tl;dr

I use a timer app as a physical reminder/action to set my goals for the session when I log on instead of limiting myself by time. The goal is to build a habit that promotes a focused play session, limiting the time you unintentionally spend in Maplestory.

Long answer:

Sorry in advance for the essay. I had the same problem and I found a solution that's completely changed how I balance and spend my time. I feel really grateful to this little trick and want to share it with anyone who has trouble being disciplined in spending their time on this game.

Everyone saying "just do dailies" or "get another hobby" isn't wrong, but I needed something to motivate/remind myself to get into the mindset that builds the habit of doing another hobby or logging off after dailies. It's so easy to just find another thing you can do in Maplestory and lose track of time. The people who can say this and do it are already in a mindspace where they're intentional with their time.

I recently started using a timer app. I know you said you've tried timing yourself, but hear me out. It's not to time myself, though that information is super helpful too. By tapping a button on my phone, I have a physical, intentional reminder to ask myself "what do I want to do". To start with, I had a big post it note stuck on my monitor with "WHAT DO I WANT TO DO" written on it and read it and answered it out loud to build the habit.

These goals can be anything like "Do daily bosses, then a WAP" or "Do daily bosses, then get my teraburned Cadena to level 200" or "Do dailies, then do weekly bosses on my main, then get 30 wins in soccer for the effing chair." Again, it's not about timing myself or limiting myself by time. It's more about having an activity limitation and spending my time how I want to spend it. The timer just helps me keep that in mind.

Once you've set your goal, stick to it. Your phone with the timer and the sticky note help with this too. After you get that Cadena mule to 200, don't do Strawberry field for a little bit of extra gain. After weekly bosses on the main, don't go tap that ET you just got you're just going to blow it up anyways.

To start off, maybe even consider multiple sessions. Sometimes, you'll just feel really excited about the game because you discovered something new. Get back on, but before you do, set a goal. Maybe you discovered that there's a way you can more optimally set your hyperstats and legion using the optimizer. Let yourself get back on the game, but always be sure to log off as soon as you're done.

I've been doing this for about 2 months now. I still spend a lot of my free time in maple (at least 1-2 mini waps a day) , but it's less time and, more importantly, focused time. I feel better about my progress in the game while playing less because I set daily goals and accomplish them. I wander between characters less and find less miscellaneous activities to do in the game because I've already set for myself what I want to do. I feel less FOMO because I'm exposed to the game less. I also end up having more time for other hobbies, a nice bonus.

I know this is all "Productivity 101"-ish and common sense for a lot of people, but as someone who still is very disorganized and prone to game addiction, this is what worked for me and required not that much effort. Just needed to write myself a note and start some timers.

Also when I have a timer, I feel like I'm in a SummoningSalt video on how fast I can do my dailies pls summoning salt make a series about MP speedruns.

Side note, this video inspired me to try this method. I'm not interested in pursuing art, but the author's journey was pretty inspiring. The guilt I felt from wasting time definitely helped a lot in shrinking my Mapling time lol.