How overstimulation is f***ing up your life
We are drowning in entertainment and if you think about it, it's actually pretty f***ed up.
We are distracted more than ever and life just feels overwhelming.
We are getting pushed and pulled by external forces. These forces that are acting on us feel larger than life. They are competing aggressively for our attention, 24/7.
We are sucked in, playing their game. And it’s only going to get worse.
What’s interesting is that our brains haven’t really changed for thousands of years.
We were built for survival and our brains are hardwired to focus on anything new or unusual—a trait known as novelty bias.
In the early days, this kept us alive.
Imagine hunting in the forest: a sudden rustle in the bushes or a flash of movement could signal the presence of a predator.
Our ability to snap our attention to a stimulus like that was crucial for survival.
Today, modern technology exploits this same instinct by flooding us with notifications and content designed to hijack our focus.
This instinct draws our attention to fresh impulses and this could be a breaking news alert, a text, or even an email.
But there’s a problem - our working memory has limits.
Working memory is our ability to keep information active in our minds for a short time.
It lets us work with information without losing track of what we're doing.
We use it all the time like when we’re holding a mental list of groceries when shopping, when someone gives us directions or when someone is telling us their phone number. But when we’re overwhelmed by constant stimuli, we struggle to filter distractions, and this creates a bottleneck.
And the result?
We become scatterbrained.
We’re jumping between emails. Constantly changing tabs. Switching between social media apps.
Scrolling endlessly on instagram, waiting for a new post or a friends story to pop up.
We are waiting to see something new and be entertained.
Our attention spans are shrinking.
It’s becoming more and more difficult to immerse ourselves in deep work and focus.
And to make matters worse, every alert or ping triggers dopamine, and this reinforces a cycle of distraction.
This dopamine loop basically makes us want to seek even more interruptions, undermining our ability to focus on deep, cognitively demanding tasks.
So how can we use technology as a tool, without getting sucked into the wormhole and getting addicted?
You need a system to protect yourself.
And that’s what we’re going to talk about today.
But first you need to grasp what dopamine is and how it works.
I’ve spoken about this in my dopamine detox video (below) so I’ll keep it brief.
Dopamine is a chemical in the brain that rewards actions beneficial for survival and reproduction—like seeking food or sex.
It drives motivation, learning, and pleasure.
But dopamine has a darker side— and that is its connection to addiction.
And this is why dopamine sometimes get bad rep.
Overindulgence in pleasure—whether that’s gaming, overeating, or substance use—can lead to addiction, which is a cycle of repetitive behaviours that trigger dopamine release.
Addiction basically develops as the brain builds tolerance, meaning that you need more of that thing to achieve the same level of satisfaction.
After experiencing pleasure, dopamine levels can temporarily dip below baseline, creating a mini-deficit that drives craving.
If someone repeatedly chases rewards to escape this low, it can snowball into addiction..
I remember a patient of mine I saw in the emergency department.
When I called them into my room, I could see the physical toll of his struggle.
He was trembling so much he could barely hold the cup of water we gave him.
His shirt clung to his back which was soaked through with sweat.
And his face was pale and clammy with beads of sweat dripping from his brow.
I was sat opposite him in a cubicle with the curtain behind me and between bouts of retching into a sick bowl, his words came in fragments that spoke of desperation.
He were drinking up to a litre of whiskey every day. Sometimes more.
It wasn’t a habit he had developed overnight but a dependency that had gradually worsened over the years, creeping deeper into his life.
As he described his drinking, he downplayed it at first, shrugging off how bad it was with well-practiced excuses: “It’s just stress from work. Everyone has their thing, right?”
What struck me most was the dissonance between his outward life and his inner troubles.
When we picture someone battling alcohol addiction, our minds usually paint an image of a person who has hit rock bottom—homeless, unemployed and someone who is just unlucky.
But he defied all of those assumptions. On paper, he seemed to have everything.
He was high-functioning, holding down a demanding, well-paying job. He had a partner and young children as well.
To the outside world, he was living an ideal life.
His drinking had begun as a way to cope with the stress and long hours of his career— you know, a glass of whiskey to unwind after a hard day.
Then one glass became two, then three, and before long, it wasn’t about unwinding anymore.
It was about survival, about keeping the withdrawal symptoms at bay long enough to get through another day.
He stopped drinking all together, which can be dangerous for someone who is dependent on alcohol because you can have seizures.
And it was strange for me advising someone to continue to drink once they’ve been discharged, because you have to cut it down gradually.
Addiction can be insidious.
You can become addicted to anything, especially mobile phone use which is the focus of this video.
But this was a reminder that addiction doesn’t discriminate.
It doesn’t care about your education, or your social status.
It thrives in the gaps where people feel overwhelmed, isolated, or helpless.
And sometimes, it hides in plain sight, behind the mask of a seemingly perfect life.
So don’t let it take hold of you.
Now, when we open our phones and go on social media.
There is a novelty to it.
We don’t know what we are going to see and that excites us.
We are in a state of anticipation and curiosity, the algorithms hook us.
Just go on tiktok for 30 seconds and you’ll see what I mean.
When you open up the app, you’re bombarded with videos.
I actually hate it.
It gives you that instant dopamine rush. But detoxing from dopamine isn’t really possible. You can’t fast from a naturally produced chemical in your brain.
But you can detox from the activities and behaviours that cause the release of dopamine in the reward pathway.
So how do we regain control over our attention? Before we get into the solutions, the first step is to build awareness.
You need to calibrate yourself.
Open up your screen time and be prepared to be baffled.
No need to self criticise or judge, the purpose of this is to make you more aware.
It’s important because it tells you where you’re spending your time.
And what has your attention.
If you can see what it is and what the triggers are to those apps, then you can act.
1. Remove temptations.
Ok so step one.
Turn off your notifications.
Specifically the social media ones.
Because every time your phone lights up or you hear the notification ping, you get distracted. And when you get distracted constantly, the quality of work suffers.
Your attention gets divided because you’re constantly switching tasks, which makes it difficult to get work done.
So I work in the emergency department right now and I thought it would be good to do a little experiment see how many times I got interrupted in a 5 minute period.
I had just seen a patient and I went to sit at a desk to document my findings in the notes.
Within 20 seconds a nurse handed me an ECG, or heart tracing, to look at and, check and sign.
Then a colleague asked to borrow my stethoscope.
Then as I’m writing the phone I was sat next to rang, so I picked it up and then started looking for the person who was waiting for the call.
Then I overhear a colleague telling a joke next to me and I laugh.
Then someone asks me if they can use my computer to print off stickers for blood samples.
And then I’m back writing again before the emergency phone rings and sends a shock down your spine because of how loud it is.
You get the picture.
You’re constantly task switching and being distracted.
And these notifications can have a similar effect, they’re vying for your attention and you might think that a simple pop up on instagram saying someone liked your photo is harmless, but it actually derails your focus, because you give it attention.
So what is the solution?
If you’re phone is nearby, turn the notifications off.
Or better yet, put it in another room.
But I know what you’re thinking, what if I miss an important email notification or text?
But to be honest, most things can wait.
If you’re an iphone user, just customise the do not disturb function and it’s quite useful, I’ll leave a link for a video that can help you optimise that function.
Specific app and website blockers can be useful too.
Opal is one that I use.
2. No-phone mornings
This is one I’ve been guilty of. And this is really bad.
I used to sleep with my phone on the pillow next to me so those mornings I would wake up and just grab my phone and start scrolling.
I gave into that temptation. It can be like a pair of handcuffs on your mind.
When you wake up in the morning, you transition from a delta brainwave of sleep to a theta brainwave.
This theta brainwave is important for memory and problem solving.
If you turn over in the morning and grab your phone the second you wake up, checking emails, social media and whatsapp, you effectively skip this wave and go straight into high stress beta waves.
Think about it.
You go from being in a relaxed state of sleep, to a high stimulus state of mindlessly scrolling and checking notifications.
You don’t give your brain a chance to process the transition of being asleep to being awake.
Also those mornings when I would just grab my phone first thing, I’d end up staying in bed for longer than I needed to, and the day would just be slow and unproductive.
It just saps your energy. Just wait half an hour before you grab your phone after you wake up.
Another thing I wanted to touch on is that we don’t just check our phones when we want to be entertained.
We look at our phones when we’re bored, anxious, sad, lonely, or frustrated.
It’s a quick fix—a way to distract ourselves from uncomfortable feelings or to stop our minds from wandering.
3. Let your mind wander.
But here’s the thing: letting your mind wander isn’t a bad thing.
In fact, it’s something we’ve forgotten how to do in a world full of constant digital noise.
Think about it: boredom can be uncomfortable, but it’s also where creativity thrives.
When you welcome those moments of stillness, your brain has the chance to process thoughts, reflect, and form new ideas.
But, instead of allowing this, many of us seek external stimuli to fill every quiet moment.
Phone addiction is like sugar—tempting, addictive, and easy to binge.
Just as we’ve come to realise the downsides of too much sugar, it’s time to recognise how excessive phone use impacts us.
Mobile phones have become the cigarettes of the 21st century, something we know isn’t great for us but we feel compelled to indulge in anyway.
The truth is, we’ve grown uncomfortable with empty space.
We want to keep our brains occupied, but when we constantly consume mindless entertainment, we don’t leave much room for deeper thought.
Without space to process, we lose sight of the bigger picture.
Creativity and innovative thinking take a backseat to the endless scroll of feeds and notifications.
But here’s the good news: you can reclaim control.
By making deliberate choices, you can decide what content you engage with instead of being at the mercy of algorithms and notifications designed to keep you hooked.
It’s not about cutting yourself off from technology entirely—it’s about using it properly and meaningfully.
Try to consume media that demands focus - like books or even movies.
Try to engage in more fulfilling activities, without your phone in your pocket.
- Go outside and read a book.
- Nourish your body with healthier food - cook something new.
- Go for walks to clear your mind.
- Exercise and push your body to new limits.
- Try meditation to ground yourself in the present moment. I’ve got a video on that so watch that if you don’t know where to start.
- And seek out high-quality content online instead of falling into clickbait traps.
We’re living in a world where there’s a constant fight for our focus.
Every notification is a battle for your attention.
To win this war, you need to give yourself the space to think, to dream, and to let your mind wander.
Honestly, too much screen time takes away from your life.
It means you spend less time socialising, less time cooking, reflecting or reading.
Less time being present.
So, put down your phone and embrace the stillness.
See what happens when you step back and let your thoughts flow freely.
You might just surprise yourself with what you can achieve.
A quote from a great
Have a sweet day,
Z
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