Above sketch by me!
I’ve seen this trend going around for the past year or so, and would like to share some of the techniques I use.
For the purposes of this post, a dopamine detox is when you are relieving your mind of constant stimulation so it has some space to breathe and can use that energy towards things that are more meaningful to you.
Most people use this in reference to social media and web browsing, but it also encourages reducing other stimulants like binge eating (in favor of exercise), gaming, and other stimulants.
With work and personal circumstances you cannot avoid certain things, but you can apply these as much as you can and find them helpful:
- Make everything boring– On devices, gray wallpaper. If it helps, you can make wallpapers one picture of Bhagavan (God) to remind you of your responsibilities and the bigger picture. You may also, through Settings, be able to make all icons one color.
- Notifications-turn them off, reduce them and set content to not visible in notif form. Can also set them to only show up when you unlock your phone screen.
- Following-you really don’t need to follow anyone, including me. You can look them up. From my experience the human brain can only care about up to 5 things, and I had at one point been following thousands of accounts. If you do follow me, I am honored to have some of your brain space.
If you need to follow people for work, best to have separate accounts. - Turn off watch history– probably intended to force you to turn it on, this new feature on YouTube is great. When you enter you are greeted with a blank screen and not dozens of videos clamoring for your attention like other apps. It also prevents you from scrolling through shorts past about 2 videos (unless you’re looking through an individual channel’s videos). And less data collected from you! Win win.
Instagram is the exact opposite of this, which is why I provide all posts on my website as well. - Invisible inventory– first heard the term from the minimal mom, also applies to digital inventory. You usually don’t need to save playlists, posts, or lots of photos. You can likely delete lots of them and feel no difference.
- Clear your space– speaking of minimalist mom, make sure your work and living space are clear. Particularly with your work space you want it to only remind you of work. If you have a lot of clutter of some kind, time to tackle.
- Make time for silence– many Hindus do this during eating which I will make a post on, but anyone should incorporate silence into their day. Whenever you do it, don’t bring your phone, don’t listen to music, watch TV or watch a video. Don’t talk to people as much as possible. This will not only free up more space in your head, but also help you know when and how much to speak, and make you feel more present, grounded and observant.
- Trade out your habits and hobbies– ask yourself “is this just distracting me or is it making me happy?”. This is the distinction between a “comfort”, which is temporary and inconsistent, and something that genuinely makes us happier over time.
Slowly reduce things one by one. You will find even the things that felt important and part of your recreation or personality/ identity may not be that important to you afterwards. (This includes music consumption)
For new activities, any form of exercise is a great one, as is learning a new skill (one that leads you away from screen time). Meditation and prarthane (prayer) are transformative. Things that take you away from your thoughts and screens are best. You can also start taking part in Seva (service) at your local mandir or centre when you have time.
Try 30 min at a time at the outset (this linked video on meditation/prayer mentions that time too). Whatever it takes to get you to start and then work your way up.
Hope these help!