I‘m trying a Dopamine Detox

Hey friends,

as you might be aware, I have a critical mindset on social media. I'm currently trying to get any time I can get my hands on, and not using any social media could really save you some hours.

I have to admit, even if I found it to be bad, I still use YouTube daily. For some it's TikTok of course, which is even worse, but getting away from any social media platform can be hard. After trying YouTube blockers and other methods, I found that just reducing the number of Videos you watch never solves the problem. To actually revert it from your only happiness after a long workday, is to literally stop using it. I thought life could almost be meaningless. What should I even do after school? Is there anything that still can be called fun and relaxing?

I have just been confronting my addictions for so long, that I wanted to do something more difficult to reverse. If you want to quit smoking, then you eliminate any smokes you can get your hands on. Because less smoking never works, we all know that.

I just said to myself: stop using YouTube right now, and keep like that as long as you can. And now I'm about five days in and my results were interesting. I have a heavy phase in school right now with many exams. And I also had to do a lot of copywriting for my new job. But even though I was working every single day until the evening (around 8pm). I felt pretty happy. I wasn't depressed about not being able to use YouTube. Even though I had some impulses, I was never able to work this focused in a long time. My mindset just keeps being the same for the whole day, whilst social media was the reason it broke so many times, probably.

In other words, I always started and ended the day with motivation to work. But every time I took a break and watched YouTube, my motivation just died, and I didn't see any reason to act. The so-called detox actually removed all the distractions I had.  

If you're unaware what a dopamine detox is, then allow me to explain. It basically means that you don't grab your phone in the morning, and keep yourself from getting distracted. It mostly revolves around not getting distracted by social media specifically. That is because those platforms are designed to keep you there for as long as they can. The design, position, and specific color of ever button. And for example, YouTube or TikTok videos/clips can make you pleased. They entertain and release the hormone called Dopamine inside your brain. It isn't the hormone of happiness, though. Ok, in a way it is. But it's more the hormone of motivation, which is the reason for you to build a habit using those platforms.

One drawback of this is that, like candy, too much social media can not only make you addicted and consume a lot of your time, but also make the rest of your life seem a lot less interesting.

And me, a person of Gen-Z, basically grew up with social media, should have a hard time not using it. But I want real life achievements to feel more thrilling. I want to be more hyped for simple things, and have fun reading a book. All that is possible, if you stop being addicted like everyone else.

Getting back home, not instantly going on YouTube, feels different. My afternoon changed from a very short break off school, to a big canvas that can hold a large, beautiful drawing. That was a metaphor that basically says:

Possibilities are expanding, you can finally do more creative work.

People nowadays are really distracted. My dad once told me that if you're able to do 2 hours of deep work every day, then you could be compared to a superhuman. Normally, it took me a lot of effort to get into a sort of flow. But now, I do feel like work became easier.

Hmm,

You should check your screen time if you're reading this. If you find yourself using social media more than 1 hour daily, then I recommend you realize a sort of addiction that actually has a lot of impact on your life.

If you ask yourself again, why you are not achieving the things you want. Why you're always busy and never have time. Why people became successful but you didn't. Even as simple as, why didn't I do my homework? Even better, why did I fail at this exam?

Social media addiction is the reason for all of them. But surely partly.

Maybe try to confront your addictions. Even though everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean it's healthy. Mindfulness is becoming more and more rare. To get it back, to stand out and be different from others, try a detox yourself. And no, don't stop watching YouTube forever, but after a month of no YouTube at all. Appreciate the videos you're watching and be mindful of the purpose that you bring. Never again kill time by just looking into the recommendations and let the algorithm do the work for you.

Sorry, if this wasn't a flashy blog post with clear bullet points today, I felt the need to express some thoughts I had on this subject. They might help you improve your life. In general, though. A skeptical mindset is pretty rational to have.

Consider checking out other posts,

Have a lovely day :)