Ever since I started working a 9-5 job, I've often questioned myself where all my time goes. I have about 6 hours each day to clean up, eat well, exercise, and 48 free hours every week. Yet, I struggle to complete even one or two tasks on the weekend. Where does my time go? I think everyone knows the answer. I got addicted to entertainment, dopamine addicted.
What’s covered?
- Statistics About Time Spent on Phones.
- What is Dopamine?
- How to Overcome Dopamine Addiction?
- Tricks to Prevent Dopamine Addiction.
Time Spent on Phones Over The Past Few Years
With technology being so accessible, we spend too much time on our phones and digital entertainment. According to various statistics, average daily smartphone usage has increased by at least 10 per cent since 2013:
While the distribution of screen time can vary, on average:
We spend most of our phone time on social media, gaming, and other activities. We know it's harmful to our physical health, mental well-being, and relationships. But why can't we stop? The reason is we are all dopamine addicted.
What is Dopamine?
Dopamine is a chemical known as 3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine. It belongs to the catecholamine family. It makes up about 80% of the catecholamines in the brain, made in the brain and kidneys.
Dopamine plays a key role in the brain's reward system. It's released during pleasurable activities like using your phone or gaming. Low dopamine levels can lead to upset and blues and, in the long term, may cause depression.
Dopamine naturally makes us feel happy. When you win a game, your brain releases dopamine as a reward, making you feel happy and satisfied. However, that's not enough for many people—about 80% will want another game until they feel empty or anxious.
The Pressure-Pain System
Dr. Anne Lembke, the director of Stanford Addiction Medicine describes our dopamine system like a seesaw with pleasure on one side and pain hormones on the other.
“When nothing is on the balance, it’s level with the ground. When we experience pleasure, dopamine is released in our reward pathway, tipping the balance towards pleasure.”
But this balance can't stay tipped towards one side forever; it seeks equilibrium.
Dr Anne Lembke explains this self-regulating system as “little gremlins hopping on the pain side of the balance to counteract the weight on the pleasure side.”
The gremlins represent homeostasis—the body's way of maintaining physiological balance.
“Once the balance is level again, it keeps going past neutral to tip an equal amount towards pain.”
At this point, no amount of games, short videos, or news can bring you the same pleasure you felt at the beginning.
When you reach this stage, your brain will crave more pleasure to balance things out. You will keep looking for similar experiences, like switching from TikTok to YouTube videos, moving from one drama episode to the next, or reading one book after another. And the seesaw? It will end up like this.
Dopamine deficiency, in other words, you feel anxious, bored and the pleasure that you are seeking will no longer help you to bring the balance back before. So, how can you overcome this?
How to Overcome Dopamine Addiction?
When you seek pleasure, your brain releases dopamine, causing a balance shift on the seesaw of pressure and pain. Conversely, seeking discomfort also engages this seesaw. Dr. Anne Lembke suggests that the most effective way to reset this balance is by actively seeking pain.
Seeking Pain Can Help Combat Dopamine Addiction
Seeking pain doesn't mean harming yourself physically; it's about tackling tasks you've been avoiding, that you hated to do but need to do. These could be activities like exercising, meditating, playing with your restless kids, cleaning the house, or handling tedious office work such as replying to emails and dealing with complex paperwork.
By facing these unpleasant tasks—seeking pain—your brain releases more dopamine to balance out the pleasure-pain seesaw. Over time, this can help tip the balance toward experiencing more pleasure.
Dr. Anne Lembke stated that balancing dopamine release through seeking pain can have lasting effects throughout the day, bringing you genuine happiness.
Starting your day with these activities can tip your pleasure-pain balance towards pleasure for a longer duration. This helps reduce the likelihood of seeking distractions like your phone or social media during work, which is an unconscious way of chasing dopamine.
Seeking pain can be easy or hard, depending on your desire for a better life. However, there are times when starting your day with "pain" isn't possible. So how can you avoid falling into dopamine addiction and distractions throughout the day?
Dr. Anne Lembke suggests a few more methods besides seeking pain directly to manage this:
Put Yourself in Awareness
Dr. Anne Lembke explains that in everyone’s consciousness, we have a powerful self-binding system. This system can help you avoid getting addicted to your chosen pleasure. However, it usually activates only when you're already deeply addicted. So the goal is to wake up this self-binding system early to prevent addiction.
Next time you indulge in your chosen pleasure, ask yourself these five questions:
- Is this pleasure essential to your survival?
- What value does it add to your life?
- Can you stop once you start using it?
- List five downsides of this action.
- Is there something else you should be doing now?
By asking these questions and reflecting on them, you can awaken your self-binding system. This awareness helps redirect your focus to important tasks, in other words, the pain. This can provide the dopamine you need without resorting to your chosen pleasure.
Delay the Pleasure
If you still find yourself distracted despite all your self-questioning, try setting a lovely timer in your office. And start with:
“I will touch my phone after 5 minutes,” then start the timer.
After 5 minutes, say, “I will touch my phone after 20 minutes.”
Eventually, aim for, “I will touch my phone after I complete this task.”
This method helps you delay gratification and boost productivity by focusing more on your work.
Delaying pleasure can help reset the balance between pleasure and pain. While not as effective as a two-week delay, it can still reduce the impact of dopamine addiction. In fact, it gives you more dopamine when you use your phone again. This extended dopamine effect helps reduce the time you spend interacting with distractions throughout the day.
Balance Your Thoughts to Stay Positive
But sometimes, we just can't shake off negative thoughts. On those tough days when nothing seems to lift your spirits, it's crucial to find balance instead of diving into pain to reset the pleasure-pain balance directly. Here are some tips to help manage negative thoughts:
- Whenever you have a moment of peace, focus on one positive thing from your day and appreciate it for 10-20 seconds. It can be as simple as appreciating that your loved ones are still healthy and by your side, even if they sometimes bring you down.
- Recall happy memories with loved ones or people who helped you through tough times.
- Avoid sources of negativity if they keep bringing you down; steer clear of anything that triggers these thoughts.
Pain is Productivity, and Distractions is because of Dopamine Addiction
It's often said that there's always a downside to good things. This also applies to seeking pleasure; we know we need to relax, play games, and watch movies. However, the downside is that we might get addicted and waste valuable time.
Interestingly, in places like South Africa, where entertainment access is limited, people report being happier than those in some highly developed countries (according to the World Happiness Report 2024). Seeking pleasure isn't bad; it's a human instinct that keeps us alive and motivates us, much like how ancient hunters were honoured for their success. This survival instinct has carried into modern times, but now we have easy access to pleasures, leading to dopamine addiction.
So next time you feel unhappy, stressed, or anxious and want some relief, try starting with something you avoid doing the most. It could be walking your dog, spending time with your parents, or teaching your kids a science project. Try one of the recommended techniques to find your balance. And if you stick with it, you'll find it more rewarding than ever!
At FONSEKA, we offer personalised guidance to help you break free from negatives and cultivate a more productive lifestyle. Our expert coaches can assist you in developing strategies tailored to your unique needs, empowering you to achieve a business goal. Read more about Developing a Growth Mindset in the Team (Stellar X Event May 2024). Contact us today for mindset coaching and start your journey toward a healthier relationship with technology and yourself!
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References:
Lembke, A. (2021). Dopamine nation: Finding balance in the age of indulgence. Penguin.