What is a Dopamine Detox?
A dopamine detox, simply, is removing any activity that gives you instant gratification in your life, and replacing it with a delayed gratification activity.
‘Instant gratification’ refers to the activities we do in our daily life for our short term/instant pleasure. Eg – Watching movies, eating cake, playing video games.
These activities don’t give us any long term benefit, and usually give us negative long term side effects.
For example, let’s say you really like eating sweets. You decide to eat extra sweets for dinner everyday. The first few weeks, you probably don’t see any health effects because of the extra sugar. So you continue this habit for months, even years. Now, all that extra sugar has compounded over the years. You have diabetes now.
The opposite of instant gratification is DELAYED GRATIFICATION. Delayed gratification refers to the activities we do daily that give us a long term positive benefit. Eg- Listening to self improvement podcasts, exercising everyday, giving gratitude, eating clean foods, working on your career.
Myths:
- When you’re on a dopamine detox, you can’t have fun.
COMPLETELY INCORRECT. During a dopamine detox we’re focusing on replacing modern habits, scrolling through the news, watching TV, with more beneficial habits. There are many delayed gratification activities you can do whilst having fun. The top thing I would recommend is taking up a hobby which is good for your physical health. Playing a sport, joining a yoga class, etc. or exercising at home. My personal favorite is gymnastics and doing muscle workouts.
For more information on how you can fully enjoy a dopamine detox, watch this video.
2. During a dopamine detox I have to go all out and quit every bad habit.
INCORRECT. If you’re doing just a quick, 24 hour dopamine detox, I would recommend you to leave everything that gives you instant gratification.
But if you want to continue your detox long term (for the rest of your life), ease your way into it, or else you’ll quit early. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself in the beginning.
Benefits:
- More peace and calm. Your mental health will improve. No more anxiety and depression.
- More free time.
- Better sleep.
- Life fulfillment.
- Improved memory, logical and creative thinking skills.
- Better concentration, better problem solving skills.
- Your health and athletic ability will also drastically improve.
How to Start a Dopamine Detox:
- Identify all the habits in your daily life that you will reduce or quit forever.
- Gradually start removing these habits. Eg – If you watch TV everyday, reduce it to twice per week. Then once you get used to that, remove it from your routine.
- NOTE: Don’t think of your dopamine detox in terms of ‘streak’. For example, lets say that you are proudly announcing that you have been on a detox for 54 days. But then, you accidentally did a bad habit. Don’t punish yourself for it. The goal of a dopamine detox isn’t getting the highest ‘streak’, but realizing you can live without these bad habits.
- Since you’ve now gotten rid of these bad habits, you’ll have some extra free time. Replace this free time with DELAYED GRATIFICATION HABITS.
- Now, watch your life change forever.
IF you do decide to go on a dopamine detox, leave a comment telling me how you felt after your first 24 hours. I would love to support you and hear your thoughts.
