What I Learned From ZERO Entertainment for 11 Days…
Cheap dopamine has created your current plateau.
There’s this neuroscience idea floating around right now called a dopamine detox.
The general idea is to identify the behaviors that give you a quick, yet unearned “boost…”
Scrolling social media.
Binge-watching television.
Playing video games.
Eating processed foods.
Ignoring the extreme cases for a moment (like avoiding eye contact with people), basically you just take a break for a few days or a full week to sort of reset your mind.
I’m doing a version of this now, but I don’t want to call it a detox, because I don’t have a set number of days in mind, nor do I plan to end the experiment before I finish my goals.
Instead, I’m just no longer doing those things.
Because my goals are more important than those things.
I realized that I was feeling accomplishment from…
…finishing a television season.
…or getting lost in social media for an hour.
…or eating some fast food as meal replacement.
So, if you can abandon the things that give you simple pleasure, you can find real joy just working on your goals.
[I wrote a little more about this here, in regards to harnessing the power of boredom.]
If you have this base, you can do basically anything.
I don’t worry so much about getting things done in a timely manner because I now know I will get them done.
There’s nothing in my way, just more time slots to finish what matters most.
Today, as part of this continuum, I worked on…
- Publish Medium ✔️
- Schedule Email ✔️
- Experiment MidJourney ✔️
- UpWork outreach 2x ✔️
- Post VRBO dates ✔️
- New client samples ✔️
- Build BrockSwinson.com ✔️
- Strength training ✔️
- Start tomorrow’s post ✔️
Now, I’ve only discussed work here, but we’ve also spent a lot more time outside, been to the pool with friends multiple days, saw extended family, cooked meals together, and all of the other things you know are important but certainly don’t write down on a checklist.
Once you have this baseline, then and only then can you start to focus on flow state and all of those ideas and tactics scattered across Medium.
(This is true for everything.)
When I interviewed neuroscientist Friederike Fabritius, she told me…
“It’s important to condition yourself. That’s what athletes do and that’s what mental athletes have to do. I have a routine. I have to have a clutter-free desk. My door needs to be closed. I listen to classical music. And when I set up this routine, my brain knows to focus. If you always make it the same, your brain will get into flow faster and you can go longer.”
In retrospect, it’s only been a few days compared to how much time I spent trying to balance work, life, and cheap dopamine wormholes.
And I know I’ll let some of this back in at some point, as I love experiencing amazing content, but not at the sake of ignoring my own work, not anymore.
If you’ve felt a creative plateau or just can’t seem to get your important work done, consider your own dopamine detox. You may discover the thing you spent so much time on wasn’t worth doing in the first place.
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Postscript: if this piece resonated with you, you can grab my book, learn more about my challenges, or book a call to discuss working together right here: https://www.brockswinson.com/home
