The story of Dopamine Fasting

There has been a new trend on social media about a productivity hack called dopamine fasting.

Dopamine is an organic chemical that is released in your brain when you do something that feels good. This can be gaming, cooking, eating pizza, watching social media and talking with people.

Although scientists are unsure of this productivity hack, many people have claimed that dopamine fasting is actually helping them become more productive.  The general consensus is that on an average day our brain is constantly flooded with dopamine from doing things like social media. Therefore, taking a break from all this dopamine influx will allow our brain to reset.

I personally came across this idea through Reddit. There are countless threads of people claiming that dopamine fasting has completely reset the brain.

My trip

I woke up at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning and resolved to fast my dopamine for 12 hours.  This meant that from 6 a.m. To 6 p.m. I would not talk to my parents, I would not eat any of my favourite foods, I would not play any video games, I would not browse the internet, or read any fictitious novels.

Before I took this challenge I thought that it would be quite easy. Personally, I am not addicted to anything per se.  Yet, what happened in the next 12 hours blew my mind.

The first 6 hours

The first 6 hours was very easy. I started at 6 a.m, did my maths and physics homework. With the absence of countless distractions that I face on a daily basis, my productivity was through the roof.

Furthermore, I did also a lot of writing and I played a bit on my guitar. Overall I was thinking that this dopamine fasting is a good thing. I even wondered why EVERYONE does not do this on a regular basis.

Needless to say, the worst was yet to come.

The last 6 hours

The last 6 hours were one of the hardest things I’ve done in the past month. It all started out with a single tickle from my brain. My brain was asking me for a casual look at my Instagram. Needless to say, I politely declined.

My plan for the next 6 hours was simple: writing, exercise and more math homework. 

4 hours before the end, my brain requested and urged me to go on the internet and look at Reddit. Fortunately, I controlled myself and did not go and look at Reddit. 

Things started becoming much more difficult after that point. All I wanted to do was release dopamine. At that point, I also had trouble functioning and doing other things like my maths homework properly.

As my urges increased, I became even more restless. I started pacing my room. Finally about 1 and ½ hours before the official breaking of the fast, I decided that I had come very far and that it was time to have a quick peek at my phone.

Yet, sometimes all we need is a little push.

Just when I was about to look at my phone, I was reminded by my mother that the end of any challenge is always the hardest. I wanted to argue with her, but I had vowed not to speak to her or my dad. 

She did have a fair point though and with a few deep breaths, I decided to go and exercise.  The exercise was great and after it, I actually felt good. When I looked at the clock again, I realised that it was 6 p.m. I had reached my goal.

What went well

Overall this experience went quite well. Especially for the first 6 hours were some of the most productive times I’ve ever had. Due to the fact that there were no distractions, I could focus on my work and this resulted in me accomplishing a lot of things.

What did not go so well

I realised that I am driven by dopamine. It was then I realised that I am addicted to doing a bit of everything. I like doing a bit of gaming, a bit of social media and a bit of eating good food. This was why I did not crave for a specific thing but a lot of different things.

Final thoughts

Overall it has been a very eye-opening experience. I will definitely try it again in the future. Perhaps, I will try to build my resistance of dopamine over time. So next week I’ll be doing 6 hours, the week after I will try 7 hours, etc. 

For those who haven’t tried this dopamine fasting yet, I do recommend you try it as it is a very new and different experience. It can bring a lot of productivity – something all of us struggle during these times.

If you have come so far, why don’t you take up this challenge? Do share your experience.