Digital Detox: Hit the Reset Button

Jun 1

Press the Reset Button

Denial, Rationalization, Justification, and Dopamine

Let’s start by getting our heads in the game so that we can successfully bring our bodies on board. We have a dopamine problem. 🧠 I’m not making that up - there are more books and articles published on the subject every day. I’ll drop a couple of links below so you can check them out if you’re interested.

Yep. Dopamine is my drug of choice. 💉I used to use Instagram to mainline it. I could consume all of the eye candy all day long. 🍭 Then, I downloaded TikTok and knew that I would lose vast chunks of my life to it within a few minutes. 😵‍💫 I deleted it within 24 hours. I have rules now - the first one being “No apps on the phone.”

As you’re reading this, you might be thinking, “Oh, that’s not me. I can control my usage.” 🙈 Or, “I have to use it for my work.” While this might genuinely be the case in some instances, more often, it is likely your denial, justifications, and rationalizations are kicking in. For example, “I’m not a dopamine junkie.” 🙉 Do you look at your phone first thing in the morning? Right before you go to bed at night? Do you look at every notification that comes through? Do you constantly stream media of some sort? Are you a news junkie? Do you know what your usage data is? Do you track your screen time? Do you know how often you pick up your phone in a day? 🙊

I recognize that I have a dopamine problem. 😑 It has made my mind so distractible that it takes ten times as much effort to stay concentrated and focused on the one thing in front of me. I did not always have this problem. I do not have ADD or ADHD unless I have caused it myself. I may have inadvertently rewired my brain 🤯 by allowing new technologies and devices into my life without scrutiny. I struggle to focus.

When I find myself unconsciously opening an app or going onto a news site or losing 20 minutes scrolling, ⏰ I will catch my mind saying things like “just a few more minutes” or “just let me check this one thing” or “you’ve had a hard day you deserve to zone out on some eye candy.” 😈 Those are just some of the denials, rationalizations, and justifications I run on myself. But, I am learning to be vigilant.

I also see this with students and clients – grasping, gripping, justifying, and rationalizing. 😬 Please don’t take my dopamine away! We are constantly immersed in these addictive technologies, and frankly, we’re starting to sound like a bunch of heroin addicts. Are you finding yourself coming up with denials while you’re reading this? Yeah, I thought so. 😹

Day 1 of the Reset is all about overcoming our denial. 🙃 To do this, we have to slow down, pause, and start noticing and questioning. Why am I doing this? How did I get here? What am I NOT doing because I am scrolling, streaming, checking email, texting, etc.? ⁉️

I’m so easily distracted that I’ll go to look up something critical for research, writing, or making and suddenly find myself somewhere I did not mean to go – for I don’t know how long. This can happen multiple times an hour. 🆘 Are you seeing glimpses of yourself here?

We have to overcome our denial, justifications, and rationalizations 🥷🏼 before we can recover the precious moments of our lives that are being stolen from us. 🚫 No, you don’t need to read the news every single day. 🚫 No, you don’t need to check into your social media every single day. 🚫 No, you don’t have to have notifications turned on. There are so many ways that we can interrupt and disrupt our dopamine habit. Tomorrow we’ll learn to practice Dopamine Fasting, but first, we have to overcome the powerful force of denial. 🌪

The first exercise for today is to begin observing – observing your mind and your actions and to ask yourself a series of questions:

👾 Where am I in denial?
👾 How am I rationalizing this?
👾 How am I justifying this?

I have a fillable worksheet you can download in the sidebar. You might decide to track these questions all week.

If you’re here with me this far, I know that you want to shift and change how you’re doing things. You want more spaciousness, focus, and flow. 🌊 This brings us to the second exercise – a 5+ minute guided self-hypnosis audio to create an energetic shield around you as a barrier to digital distractions. 🌀