Find it hard to log the hours

[skelm]

Two months ago my job moved to an overseas location and since I had the funds to cover at least 6 months expenses and was earning quite considerably at my local casino I decided it was time to give poker a shot.

Things started going really well and I managed to put 2 addional months rent / expenses into the bank right away and also continue adding onto my bankroll.

I've been dilegant and always kept my bankroll at $6000.00 and I'm yet to let it slip (I'm playing a soft $10/$20limit game).

The problem I do have however is that since Poker is my only income I'm finding it harder to put in the hours. It's not that I don't have time it's more that I don't have the motivation.

I know if I want to give this a decent crack then I need to start logging the hours but so far I'm finding it hard going past 2 or 3 6 hour sessions a week. Before when I had my day job I was managing to put in at least 4 hours a night on weekdays and the occasional long sessions on the weekend.

This isn't all bad since at this point I'm still earning well above my expenses but I'm concerned that if I don't fix this now it's only going to get worse and could lead me into some real problems.

Does anyone know how I could overcome this or would finding another day job that I enjoy be the only solution?

Cliffs: Lost job and started living off poker - now doesn't have the motivation to play.

[businessdude]

Maybe you need another part time job or activity to give you something else to think about besides poker. Maybe thinking about poker all the time is burning you out.

[OGS20]

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Maybe you need another part time job or activity to give you something else to think about besides poker. Maybe thinking about poker all the time is burning you out.

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Completely agree. Maybe you should just have a couple of weeks off from poker (completely - no playing, reading, forums, etc.). See if that rekindles your enthusiasm.

[kekedarius]

You'll be more motivated to play when your power is shut off and you can't afford to buy food.

[Ook]

Changing poker from a fun hobby that makes you extra spending money to a job where you "have" to work x hours per week and "have" to make x dollars is a real psychological shift. Give yourself some time to get used to this. Increasing the pressure on yourself, even unconsciously can change your enjoyment of the game tremendously. As long as you are still playing well, give it a month or two to adjust to this new poker experience.

It sounds like you were playing as much poker before you went pro as now. What are you doing with the time you formerly were spending working? If you're just siting around bored, this will almost certainly make the time at the tables less enjoyable. If you're going to play about the same amount of time either way and enjoy it more when you have a real job, go for that (as long as the real job doesn't suck).

[skelm]

I’ve sat down and had a long hard think about this and decided that I will either get myself a full time job or I enjoy or return to contracting (which means I would be working on a variety of projects and have more flexibility).

All in all the main point that convinced me were:

- I want to get a home-loan in a couple of years from now and know that having a more reliable income will greatly affect this

- Although my partner is extremely supportive of what I do I know she would definitely prefer a more stable income even though she hasn't said it to me directly.

- Super would be paid by an employer (unless of course I am contracting in which case I'm going to have to manage it myself anyway).

- I enjoy programming still (more then I had realized when I stopped doing it for a living) and although I could dig up some personal projects there really isn't anything like fulfilling the near impossible goals that someone else has laid at your feet.

I think that these points are all fairly strong ones and that for these reasons I would be doing myself a disservice by only having poker as my source of income.

Thanks for the input everyone, it's much appreciated!