etherealgoddess
perseverance is inevitable success
- Dec 8, 2022
- 193
I just realized that maybe... maybe just maybe I should cut out "distractions." Now, for the longest time, I've thought the term "distractions" was rubbish. Like, entertainment is a normal part of life? Why does that have to be demonized and called a distraction? Hear me out.
I've done some research. It's because of something called dopamine. We all have a limited amount of it in our system, and it replenishes every day. But essentially, the brain is WIRED to look for the largest and easiest sources of dopamine. So, whatever is the most stimulating to you (smallest amount of work for the greatest dopamine hit) will end up being craved by your system the most. We are going to be wired to LOVE short videos, video games, and music because our bodies know that you can flick your fingers around on your device just a few times and in a few seconds... boom... you have gotten your dopamine hit. And it's in our best interest to work with our monkey brain or else we will have to use a lot of willpower to fight against it (and frankly, I'm coming to a conclusion that I don't think you can fight it if you go full opposition to it).
Now, what does that have to do with anything? Well, I've been trying to balance my life for the longest time. I tried balancing video games and Youtube and social media and everything and... honestly... every time some shit hits the fan, I overly indulge in it, and it takes me weeks to months to get my life back. And you guys might feel that too with whatever hits your dopamine receptors whether it be drugs or whatever--there's a lot of ridiculously good entertainment these days. So, I decided to cut it out. I decided to ban video games, music, and movies from my life. Now, I don't think this will be the decision for everyone. And I know that if you had told me to do this before I was ready to, I would have outright rejected it. But when the time comes and you're desperately lurking for a solution, this might be it. I have created exceptions like once a month to indulge in a movie/2 hours of episodes, once a month to indulge in unhealthy foods, and once a month to indulge in raves. I truly believe that if it is so limited to one day and especially not inside my house, I won't be distracted, as in, finding everything but the fun entertainment boring.
I'm doing this because the way that dopamine works is... you don't actually have "more fun" by doing these highly-stimulating activities (except for drugs lol--you probably are having sensations that we cannot feel in our bodies naturally). What actually ends up happening is it turns into a ratio game. Let's say 100% is the max fun we can have and 0% is the least. Regardless of what you do, you will always be able to hit 100%. But look at the difference between these two scenarios. The first scenario is that you do the fastest, most effective dopamine. So, you start hitting all these dopamine spikes of 80% fun 90% 100%, maybe you'll notice it taper off the more you do it to 50%. But what about everything else in your life? Probably feels so goddamn boring. Why work on your homework or a business or improve your life when you could just do something way less work and way more fun! Everything else, in comparison, will feel like 5% fun. 10%. You will probably hate doing work. The second scenario is that you don't do things that are too stimulating. You read, go outside for walks, work, etc. Because the fun activities that you do require work and have a benefit, you have a feeling of satisfaction afterwards. Also, the work you do gives you a level of satisfaction that isn't TOO far behind your favorite activities that you do on a daily basis. The key difference in this scenario is that everything feels much more close together. Work might feel like 50% fun while your daily reading is 80% fun and your monthly rave is 100%. That is a massive fucking difference that in one situation, work can feel like 5% fun where in another situation, work can feel like 50% fun. Do you see where I'm getting at? If you're feeling confused, here is a summary: the more high-fun, low-work things you do, the more everything else feels less fun, ESPECIALLY things that require more work. And it's not effective to find things that relate to your life purpose boring.
I actually quit video games a week ago. I already can feel my sense of wanting to go outside lol. I actually feel my motivation coming back. Before that would have never interested in me. I'm even starting to be in awe of the lights on my keyboard LOL. But I have this awareness of being outside of my screen. Video games was definitely my main culprit for the longest time. I moved all my consoles to another part of my house, so I won't ever feel the urge to play it anymore. I'm starting with music and movies today. Music is definitely the main thing because I love to daydream. I fucking LOVEEEE music. But it's time I bring these daydreams to life.
Now, of course, you might be wondering, what the hell am I going to do with my free time? Well, I was thinking about going into reading. Maybe I'll learn a language for fun. Maybe I'll go into making music. I'll actually go outside and touch grass. I'll focus on how to make friends and hang out in real life. I'll focus on singing (sure, it's music, but at least I'm putting in some kind of work). And I'm telling you... since I've quit video games, I actually feel more motivation to do that. Before, that shit felt so boring. I'd rather stay inside and play video games. But now that my body knows video games isn't an option anymore, it's looking for the next stimulating things which are healthy lol. YASSSSSSSSSSSS.
The summary of what I have talked about is not to ban entertainment from your life but rather have entertainment in your life that requires some level of resistance or work. Reading requires you to be attentive, interpret, and make imagery in your brain. To go outside you need to get off your butt and feel a bit socially anxious about other people seeing you in the street and having to actually move lol. It's by doing things that are entertaining but require a little work that make the actually important things like doing work, working on a side gig, making bank a whole lot less agonizing. The whole point is to not make your life less fun because your life actually won't be less fun. It's actually just going to make the things that feel boring a lot less boring.
I would like to know your thoughts. I have a lot of privilege, so this will not be the answer for everyone. I just know that. I'd like to hear thoughts from both sides as well as personal experiences. And so much love to everyone on here. I mean that. <3
I've done some research. It's because of something called dopamine. We all have a limited amount of it in our system, and it replenishes every day. But essentially, the brain is WIRED to look for the largest and easiest sources of dopamine. So, whatever is the most stimulating to you (smallest amount of work for the greatest dopamine hit) will end up being craved by your system the most. We are going to be wired to LOVE short videos, video games, and music because our bodies know that you can flick your fingers around on your device just a few times and in a few seconds... boom... you have gotten your dopamine hit. And it's in our best interest to work with our monkey brain or else we will have to use a lot of willpower to fight against it (and frankly, I'm coming to a conclusion that I don't think you can fight it if you go full opposition to it).
Now, what does that have to do with anything? Well, I've been trying to balance my life for the longest time. I tried balancing video games and Youtube and social media and everything and... honestly... every time some shit hits the fan, I overly indulge in it, and it takes me weeks to months to get my life back. And you guys might feel that too with whatever hits your dopamine receptors whether it be drugs or whatever--there's a lot of ridiculously good entertainment these days. So, I decided to cut it out. I decided to ban video games, music, and movies from my life. Now, I don't think this will be the decision for everyone. And I know that if you had told me to do this before I was ready to, I would have outright rejected it. But when the time comes and you're desperately lurking for a solution, this might be it. I have created exceptions like once a month to indulge in a movie/2 hours of episodes, once a month to indulge in unhealthy foods, and once a month to indulge in raves. I truly believe that if it is so limited to one day and especially not inside my house, I won't be distracted, as in, finding everything but the fun entertainment boring.
I'm doing this because the way that dopamine works is... you don't actually have "more fun" by doing these highly-stimulating activities (except for drugs lol--you probably are having sensations that we cannot feel in our bodies naturally). What actually ends up happening is it turns into a ratio game. Let's say 100% is the max fun we can have and 0% is the least. Regardless of what you do, you will always be able to hit 100%. But look at the difference between these two scenarios. The first scenario is that you do the fastest, most effective dopamine. So, you start hitting all these dopamine spikes of 80% fun 90% 100%, maybe you'll notice it taper off the more you do it to 50%. But what about everything else in your life? Probably feels so goddamn boring. Why work on your homework or a business or improve your life when you could just do something way less work and way more fun! Everything else, in comparison, will feel like 5% fun. 10%. You will probably hate doing work. The second scenario is that you don't do things that are too stimulating. You read, go outside for walks, work, etc. Because the fun activities that you do require work and have a benefit, you have a feeling of satisfaction afterwards. Also, the work you do gives you a level of satisfaction that isn't TOO far behind your favorite activities that you do on a daily basis. The key difference in this scenario is that everything feels much more close together. Work might feel like 50% fun while your daily reading is 80% fun and your monthly rave is 100%. That is a massive fucking difference that in one situation, work can feel like 5% fun where in another situation, work can feel like 50% fun. Do you see where I'm getting at? If you're feeling confused, here is a summary: the more high-fun, low-work things you do, the more everything else feels less fun, ESPECIALLY things that require more work. And it's not effective to find things that relate to your life purpose boring.
I actually quit video games a week ago. I already can feel my sense of wanting to go outside lol. I actually feel my motivation coming back. Before that would have never interested in me. I'm even starting to be in awe of the lights on my keyboard LOL. But I have this awareness of being outside of my screen. Video games was definitely my main culprit for the longest time. I moved all my consoles to another part of my house, so I won't ever feel the urge to play it anymore. I'm starting with music and movies today. Music is definitely the main thing because I love to daydream. I fucking LOVEEEE music. But it's time I bring these daydreams to life.
Now, of course, you might be wondering, what the hell am I going to do with my free time? Well, I was thinking about going into reading. Maybe I'll learn a language for fun. Maybe I'll go into making music. I'll actually go outside and touch grass. I'll focus on how to make friends and hang out in real life. I'll focus on singing (sure, it's music, but at least I'm putting in some kind of work). And I'm telling you... since I've quit video games, I actually feel more motivation to do that. Before, that shit felt so boring. I'd rather stay inside and play video games. But now that my body knows video games isn't an option anymore, it's looking for the next stimulating things which are healthy lol. YASSSSSSSSSSSS.
The summary of what I have talked about is not to ban entertainment from your life but rather have entertainment in your life that requires some level of resistance or work. Reading requires you to be attentive, interpret, and make imagery in your brain. To go outside you need to get off your butt and feel a bit socially anxious about other people seeing you in the street and having to actually move lol. It's by doing things that are entertaining but require a little work that make the actually important things like doing work, working on a side gig, making bank a whole lot less agonizing. The whole point is to not make your life less fun because your life actually won't be less fun. It's actually just going to make the things that feel boring a lot less boring.
I would like to know your thoughts. I have a lot of privilege, so this will not be the answer for everyone. I just know that. I'd like to hear thoughts from both sides as well as personal experiences. And so much love to everyone on here. I mean that. <3
