 2013)

If people found cubing depressing, this forum wouldn't even have half the population it has now.


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## Dacuba (Mar 15, 2013)

Not wanna be prejudiced or something, but how often are you with people?


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## Ickathu (Mar 15, 2013)

Why do it if it's depressing? No, I don't find it depressing. On the contrary, if I'm feeling depressed or angry or upset I usually turn to cubing (or math) as a stress reliever and calmer of sorts.


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## emolover (Mar 15, 2013)

Hell no. The most common emotion I feel while cubing is anger. Given, I am an angry person so...


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## ben1996123 (Mar 15, 2013)

sort of but not really. its kind of why I rarely cube anymore and do stuff I actually like now, such as making a sim so I can cube more (but I'm bored of sim too now)


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## Florian (Mar 15, 2013)

well for me it was that when I realised that it's basically a waste of time to cube like an hour a day. I basically stopped and cubed here and there once or twice a months.
Just go out with friends instead or build study groups instead. Or for the time you're alone find something usable to do instead of 3 hours of cubing, like watching Khan Academy/sixty symbols or other studying. Or the best option read "The Art and Craft of Problem Solving" by Paul Zeitz  , a great book.

Have a study aim, but not like an awesome mark at school or (you're from US right?) a 2400. Something different like being team of the IMO, IPhO or IChO. Cause that's something different AND much more interesting than school stuff, whilst it helps you with school as well. Not sure when the US evaluation comp for those olympiades starts, but maybe (if I'm lucky and you as well) we'll see each other in 2014 .

But still don't give up cubing it's a great hobby with great experiences at competitions.


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## Escher (Mar 15, 2013)

Hey man, when I was cubing a lot and really depressed I was doing 1000 solves a day. I did get pretty good for a time, so maybe it was worth it. It's probably just that you're depressed anyway, and cubing allows you hours in the day to suppress actually thinking about your life and what to do with it. If you feel like that all the time, you should probably get help. If it's just when you cube, you should probably find something else that is productive and has more obvious positive effects in other areas, such as a sport, or dedicating your time to learning things like languages or programming, or the wealth of interesting things they never bother to teach you in school. I play LoL now which is hella fun, but I wouldn't recommend it if you mind being called an ***** by aggressive imbecilic 11 year olds.


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## jayefbe (Mar 15, 2013)

As other people are saying, it sounds like you're depressed in other aspects, and are blaming cubing as the cause, when it's actually the symptom. The time spent unhappily cubing probably isn't happening because you love cubing, it's probably due to having nothing better to do. 

Not every second has to be spent doing something completely productive. As a grad student, I value my leisure time and wholly take advantage of it. It's during those times that I cube or participate in my other hobbies because they enrich my life. But the thing is, these hobbies are a PART of my life, they are not all of it. Because I have close relationships with family and friends, and because I have rewarding work, I can spend the whole weekend cubing without feeling like there's something missing. Granted, there's very little any of us know about you to be making such large assumptions, but I imagine that your larger issue is that your life is lacking these things. Not cubing.


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## AlexByard (Mar 15, 2013)

Is anyone else just loving how this community has come together like this too support an individual? I am!

Sent from my MT11i using Tapatalk 2


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## SpeedSolve (Mar 15, 2013)

Look at the good things cubing is bringing you as well. Not only does it bring attention at school, it brings in all the chicks. Amirite? Cubing is a good hobby, it's not supposed to make people depressed. If anything you're making the most of your life doing something that isn't something just anybody can do. Sure, a ton of people can solve but ask 50 people at your school if they can solve a cube and take that ratio and you'll see what I mean. And if you're still depressed, well, get a therapist. It really does help.


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## uniacto (Mar 15, 2013)

SpeedSolve said:


> Look at the good things cubing is bringing you as well. Not only does it bring attention at school, it brings in all the chicks. Amirite?



Nope. They'll see you as a nerd, trust me on this one.


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## 5BLD (Mar 15, 2013)

I find it depressing to cube alone now but thats about it
I also find it depressing when i dont want to cube


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## kunparekh18 (Mar 16, 2013)

uniacto said:


> Nope. They'll see you as a nerd, trust me on this one.



No, they really attract the girls, my experience 



5BLD said:


> I also find it depressing when i dont want to cube



i feel the same, tis very depressing

Sent from my A75 using Tapatalk 2


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## cxinlee (Mar 16, 2013)

kunparekh18 said:


> No, they really attract the girls, my experience
> 
> 
> 
> ...


1. If you mean the 6-year-old girls, then yes.
2. I also feel depressed when I don't cube.


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## kunparekh18 (Mar 16, 2013)

cxinlee said:


> 1. If you mean the 6-year-old girls, then yes.
> 2. I also feel depressed when I don't cube.



No, 15 yr old girls

Sent from my A75 using Tapatalk 2


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## cxinlee (Mar 16, 2013)

kunparekh18 said:


> No, 15 yr old girls
> 
> Sent from my A75 using Tapatalk 2


I cube in public and no one notices at all. So for me, it's no.


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## kunparekh18 (Mar 16, 2013)

cxinlee said:


> I cube in public and no one notices at all. So for me, it's no.



Yeah maybe. But at school, it does help, try it out! 

Sent from my A75 using Tapatalk 2


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## cxinlee (Mar 16, 2013)

kunparekh18 said:


> Yeah maybe. But at school, it does help, try it out!
> 
> Sent from my A75 using Tapatalk 2



I'm home-schooled.


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## KrisM (Mar 16, 2013)

Honestly, if you have a balanced lifestyle, and cubing is not ALL that you do, you shouldn't feel sad or like you are wasting your time. 

That being said, sometimes I feel like I AM doing nothing with my spare time when I cube, and it IS a waste of time, but then I remember my pothead friends who spend thousands of dollars on the hemp lifestyle, and literally waste so much time on that, or anyone else that has an excessive hobby. So I just socialize, get outdoors to take the dog for a walk, or a hike/ski somewhere and it cheers me up, so I can come back, and really enjoy cubing even more. 

And, after all, there could be worse hobbies. At least cubing challenges your intellect.


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## Noahaha (Mar 16, 2013)

Use TTW and you won't be alone.


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## kunparekh18 (Mar 16, 2013)

KrisM said:


> Honestly, if you have a balanced lifestyle, and cubing is not ALL that you do, you shouldn't feel sad or like you are wasting your time.
> 
> That being said, sometimes I feel like I AM doing nothing with my spare time when I cube, and it IS a waste of time, but then I remember my pothead friends who spend thousands of dollars on the hemp lifestyle, and literally waste so much time on that, or anyone else that has an excessive hobby. So I just socialize, get outdoors to take the dog for a walk, or a hike/ski somewhere and it cheers me up, so I can come back, and really enjoy cubing even more.
> 
> And, after all, there could be worse hobbies. At least cubing challenges your intellect.



Exactly. +1



Noahaha said:


> Use TTW and you won't be alone.



Yeah, TTW is somewhat old style but it still rocks


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## The Doctor (Mar 16, 2013)

Cube with others and for others! Use it to show off, it's fun, just don't get arrogant with it.


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## cxinlee (Mar 16, 2013)

Actually if you're feeling depressed because you haven't done something useful, then you should do something to make yourself do better. Donating to charity, helping someone, etc. There are many things you can do to contribute to the world. At the end of each day, think of something useful you have done. Then you won't be so depressed.


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## ottozing (Mar 16, 2013)

I find it to be therapeutic most of the time. It can get boring though, but certainly not depressing


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## emolover (Mar 16, 2013)

cxinlee said:


> Donating to charity



Maybe it's because I am a class-A ***hole, but donating to charity is depressing in my opinion. The few times I am actually feeling generous, I would much rather build a house for the poor or do a service for the poor so I could see the end result and the joy on their faces. Donating to charity is the easy way out of generosity and it makes you feel like you are just giving money away.



ottozing said:


> I find it to be therapeutic most of the time. It can get boring though, but certainly not depressing



True dat. 

Cubing serves four functions to me-
1: A way to interact with others
Whether it be through the forums to the competitions to the cubers I have created in school it makes me interact with other people so I don't become depressed.

2: It wastes time
Specifically it wastes time that needs to be wasted. A human who runs at full efficiency will not run for long. It wastes time to keep me from chronically doing drugs which keeps money in my wallet. It also makes it so that the ample amount of time I have does not turn to boredom which then turns into depression.

3: It's my hobby
This again plays on the wasting time thing but it makes it so I have something to do with time. I also don't have to worry about finding a hobby when I have this one.

4: It vents my anger
I am a very angry person due to hormon imbalances and can be angered from the smallest things even to the point where I start breaking things. Cubing is an outlet that makes me use my energy to get better. When I am angry I cube better as a result of this.


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## uniacto (Mar 16, 2013)

I've taught a few of my friends to cube, and they're slowly getting better and teaching our mutual friends. It makes cubing much more fun when you cube with other and watch everyone gradually get better


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## Smiles (Mar 16, 2013)

some people are happy with what theyre always doing, like most gamers, which is similar to cubing. compared to irl, u dont get much done. however, u accomplish things within its own activity and thats what really counts if u actually like cubing.

in a parallel universe, whats the point of being good looking and ripped and very popular when it doesnt help u cube faster? when u cant brag about it online?


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## MostEd (Mar 16, 2013)

I cube when I get depressed, helps sometimes.


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## elrog (Mar 16, 2013)

I can't ever say I was depressed while cubing. I have been very dissapointed, but got over in within hours. The most dissapointing thing for me was when I though I had a completely new idea for a method that reduced down to only 180 degree turns and found out about HTA the next day. Other than that, it is just sort of dissapointing that there are no other good cubers I personally know that I ever get a chance to converse with. I've tried teaching some people, but they just dont pick it up as quick as I first did. I don't really have anyone to share this hobby of mine with, so I just spend alot of time on the forums. The forums have really gotten me even more interested in cubing than when I first started because there are so many ideas to be tested and tried such as Kijarva's 1 look 2 algorithms LL system.


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## Zamulacz (Mar 16, 2013)

I solve cube for 2-3 hours everyday. I'm not depressed while I'm cubing. Some time ago I was playing cs 1.6 definetly too much. I made 1200 hours of online game (mostly ESL) in year. Sometimes I was playing 10-12h nonstop on day. Now I realized if you something love, your spent time doesn't matter. I had a lot of fun while I was playing with other gamers, but I couldn't meet these people in real life easily. When speedcubing became my main passion I can cube everywhere with other speedcubers, not only my home. I have now much more fun with that


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## Clarkeeyyy (Mar 16, 2013)

5BLD said:


> I find it depressing to cube alone now but thats about it
> I also find it depressing when i dont want to cube



You better not quit :3


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## MichaelErskine (Mar 16, 2013)

I do sometimes get rather low when doing lots of 3*3 (for me > 20 solves is lots!) Maybe due to the lack of progress that I seem to be cursed with. Surprisingly I found that the skewb and pyraminx cheered me up immensely! I dunno, I get a lot of internal voices whilst solving telling me how stupid I am when I make mistakes and how I'm wasting everybody's time with my pointless obsessions. Kinda negative I know!


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## applemobile (Mar 16, 2013)

Get a pet Owl. Or hedgehog.


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## arvind1999 (Mar 16, 2013)

I do slow turning solves when I am depressed by some other reason other than cubing.
I feel depressed by cubing when I cube too much.


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## fazcuber (Mar 16, 2013)

Sometimes when i cube too much. I just stop then.


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## Snoutmol (Mar 17, 2013)

Thanks for all the responses, everyone! I'll think of happy thoughts next time I cube, and try to be 'pumped' for it.


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## Clarkeeyyy (Mar 17, 2013)

This makes me sad seeing that many cubers are "depressed". Are you sure it isn't the pressure that cubing is "uncool" and you feel that you are wasting time. Time well wasted is not wasted.


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## 5BLD (Mar 17, 2013)

I find the more you think of cubing in a goal orientated way the less depressed you get.
If you try to think of cubing for fun you get depressed, specially when alone.

By the way it's definitely not he fact it's "uncool". I am really proud of the unique stuff I do and the unique skills and achievements/interests I have. There's other reasons, i think its because I depend more on cubing now for talking to people and the fun of sharing knowledge that I don't like it as I used to.


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## KongShou (Mar 17, 2013)

i dont think its wasting time. you are spending time working your fingers and brain at its maximum potential, instead of getting to round 181 on ascension. i think getting to 15 prestige on black ops or playing skyrim is a far bigger waste of your time. But playing Borderlands is fine, you are using your time wisely.

BTW whilst i dont find cubing to be a waste of time, it is very depressing when you practice look ahead for 2 months,get in sub 16, stop for a week and find yourself back at sub 19. its VERY DEPRESSING


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## Eleredo (Mar 17, 2013)

Maybe you're cubing a bit too much. Try taking a couple of breaks. I have never felt depressed because of cubing, but I do get pretty bored when I hit a plateau and fail to get any faster. You'd be amazed at what a break could do for you. I actually got 2 seconds faster when I picked up speedcubing again, without doing anything, just by taking a break.



5BLD said:


> I find the more you think of cubing in a goal orientated way the less depressed you get.
> If you try to think of cubing for fun you get depressed, specially when alone.



Well, that's funny. For me, it's the other way around. When I think of cubing in a goal orientated way, I usually fail to meet the goals I set and it is then that I get slightly upset about it. When I just pick up a cube and solve it for fun, I actually have a good time.

But then again, it's all personal. While this or that might work for me does not mean it works for everyone else.


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## KongShou (Mar 17, 2013)

Eleredo said:


> Maybe you're cubing a bit too much. Try taking a couple of breaks. I have never felt depressed because of cubing, but I do get pretty bored when I hit a plateau and fail to get any faster. You'd be amazed at what a break could do for you. I actually got 2 seconds faster when I picked up speedcubing again, without doing anything, just by taking a break.



guess what, im gonna try this. it might be just what i need


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## MichaelErskine (Mar 17, 2013)

5BLD said:


> I find the more you think of cubing in a goal orientated way the less depressed you get.


That's opposite when the goals are never achieved!


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## HelpCube (Mar 17, 2013)

MichaelErskine said:


> That's opposite when the goals are never achieved!



So set realistic goals. If you're busy with school and such don't expect to do an average of 200 every day.


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## uvafan (Mar 18, 2013)

Cubing is really fun for about a year, then it gets pretty boring. At least that's my experience.


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## o2gulo (Mar 18, 2013)

I mostly found cubing depressing, because I have no one to share my experiences about, no one was able to relate to this speedsolving stuff around my area. It was like, I felt that I was alone or something. Not until cubers popped out every now and then, and there I made friends with them. The loneliness I felt faded


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## MichaelErskine (Mar 18, 2013)

HelpCube said:


> So set realistic goals. If you're busy with school and such don't expect to do an average of 200 every day.


Done! I originally expected to improve at the rate that practically everybody else on the forum was improving. That turned out to be unrealistic although I could have never predicted it to be the case. I stopped expecting to improve some time ago! Depressing eh?


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## MaeLSTRoM (Mar 18, 2013)

MichaelErskine said:


> Done! I originally expected to improve at the rate that practically everybody else on the forum was improving. That turned out to be unrealistic although I could have never predicted it to be the case. I stopped expecting to improve some time ago! Depressing eh?



Learning easy OLL's helps :b


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## ncube (Mar 18, 2013)

get some skype friends and race. if you're worried about cubing alone and being a loner, just cube with moar people.


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## szalejot (Mar 18, 2013)

I have brother who also cube and it's great. We can race sometimes, talk about techniques and do some non standard cubes together (like for example Axis cube).


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## cxinlee (Mar 18, 2013)

szalejot said:


> I have brother who also cube and it's great. We can race sometimes, talk about techniques and do some non standard cubes together (like for example Axis cube).


Good for you. My brother also cubes but we don't get along.


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## BluSune (Mar 18, 2013)

i cube with people at school, and sometimes ill just go to random places so people can appreciate my hard work by saying something like, "how the heck do you do that?"


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## kirtpro (Mar 18, 2013)

I'd say bit of both for me
good mood and bad mood
depends on the day i guess

sometimes its "goddamnit im bored and worthless" lol
others its "damn, im amazing" lololol


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## MichaelErskine (Mar 18, 2013)

MaeLSTRoM said:


> Learning easy OLL's helps :b


Absolutely! I love it when a new one comes up and I manage to recognise it and get it right. That one you taught me on Saturday is great!


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## CubezUBR (Jun 21, 2013)

When i had a sort of deppresion period a few months back, cubing was the only thing that kept me from complete mental breakdown and insanity. So no, i find its the opposite


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