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Save Your Attention Span With a DD
Mind Mastery Minutes - V1.6
Henry Adams
March 04, 2024
“The world has become a place of overwhelming abundance: Drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, social media . . . The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation.”
A 2-part problem:
1. You have big goals, dreams and aspirations for your life.
2. But you’re constantly distracted with no motivation to actually achieve what you want.
I had the same problem.
I thought I needed more time, or more energy.
I was wrong.
What I needed was to hit factory reset on my brain.
So I thought I would try…
A double D.
Dopamine Detoxing (DD):
A dopamine detox is a self-imposed period of reducing or eliminating the brain’s exposure to cheap dopamine/instant gratification.
Social media
Substances (alcohol / drugs)
Content aggregators (YouTube, Reddit)
Watching TV/Netflix
Video games
Masturbation
Combinations of above
Essentially swapping LEFT → RIGHT for a short period.
Most people have multiple devices bombarding them constantly, draining their attention and energy.
To get your focus back, you need a reset.
Taking a short period where you completely eliminate cheap pleasures can reset your dopamine levels back to baseline.
Your brain returns to how it should be.
You know to rest your body when it has been exerted,
But what about your mind?
Your mind never gets a break.
It has been hijacked by modern life.
The chemical rewards of cheap dopamine are unnaturally high.
Far outweighing what real life provides.
So the cheap will always be more appealing.
This makes devices impossible to resist, so you waste hours every day consuming instead of creating the life you seek.
Controlling dopamine gives you back control of your life.
I urge you to find a way to immerse yourself fully in the life that you've been given.
My Detox:
I recommend detoxing for between 3-14 days to start with.
First time I did this for 7 days.
But at the start of 2024 I did it for 41 days.
I have never felt better or got more done than during those 41 days.
These were my two columns:
Do More
| Do Less
|
Bit extreme?
Maybe.
But I was sick of being hooked on cheap dopamine.
I was automatically consuming at any spare moment I had.
If you feel the same,
Then take action to free yourself from digital dependency.
Experience your full potential when not limited by attention thieving content.
It doesn’t have to be a detox, just limiting your consumption slightly can have a significant impact on your life.
When you’re stuck in the dopamine trap…
Life is always “the next thing, and the next and the next”.
Constant seeking for the next dose of distraction or immediate pleasure.
Detoxing has allowed me to take control of my mind and redirect my free energy and time towards improving my life.
To be honest,
You probably wouldn’t be reading this had I have not done this.
Practical Steps:
Write down all of the digital habits you have. Instagram, Netflix, whatever. Make a physical list
Make the list visible. Either on the door of your room or phone background for example.
Set up your environment. You need to use tools to block addictive apps or you will end up back on them. Use tech to fight tech.
Refer to the bottom of this:
Choose new habits or hobbies you want to replace your old ones. Start exercising. Join a club. Start reading and journaling before bed.
COMMIT. Make yourself accountable. Make a promise to yourself. It will be tough to break the habits you have built over time. But it is worth every effort.
The modern devil is cheap dopamine.
"Dopamine is a chemical released in your brain and your body when you sleep that paralyses your body so you don't act out your dreams."