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May 1 - May 1, 2023
Instead of working toward our goals, we might pop out for a walk, grab a coffee, check our emails or reorganize our files instead.
Instead of working on your goal first thing in the morning, you end up checking your emails, looking at your stock portfolio, or scrolling your Facebook newsfeed instead.
Dopamine gives us the desire to take action to earn the exciting reward that’s waiting for us. It is the force that makes us act.
Contrary to what many people believe, dopamine is not a pleasure chemical.
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.
more our environment or actions trigger the release of dopamine, the more we’ll want our next “shot” of dopamine. In fact, this self-reinforcing mechanism is also how many addictions work.
By continuously triggering the release of dopamine through different means—such as drug or alcohol consumption—addicts actually strengthen their tolerance to such stimulation. As a result, they need stronger and stronger stimulus to experience the same sensation of pleasure.
many activities can become somewhat addictive, for example: Gambling Sex Shopping Thoughts/rumination Video games Exercise (to extreme) Work
Your focus is a scarce asset, which is why marketers spend billions of dollars to attract your attention. Many apps are designed to hook you. Social media companies like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram know that the more time you spend on their platforms, the more money they make through advertising. Perhaps one of their greatest recent discoveries is the use of notifications. How many times have you opened an app just because a red notification pops up on your screen? And how much time did you waste subsequently? I wouldn’t be surprised if it ran into hundreds of hours each year.
instead of using the internet to find information or communicate with loved ones, the internet has become the one using you. It does so by hijacking your focus and making you unproductive and, as a result, restless.
dopamine is not a pleasure chemical; it is a neurotransmitter that is activated when you anticipate a potential pleasure. And that pleasure is usually temporary.
Studies have shown that one of the best predictors of success is the ability to think long term. 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.
long-time perspective, “was the most important determinant of financial and personal success in life.” He defined “long-time” as the “ability to think several years into the future while making decisions in the present.”
I believe that social media, and the internet as a whole, have negatively impacted our ability to both think long-term and to focus deeply on the task in front of us. It is no surprise, therefore, that Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, prohibited his children from using phones or tablets—even though his business was to sell millions of them to his customers!
As we demand more and more stimulation, our focus is increasingly geared toward the short term and our vision of reality becomes distorted. This leads us to adopt inaccurate mental models such as: Success should come quickly and easily, or I don’t need to work hard to lose weight or make money.
No, watching motivational videos all day long won’t help you reach your goals. But, performing daily consistent actions, sustained over a long period of time will.
you should start by staying away from highly stimulating activities.
long-term thinking is the “secret” to achieving your goals. But it won’t happen today or tomorrow. You must develop the art of patience and consistency. To do so, eliminate the distractions that make you feel restless. Remove the external stimulations that prevent you from focusing on the long-term picture.
whatever your mind says, excitement doesn’t equal fulfillment.
How much did I actually benefit from watching YouTube videos, scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed, or checking my emails repeatedly? In hindsight, was the time spent in a meaningful way? Did it enhance the quality of your life? Remember, excitement isn’t fulfillment. Excitement can be fun, but make sure you work on developing an inner sense of peace and a heightened state of focus. This is much more likely to bring you fulfillment in the long run.
A dopamine detox helps reduce stimulation, thereby allowing you to revert to a more natural state. When you need less stimulation, seemingly challenging, boring or tedious tasks will become more appealing—and easier to tackle.
In the first column write down all the activities you will allow yourself to engage in. For instance, it might be going for a walk, journaling, working on a project, or reading books. In the second column, write down all the things you must avoid doing during your dopamine detox. For instance, it might be watching YouTube, checking your emails, or using social media.
refuse to let busyness be an excuse to avoid reflecting on your life.
Simply write down a few key tasks you must achieve today. Three to five tasks might be ideal. Place them in order of importance and start working on your first task. Once you complete it, proceed to the next.
The key to productivity can be summarized in three words: Focus, Consistency, and Impact.
Productivity can then be defined as having consistent focus on your most impactful tasks.
By focusing on your key tasks consistently for just forty-five minutes daily, you can make more progress than you can with almost anything else you could be doing instead.
I recommend forty-five minutes of intense work as a maximum. If you want to do several sessions, take a five- to ten-minute break between each work block.
An open system is simply an application or situation that provides you with a continuous and never-ending supply of external stimuli. Some examples are emails, Facebook, YouTube, and, more generally, the internet as a whole.
With open systems, there is no end to reach, no point at which you can ever be finished, and an almost infinite number of ways to become distracted. As a result, you can end up wasting hours of your time each day.
In today’s world, maintaining focus has become incredibly difficult. That’s because everybody is vying for our attention. And I’m not just talking about our family members, friends, or colleagues. I’m also talking about marketers, YouTubers, or bloggers. Nowadays more than ever, the ability to attract people’s attention is one of the biggest sources of income for many companies. In short, your focus is worth a lot of money, which is why YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram do everything they can to keep you glued to your screen.
The world is working against you. There will always be someone trying to grab your attention. As such, you have two choices. You can protect your focus by building habits and systems, or you can remain unprepared and let anyone distract you from the important things you should be doing with your time. Which option will you choose?
To prevent overstimulation, cultivate the “here-and-now” neurotransmitters, which include endorphin, oxytocin, or serotonin.
These neurotransmitters are the opposite of dopamine neurotransmitters in that they make you feel calmer and more present.
Next time you go for a walk, observe things around you as if you were seeing them for the first time. Focus on each of your senses. See things you’ve never seen before. Hear sounds you’ve never heard before. Smell aromas you’ve never smelled before. Experience bodily sensations you’ve never noticed before. Be present!
So, stop letting your environment hijack your brain and regain control of it instead. This is the key to a healthy and productive life.
