The Dopamine Detox Challenge *(Science Based)*

Day 13/30.

 

Day 9/30

One more day completed. Doing fine and enjoying more free time.

 

Day -1

 

I think you might be deluding yourself. Dopamine is dopamine; your brain doesn't care whether it's wholesome pictures of trees or not so wholesome pictures of scantily clad women.

The same for YouTube; inspirational/motivational videos and instructional videos can be helpful but they can also be used to fulfill the cravings left by avoiding porn, Netflix and social media.

I've found that even being active on a forum like this can act as a distraction; and as such it can be a substitute for things like social media, (overuse of) messaging apps, video games and tube sites.

However I might be wrong.. and it is of course completely up to you how you approach this challenge.

 

Checking in on day 15/30

 

Checking in - day 21

 

You might be just right too. But Even monks are allowed to take a stroll outside. We all have different environments ,different limits of environment and different goals. One on this thread might be living in between mountains and looking at them might give him dopamine to appreciate life and be thankful. Other might be locked in a room somewhere focusing inwards and building a better connection with himself. While some like me is just passing by , trying to experience as much as I can of these spiritual experiments as I can while not making them my primary goal. So yes you are very right we all have a different approach to this challenge and life.

Now talking a little about these distractions , I have been a really low in my life. I was addicted to Video Games and porn. I was always better than avg academically and physically. But this phase came in my life when I used to wake up so I can play games on my Computer all day half night and while taking breaks to masturbate two to three times a day. I hardy talked to anyone other than my 4 member family. I still used to deadlift 160 kg back then. I was fuckin fat ,strong and lost guy. Well that was a long time ago. I have come a long way since then . I know a thing or two about dopamine . I understand its healthy levels. Even thinking abt games now gives me a disgust of my past . Similar is with P . Talking about Social Media , I have this 30 min PC allowance at night before dinner when I go through Instagram , sometimes Youtube , and now these Forums .

I have got dreams that gives me enough dopamine to smile at Good Night.

 

Day 2 done. Was Easier than Yesterday. No Phone/ PC usage except work .Feel Better than Yesterday.

 

Day 14/30.

 

I agree we all need to find our own way of dealing with distractions and dopamine levels. Thank you for sharing your experiences!

Today I am resetting my counter.. I had planned to allow some social media and YouTube if I could not avoid it (b/c of work or family obligations). But I just went to Twitter because someone sent me a link and I started scrolling. Only a minute or so, but there have been several smaller slips than this in the past few days.

So, starting day 1 again tomorrow. I am going to avoid social media, YouTube, Netflix and messaging (as much as possible) for the rest of the day.

The hard thing about this is that other people expect me to watch videos and read social posts that they send me. Some of it I cannot ignore.

How do I deal with this? I might give something like a daily internet allowance a try.. turn my phone off or put it in airplane mode for most of the day and turn it on at set times.

If anyone has any ideas, I am open to suggestions.

 

Day 10/30

Checking in. Let's start one more week with energy and focus on our projects!

 

Day 22

 

If you are worrried about your phone usage throughout the day adding up to more than you plan to. You can start with this like I did - Put your phone somewhere like in the cabinet in the room farthest to your own room and put it to silent not Airplane mode , let it catch the wifi ,and for your work purposes open the Messaging app on its web version like Whatsapp on your pc/laptop . If you need your phone anytime , go to the cabinet ,do the required task while standing there and put it back there when done. Do this for like a week ( I did it for a month ) . This way you will greatly reduce your phone usage and and replace it with PC . If you have a laptop make a rule to use it on your work table , never on the Bed. After a week put your phone behind your workspace and turn all notifications off. Check it only at the night hour. Uninstall apps you can do on a pc. Slowly ease the restriction. You will find after sometime that you do not want to use your phone anymore( This only happens when you do something productive with your time that you like, clearing small work goals everyday keeps you away from distractions , keeps your will strong , fulfilling promises done to yourself makes your integrity ) .

Easiest way to get rid Bad Habits is to replace them with Good ones. ( From my experience its the only way )

For the Social requirements , you can give yourself an hour everyday after you are done with all your primary goals , open the messaging app , reply people , open links that need to opened . Only when you need it . Dont make this a habit.

Always Fulfill your Social Responsibilities , for it leads to mental peace in long term.Cannot do without it.

Marla Daniels:The Wire
The tree that doesn't bend, breaks, Cedric.

Lt. Cedric Daniels:The Wire
Bend too far, you're already broken.

My fav Quote “Most people overestimate what they can do in a day, and underestimate what they can do in a month. We overestimate what we can do in a year, and underestimate what we can accomplish in a decade." - Matthew Kelly

Inspired by you , I will leave my Instagram and Youtube for remaining 27 days. Will only use my 30 mins or less to update this forum. Lets Experiment both of us. @hermitthefrog

 

Day 3 done. Completed work early. No phone / PC usage ( except this thread update and Work) . Cardio still left ,but is raining. Will finish strong anyway. Cheers Everyone.

 

Day 15/30.

 

You make some excellent points! Today I've started with a simple new approach for the detox: I am allowed access to the internet my phone and PC 3 times a day: once in the morning, on in the afternoon and once in the evening. These sessions can be on average no more than 15 minutes. Exceptions are a guided meditation app, a language training app and any books that I don't have in physical form (I'm considering getting a simple e-reader).

The plan is to continue avoiding YouTube, Netflix, social media, excessive messaging, pointless surfing and browsing forums. However if there is a practical or social obligation to watch something on YouTube for instance or read a tweet, then that's allowed during "internet time".

Today at work I left my phone in my bag, it worked great!

Uninstalling all smartphone apps can be replaced by the PC is an interesting idea which I am considering..

Good luck moving forward with the detox, I think it's great that you are pushing yourself by staying away from IG and YT!

 

Checking in on day 1/30

 

Day 23

 

Guys I'm going to stay away from the internet for the next week. So consider me as checked in