I know the math you're doing in your head right now.
You're calculating how many months of savings you just erased in 4 hours. You're rehearsing the lie you’re going to tell your partner or parents. You're feeling that physical weight in your chest that makes it hard to breathe. It is fu**ing brutal.
I lived in that panic for years. I couldn't stop riding the highs and the lows.
I’m a high performing student. On paper, I had it all together, grades, internships, social lifem etc. In reality, I was living a double life. I wasn't losing money because I was stupid; I was losing because I was fighting a chemical war in my brain with "willpower." And I was losing EVERY time.
The turning point was when I realized that trying harder wasn't working. Willpower was not enough. I needed a system that catered to the same parts of my brain as gambling to help me find a new outlet for that energy.
I spent 2 months obsessively building a "Recovery OS" in Notion. I treated my recovery like a video game character I had to level up.
- I tracked "Urge Intensity" instead of just wins/losses.
- I visualized the data: Seeing a graph that proved I usually relapsed on Tuesdays at 8 PM didn't make me feel guilty—it made me feel powerful. It was just data. I could prepare for that.
- I gamified the streaks: watching the "money saved" counter tick up became the new dopamine hit.
Why I’m Sharing This It worked. The "gamification" tricked my brain into enjoying the recovery process. I was a complete financial mess and now I haven't gambled in months.
I cleaned up the template and made it public. I included a free version because I remember scouring the internet for help and only finding expensive therapy or rehabs I couldn't afford.
I seriously just want to help at least one person implement a system to help them stop, or at least slow down their gambling. Do I think this is a cure-all? Hell no. But I do think it could help a few people out there, even those who aren't familiar with notion. I made some walkthroughs that are attached in the template to help make it more approachable to everyone.
If you have any questions please let me know.
If you feel like you're drowning today, grab the template. Start tracking. Turn the shame into data. You can fix this.
https://baselinesystems.notion.site/Financial-Recovery-OS-Lite-2b37643e794480e391c9c9abcdb08651?source=copy_link
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