I think the time has come to stop playing Pokemon go. The only thing which has kept me going recently are the daily streaks. They provide a bonus for the first catch and first stop visit each day, and a substantial bonus for each seven-day streak. That made another whole level reachable just when I thought I was ready to stop playing, and so I kept at it a while longer. But now, I think it is all sunk cost fallacy. I am not striving toward any goal, so there is no point other than habit to keep going. The time the game motivated me to take an extra walk are also long gone, and on the beautifully sunny day we had today it struck me just how much nicer and more relaxing it is to walk around without paying any attention to a phone in my pocket which might buzz at any moment.
It was, simply, clear the game had long moved from motivation and entertainment to another distraction and pointless "should". As wise people (and I) discussed some time ago, deciding to end them may be one of the most important parts of streaks.
I quit the game, put the phone in my inner pocket, and walked away squinting into the light. I am not sure when I last felt so relaxed, present and free of made-up busywork. Now, that could be a streak worth working on for a while …
There we go, the game is deleted from my phone.
I wonder what I will fill the time with?
Not to mention the blank space on the home screen. With only one page and two folders, it takes some use to qualify for a spot.