Book title: Dopamine Detox: A Simple Guide to Eliminate Distractions and Train Your Brain to Do Hard Things
ISBN: 978-967-0015-65-1
Author: Thibaut Meurisse
Publisher: AcePremier.com Sdn. Bhd.
Publication year: 2021
Price: RM30
During most times, my mind would wander off into my own world or constantly want to check my social media for anything, regardless of its importance.
This habit often led me to put off most of my work to a later date. Even during my student years, I would procrastinate on almost anything, opting to engage in more “exciting” activities instead of completing important tasks.
After encountering this book, I thought it was a good opportunity to learn more about why procrastination happens and why it is tough to focus on tasks after making time for other activities.
In the book, Thibaut Meurisse, the author, talks about why we prefer doing things that are more mentally or physically stimulating than what we are supposed to do.
This resonated with me as I reflected and realised my assignments could have been completed earlier if not for distractions.
In Part One, the author introduces us to dopamine, a neurotransmitter that gives us the desire to take action to earn exciting rewards from certain activities.
In Part Two, Thibaut talks about the problems that trigger the neurotransmitter, such as how our dopamine is hijacked, how constant stimulation draws away our focus, and how food cravings are part of the problem.
Within the subsections, the author provides examples of how our dopamine is affected, like expecting satisfaction after checking our emails, how the food industry promotes high-sugar foods to stimulate our appetite, and how this impacts our ability to think long-term.
At the end of the chapter, the author also suggests some stimulation traps our mind plays on us, such as the fear of missing out, convincing ourselves that returning to work is easy, and others, causing us to procrastinate.
Moving to Part Three, the book mentions the benefits of a dopamine detox and three ways we can detox. In other words, it discusses needing an equal amount of stimulation from an external source to balance the dopamine output from distractions.
Thibaut then describes three detox methods: the 48-hour detox, the 24-hour detox, and a partial dopamine detox.
Each method involves removing something completely from our schedule, such as social media, excessive exercising, processed sugar, or any other distraction.
Entering Part Four, Thibaut begins by explaining how to start a successful detox through a three-step method: identifying our biggest distractions, making them harder to access, and starting the plan the next morning.
Additionally, he advises readers to relax, take notes, write down their problems alongside their solutions, and identify their fears to increase the effectiveness of dopamine detoxification.
Part Five is where the accumulated efforts of Parts Three and Four come together, as Thibaut states we should pinpoint our biggest task of the day to be completed.
The next step, according to the author, is to set a place and time for work and establish a trigger point to start, while eliminating any distractions like social media and those listed in the previous part.
Finally, in Part Six, Thibaut touches on the potential for a dopamine relapse since old habits are hard to completely avoid.
In light of this, he proposes a few suggestions, such as developing self-awareness about when you are overstimulated, avoiding dwelling on relapses, having a contingency plan, and understanding that the world is always trying to influence you in various ways.
The book concludes with a framework encompassing all the items explained throughout the entire book for readers to practice and test on their own.
Personally, this is a fun and flexible book for me because I can always refer back to it when I am either straying from the plan or redoing my plans.
Furthermore, the book also trains my discipline in resisting some of my biggest temptations, like high-sugar foods and constantly checking my smartphone during unnecessary moments.
This book is a great help for those who have procrastination tendencies and is quite a fun, short read for leisure purposes. Personally, I would love to find more books with high interaction rates with the reader.
