Dopamine Detox
🚀 What is it about in 3 Sentences
- The book explains the role of Neurotransmitter “Dopamine” in our behavior & how its functioning has been hijacked in modern world.
- It addresses the consequences we face due to “Dopamine Trap”.
- We can get back to normal functioning by undertaking “Dopamine Detox”
💁♂️ Who's it for ?
- Chronic Procrastinators
- People who struggle having attention & focus.
- For all those who seeks to eliminate distractions & improve their overall productivity.
✍️ My Top 3 Quotes
The truth is that no amount of stimulation will ever bring you the sense of fulfillment you’re seeking. Yet, many of us are constantly overstimulated, looking for the next source that could trigger a release of dopamine. It seems as though we always want more and are never satisfied. And the more we seek stimulation, the worse it becomes.
Remember that excitement and fulfillment aren’t the same things. As you learn to eliminate external stimulations and immerse yourself in your work, hobbies, or relationships, you’ll experience a deeper sense of fulfillment and will feel much better.
People who repeatedly focus on where they want to be in the future, make better decisions in the present. They tend to eat healthier food, be more productive at work and save and invest more money than others.”
📒 Summary + Reflections
Most of us face this issue wherein we are actually pretty clear about the specific tasks that are to be done & the associated rewards/benefits that awaits us once we accomplish those tasks, but yet we struggle to get it done. Either we never seem to start or we often get easily distracted after starting & lose the momentum to complete the tasks. Not only do we fail to get things done, we also end up getting overwhelmed with the associated stress, negativity & self doubt. None of us actually want to be in this state, yet we constantly find ourselves down there. Much have been discussed & written about tackling this issue pertaining to human productivity & there have been various approaches aimed towards it. This book discusses from the perspective of Human design. It focuses on our biological activity, mainly the role of the neurotransmitter “Dopamine” and how it regulates our course of action to achieve our tasks & goals.
The Role of Dopamine
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter/hormone in our body whose primary function is to anticipate rewards & thereby provide an encouragement to take action. For eg: It is the force that give us the desire for sexual relationships & eating nourishing food- both activities that are associated with human survival & existence. Activities that we undertake are usually bound by rewards & achieving it makes us happy & instills inside us a sense of fulfillment. However certain activities are more-stimulating than others. They offer us an instant gratification. For eg: Playing video games, social media scrolling, gambling etc. Engaging in these activities quite often triggers continuous release of dopamine & it finally disrupts the natural balance of the system. We find motivation to do those tasks which supply us with instant gratification, yet face a lack of desire to do those tasks with delayed gratification that requires concentration & focus. The result of this being procrastination.
The Dopamine Trap
As we have discussed the natural role of dopamine in our body above, we understand that it serves higher objectives. But in the current modern life driven by capitalistic & hedonic pursuits, the real purpose of this neurotransmitter have been turned upside down. Most of us do not realize that the most valuable asset that we posses right now is our focus & attention span. Marketers spend billions to grab your focus/attention. The social media apps studies our behavior patterns & develops algorithms to steal more & more of our time & focus. These dopamine traps have affected us immensely, some of it are:
- We have lost the art of patience, & hard work, instead we pursue for get rich quick schemes.
- The pursuit of healthy sexual romantic relationships within family units is being disrupted by indulgence in lustful activities disrupting the social balance of the society.
- Instead of eating to stay healthy & fit for longer life, we practice gluttony & pleasure eating.
- We lose our ability to think long term.
- We fail miserably in getting the important task done & ultimately lose out on all life goals.
- We suffer from ADHD.
To come of out this trap, the most important thing is to be aware of the tricks of mind that makes you fall into these dopamine traps. Let’s go over four common tricks our mind plays to keep us overstimulated.
- You are in control of your work & actions: The mind convince us that we are in good control of our tasks, we can switch on & off as we like, but in reality that’s not the case.
- You can do it later: The mind tells us that you have plenty of time & you always a tomorrow, but the reality is that tomorrow never comes
- Wishful thinking- Excitement is fulfillment: We are deluded to think that excitement is same as fulfillment. How often we expertly plan the task, but yet get nothing done?
- Fear of Missing out: The reason why we always respond to notifications is that we have developed a scarcity mindset, where in we feel the fear of mission out, thinking that opportunities are limited.
Dopamine Detox
Dopamine detox is defined as undertaking conscious effort to prevent overstimulation and put you in the proper state of mind to tackle major tasks. The three types described in the book are as follows:
- The 48-hour complete dopamine detox: It involves elimination of all sources of external stimulation for 48 hours.
- The 24-hour dopamine detox.
- The partial dopamine detox: It entails removing your biggest source of stimulation. Usually, one specific activity acts as your greatest distraction.
Below is a three-step method to help you perform a successful dopamine detox.
- Identify & list all distractions in a sheet of paper & stick it to a prominent place.
- Make negative habits harder by adding friction.
- Make good habits easier by reducing the friction.
- Implement a daily morning routine & make sure the hardest tasks are done at first.( Eat that frog concept)