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Conclusion

Highly stimulating activities make you lose control of your attention and affect your focus over the long term. Society offers so many things that can hijack your dopamine neurotransmitters. It wants you to buy things; the best way to sell them is to steal your attention and say that you are not enough. Becoming who you want to be, building a happy family, or losing weight can often become complicated. When you are overstimulated by short-term gratification, you cannot do the things that bring the most value to you.

Don’t expect fulfillment from short-term pleasure activities. Fulfillment comes from activities that align with your values and goals.

Choose the type of dopamine detox that feels good to you right now and explore your feelings. Your mind is such a magical system that helps you build your life. Exploring it in such an exciting way might bring you results you never thought possible. If you feel restless or want to check your messages on a detox, take notes to identify your state of mind and what you may have been doing that led to that feeling. It will help you understand yourself better.

The world is fighting for your attention, but you must succeed in achieving your aims. Winning the battle for focus is a continuous process; sometimes, you have to start over. You must have power over your environment, not vice versa. After all, your life goes where your focus goes.

Try this

After succumbing to overstimulating activities, take a moment to ask yourself these searching questions:

• Was the benefit from social media or junk food worth my time?

• Has it improved the quality of my life?

• What is the next step to make the situation better?

• What task would make the biggest impact if I completed it?

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 From outer chaos to inner peace

Let’s focus now on how to deal with overstimulation. A dopamine detox will help you reduce your stimulation level by creating the proper state of mind to perform important or challenging tasks.

You can protect your focus by building habits and systems. ~ Thibaut Meurisse

There are three types of dopamine detox:

1. The 48-hour dopamine detox. It’s about eliminating external stimulators for 48 hours, including caffeine, alcohol, movies, phones, social media, video games, the Internet, and junk food. Instead, you can meditate, walk, journal, read, do yoga, and enjoy nature. It’s also a great time to sleep, eat well, and just exist. Engage in solitude and don’t be afraid to get bored — nothingness is an excellent place for new thoughts and beginnings.

2. The 24-hour dopamine detox. You do the same as the 48-hour detox but for 24 hours. Returning to a natural and peaceful state of mind might take a while, but 24 hours is a great start!

3. The partial dopamine detox. Here, you can eliminate one activity that eats your energy and time. For example, you can limit social media usage or take a break from streaming services.

It may sound scary initially, but if you do your best to follow small steps, your mindset shifts from the unknown to the possible. Let’s take a look at how to begin.

Step 1 — Make a list of “Dos” and “Don’ts” during your detox: What are your greatest distractors? We provided some examples, but listen to what feels right for you.

Step 2 — Implement friction: How can you avoid overstimulation? For example, if you struggle with Instagram, a good idea might be to delete the app and only use it with a browser. Write ideas like this in your list of “Dos” and “Don’ts” next to each activity.

Step 3 — Start your day with a calm morning routine: Another idea might be adding something to your morning routine that deepens your focus. For example, stretch and listen to relaxing music. Planning your day gives you clarity and a feeling of control. Start with it first thing in the morning.

Action: To avoid procrastination, set intentions for your day.

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 Trick your brain before dopamine stimulants do

You procrastinate not because you are not disciplined enough, not capable, or not deserving of your dreams. You procrastinate because you are overstimulated. How often do you feel calm and focused?

Think about this: You wake up in the morning, check your phone, scroll through social media, make breakfast, and decide to watch a video while you’re eating. You chat with someone, drink another coffee, reply on Instagram, and scroll through stories for 40 minutes. Back to TikTok, send a random email, and do your laundry. You are on a hamster wheel of small tasks that give you a quick dopamine fix. Your essential duties seem uninteresting and dull compared to these tasks. Boom! Welcome to procrastination! You may say that it’s not precisely your pattern of morning procrastination, so think about what your distraction loop looks like.

Action: Learn to find joy in simple and non-stimulating activities.

Here are the top four lies your mind will tell you to trick you into overstimulation:

1. You can return to work anytime. What difference will 10 minutes make? Wait, is that you laughing I hear? The truth is, if you are not in control of your actions, there is a high chance you will lose hours.

2. You can postpone the task for later. But wait, how many goals have you failed to achieve because of delays? There is a risk it will become a habit.

3. Do something else because it’s fun and exciting. Exciting doesn’t mean fulfilling. Both feelings are important but separate concepts; a comfortable balance should exist between them.

4. You will miss opportunities if you don’t check your social media and emails. But possibilities are everywhere; there will always be plenty of new things.

Rate these lies on a scale from 1 to 10 to reflect what keeps you feeling overstimulated.

Productivity consists of three main components: consistency, impact, and focus. Consistency means developing a routine; the impact is choosing what’s most important for you. To be more focused, follow these points:

• Eliminate distractions.

• Practice being at the same place at the same time for work.

• Inspiration and concentration also come from doing, so simply starting the task can help.

• Work without interruptions for a while; you can do 45-minute cycles of work and a 10-15-minute break.

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Make space for meaningful things

Humans have evolved for millions of years; many of your present behaviors exist because your ancestors believed they were crucial for survival. For example, consuming sugar and fat produces dopamine. In the past, sweet and fatty food helped people survive; it contained energy and provided more calories. So, you must thank evolution for your taste preferences, as those who liked sweet and fatty food had more chances to survive and reproduce. Overstimulation and craving more comes from sugar and fat, as well. So, reflecting on your daily dose is a good idea.

Similarly, social media makes you expect fast feedback through a like, comment, or message. It programs people to desire quick results, which differs from how you reach your long-term goals.

It’s easy to fall for short-term gratification and feel good immediately. But this keeps you from pursuing long-term happiness as you jump from one fleeting pleasure to another, aiming to fill the void of emptiness and unfulfillment as quickly as possible. But the funny thing is sometimes you need that void; you need it to fill up with things that make you truly happy. And when you overload it with junk food or excessive use of social media, you have no desire to pursue your deeper values.

Action: Resist the urge to check for updates and messages constantly. 

You dive into this world filled with success stories and feel insufficient. And when you feel jealous or not enough, the hustle to suppress it with quick dopamine and overstimulation is even greater. Here are the main things you can do in this case:

• Ask yourself, “What feelings do I invite with the activity I am doing now? Do I want it to be this way?”

• Then, ask, “Where is my focus right now? Where do I want to be?”

• Practice patience to help you pursue more meaningful things.

• Get rid of the distractions that leave you feeling restless.

• Develop long-term thinking about your goals. Remove or reduce whatever stands in your way.

"Dopamine and constant stimulation can impair your ability to think long term." ~ Thibaut Meurisse

Did you know? Steve Jobs didn’t allow his kids to use iPhones or iPads because of the underlying dangers and risks of addiction these devices can pose. Bill Gates didn’t give his kids phones until they were 14.

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Your life is what you focus on

There are dopamine traps you can fall into by seeking constant stimulation. The more you encourage the release of dopamine, the more you crave it again, which can become an addiction. You can get in a loop of constant shopping, Netflix, sex, work, or alcohol, leading to lost focus, low productivity, and no fulfillment. There are many ways to seek short-term rewards or gratification; it’s no surprise they may trick your brain.

Your focus is so valuable that major corporations want it. Amazon, Facebook, and YouTube strive to steal your attention with sophisticated algorithms. You watch one video, and the app recommends another, trying to keep you there as long as possible. But these algorithms don’t have your best interests in mind; they aim to show you advertisements and make you buy things. Tons of notifications scream at you to stop whatever you are doing and give your time to them. That’s how the dopamine neurotransmitters in your brain are hijacked and manipulated.

Adjusting your focus to concentrate on the right things isn’t easy. Yet, when you act on the knowledge you’ll discover in this summary, you’ll be more powerful than those billion-dollar companies.

Whenever a notification pops up, you expect a like or a message from a friend. You check your emails or YouTube, hoping to find something exciting or fun. And then comes overstimulation and loss of focus.

Action: Limit notifications to minimize constant digital interruptions.

Overstimulation happens when you excessively engage in activities that create bursts of pleasure, anticipation, and reward. The feelings you get from it are incredibly fleeting and short-term, and pursuing goals that give you long-term fulfillment doesn’t feel like fun. Why would you strain yourself for a real reward when the world offers you a bonus at this exact second? The problem with short-term rewards is that they leave you as quickly as sand through your fingers. And then you feel empty. Instead, you can dedicate time and energy to building a sandcastle you value so much that you want to nourish it over the long term.