Dopamine Detoxing - How to Get Motivated Again

I grew up in two extremes.

Let me know if you relate.

Work that didn't excite me (maybe school?) and entertainment that helped me forget about that work.

College became more of the same but on steroids. I had more free time, so the entertainment increased along with it. Skipping classes? Gladly if I could play some more Halo. (Excess free time is poisonous if we're not careful.)

Then we grow up and get jobs, yet somehow, no matter how busy we are, we still carve out time to entertain ourselves.

We're conditioned to believe that this is "just the way it is." Work on something that is boring and then entertain yourself with stuff that doesn't lead anywhere. No wonder why we're all sad at the time. This isn't living. It's the commonly acceptable "everyone needs to unwind at the end of the night." If I were to scan your brain with your activity of choice, most of the time you'll see that your brain is indeed not unwinding (unless you're reading a book).

I still had projects outside of work. I was able to muster the energy to go workout, but I also had music projects that I wanted to work on. I'd convince myself to work on it by using gaming as a reward.

It worked, but the problem with this approach is that my brain still wanted to do the fun stuff, gaming, more than the project work. Having something super stimulating makes real life, especially work on something of your own making, dull in comparison.

What will help us achieve a goal we have?

Putting in the work.

What could get us there faster?

Actually enjoying the process.

But how do we make that happen?

We all know those maniacs in the gym. We know that the gym isn't a pleasant place, but these people actually enjoy the pain. With that mindset you can go pretty far.

There is a formula to achieve the same mindset.

First of all, you have to figure out what you want in the first place (goal setting). If you spent enough time away from your electronics, you'll have the time to brainstorm what this could be for you.

Second, if you keep cheap dopamine out long enough, your brain will start to enjoy working on that goal because it has to get it's dopamine source from something if there's no entertainment getting in the way.

The answer is to just detox.

Entertainment: The Mental Handbrake

To answer the problem of setting a goal, just ask yourself a couple questions:

Is there a hobby/project/workout routine you want to pick back up or get into for the first time?

And,

What's stopping you?

If you sit with those long enough, you can figure it out.

Let me give my own example, even though it's not gym related.

I played World of Warcraft way back when it came out. It was a major time sink. However, since it required a monthly payment and I was a jobless college student, I had to take breaks from it from time to time.

I was always in the gym no problem, but at the same time I was learning guitar and writing my own music as well. When I took WoW out, my enjoyment of working on music went through the roof. I'd write a part, get stuck, go walk to class and on the way get more ideas and write some more.

Why?

I was bored.

That's pretty interesting that my motivation for it went up even though I had no goals for music writing and wasn't even sharing it with anyone.

Your brain doesn't like hard things.

It just wants to be safe.

Your logical brain knows you should be taking care of your body, but your emotional brain doesn't want to budge. I guarantee that part of the reason is that you give it easier sources of "fun." If you keep giving it easy wins, it doesn't want to do the harder stuff.

The solution is to just not give it the option in the first place.

Entertainment is New. Your Brain is Not.F

There are a few examples that we can see around us of people who drop entertainment in some capacity and accelerate through what they want to achieve.

The first that comes to mind is Ben Patrick (Kneesovertoesguy). He went on a 400+ day no-entertainment (and no cheat meals) streak. During that time he did a lot of content creation and it's no surprise that his motivation and business increased around the time.

Another is Alan Thrall. If you don't know who he is, he's a strongman, powerlifter, head coach/owner at Untamed Strength. Although he didn't mention entertainment specifically, he told the story about how he opened a gym but struggled in the beginning to get customers and make enough cash to keep the lights on. He described having many nights of crying and being confused about what to do next. Do you think he sat around the couch watching TV or playing video games? Did he even have the time? Even though he's in a better position now, I'd assume you'd have limited free time with a couple kids and a gym to run.

Or just think of anyone else who had to go through a period of a grind. Maybe it was you during college finals. There are countless stories of people who give up gaming or other sources of entertainment and put that energy to good use in the modern time.

Then just think about your bloodline. Did they have TV, video games and phones 100 years ago? Even 50 years ago not everyone had a TV. Yet you think you "need it to unwind every night?"

They didn't have it at all back then, which means you don't need it right now.

Lastly, the sinister thing about entertainment that isn't mentioned as much goes beyond doing it in the moment. Even if it's playing DotA at night (my former self), the rest of your day is compared to the fun you'll have at night. You think about all day, you talk about it with your friends, you research the best strategies in your free time. Then after a few games you feel horrible about yourself. Maybe you even ruined your sleep for the night because you stayed up too late.

Trust me.

That was me.

The Detox Roadmap

Now before you go and remove a bunch of stuff, you have to figure out what you want first. Otherwise you're just going to be put yourself in a boring void.

Meaningful "Work"

You don't just want entertainment to forget about work, it's just that you haven't found something to work on that will excite you.

The way to find it is to spend some downtime, think about what you want out of life (or the opposite of what you don't want), then create a goal around that. Imagine the pain of not getting it in vivid detail and imagine the feeling of achieving it as well.

This is the "work" you'll be focusing on. I say "work" in quotes because I don't necessarily mean getting a new job. It could be as simple as working on your body in the gym.

Name Your Vices

List out all the stuff that holds you back. Keep in mind that what is a problem for someone else may not even be a problem for you. Let's list out a few of the problems that most people face.

• TV

  • The news (Don't watch this. You can get informed in 2 seconds, you don't need a 24/7 news feed.)

  • Sports (each game lasts at least 2 hours)

  • Other stuff (a show could last at least 30 minutes)

• Video games

  • You know why

• Scrolling

  • Bad for your attention span. Makes you compare yourself to others. Feeds you more negativity (just read the comments). There's even news on there now.

Reduce

You have to figure out what level you want to use. You can take a gradual reduction or rip off the band-aid.

I'll spell out what's worked for me.

1. Work on your project first. Anything else could be a reward.

2. Entertainment - allow yourself 2 hours (can be your reward) and reduce the time as you go along

3. Phone

   1. Don't flat out delete the apps since that's the opposite extreme of using it all day.

   2. Fast from it in the morning (you could workout during this time)

   3. Fast from it before bed for about an hour.

   4. Then give yourself a social media time limit (30 - 60 minutes is enough. Less is better.)

   5. Follow fewer people. Seriously. Following the Rock doesn't help you get into the gym (trust me I know).

   6. TURN OFF NOTIFICATIONS

   7. Leave your phone in another room when working or in your gym back if possible.

If you really want, you can just go cold turkey for a week or month or even 90 days just to drastically reduce the cravings for them. After that point you'll have to figure out how to add it back into your life, if at all. You can do this.

If you get super "bored," you'll have to create a time table for yourself.

Alternate Activities

"What do I do with all of my free time?!"

My man…(or woman)…

There are plenty of things that you can do (and your ancestors did) that do not involve being in front of a screen. You just have to remember them. Pretend you're a kid again. Speaking of being a kid, you had less technology back then than you do now, no matter how old or young you are, and somehow you're still here.

The way to set up your days is to make sure you're getting your "work" done first. I'm not going to tell you when to work on it as everyone is different. If you're a busy adult, mornings work well.

After that, read about your interest if (more like when) you get stuck. Information will stick out at you now that you have a goal.

Otherwise, just take care of yourself.

• Train more (or stretch)

• Sleep more

• Read more (even all those fiction books collecting dust in your house)

• Stare at a wall and think more

• Spend more time with other humans more

• Walk more

• Be a human more

If you set this up properly, your enjoyment for all the meaningful activities will start to increase. Your attention span will get better. Your overall happiness will increase.

How can I say the last part?

Remember how I said cheap dopamine makes the rest of life dull?

It's like having access to candy, donuts and soda 24/7, then being told to eat chicken, broccoli and rice one day.

You won't want it.

But if you didn't eat for 3 days straight, ANY food will start to be more appealing.

That's the way it should be.

The meaningful stuff in life should be exciting. The reason it may not be for you right now is because you've bombarded your brain with things getting in the way.

Cut them out and get your brain back.

Thanks for reading!

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