Ways to replace doomscrolling on your phone 📵
Dopamine can be felt by other, more healthy, actions! Keep on reading to find out how to substitute the use of your phone with something more proactive 🤳 → 🚴.
Research has found that phones trigger a release of dopamine (a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward) in the brain, therefore making a person more likely to become addicted to using it all the time ⌚️.
I’m not saying using your phone is a bad thing — by all means, click and tap away! In the palm of your hand, you have access to almost anything if you have a phone 🤲. But, it isn’t alwayysssss healthy 😷.
Keep on reading to find out how you can change your ways and still enjoy life without using your phone as much 🤌.
So what are the other ways you can experience a hit of the 'feel-good' hormone, dopamine?
1. Exercise 🏋
→ When you exercise, your brain releases neurotransmitters such as endorphins, endocannabinoids, and dopamine 🧠.
But, what does that actually mean?
It means that it can reduce stress and anxiety while improving both mental and physical well-being 💪.
There are many health benefits to regularly exercising and this includes reducing the chance of developing physical issues, such as coronary heart disease. You can find more information here.
Whereas phones can cause sleep disturbances, eye strain, mental health problems like anxiety and depression, and physical discomforts like neck and back pain 😩.
Consider replacing at least half of your average screen time with regular workouts.
2. Cold showers 🚿
→ When you have a cold shower, your body exhibits a stress response due to the cold exposure 🥶. In ‘science-y’ terms, the activation of the sympathetic nervous system releases neurotransmitters such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and endorphins ✅.
Cold showers also enable the body to release hormones including adrenaline and cortisol.
Okay . . . can you explain it like a normal person would?
In shorter terms, cold showers can lead to:
Enhanced mood 😁
Increased focus and alertness ‼️
A greater sense of emotional well-being ❤️🩹
However, when taking cold showers, you must be mindful of your body 🧘♀️. Everybody responds differently to cold exposure.
Here are a few tips if you’re thinking of switching up your routine:
Gradually decrease the temperature to let your body adapt 🛀🏻
Identify your body’s natural breathing reflex, it can help regulate your body’s response to the cold 🧊
Adjust the temperature and duration as needed, do it in terms of how your body feels 🌡️
3. Journalling 📓
→ When you journal, your brain releases neurotransmitters including dopamine, serotonin, and potentially endorphins and oxytocin 🫀.
Again, no idea what that means . . .
What it means is that writing about positive experiences, gratitude, or tricky emotions can contribute to improved mood and well-being 💐.
A positive feedback loop can be created when you regularly journal. This is because the act of writing itself becomes associated with pleasure and reward, therefore you will want to do it more often (a little bit of Psychology for you there 👩🏻⚕️).
It is the act of conditioning that makes you repeat the practice 🔁. You feel good from it? You do it again!
Hey though, I get it. It’s hard to just stop using your phone as much when it’s practically glued to your side. Just think, Rome wasn’t built in a day 🇮🇹. You don’t have to quit using your phone altogether, but maybe you can start using it less often than usual. Perhaps pick up a book once in a while, you know we still have those, right?! 📚
Lots of love,
Mads x
p.s I know, it’s ironic how I’m telling you ways to reduce your screen time when you’re probably using your phone to read this… shhhh we don’t talk about it 🤫