The 3-Second Morning Mistake That’s Ruining Your Entire Day

Most people mess up their dopamine level first thing in the morning by checking their notifications.

Yes, it only takes 3 seconds. But you have no idea what just happened inside your brain.

You just spiked and crashed your dopamine level below baseline.

Is that a big deal?

Yes, it is.

Once you crash your dopamine below baseline you’ll become restless.

You’ll lose the drive to do any task, even the easy ones.

You’ll feel empty, irritable, and anxious.

You’ll struggle to concentrate.

You’ll struggle to think clearly because your brain will be fogged.

The only thing you’ll be motivated to do is to quickly spike your dopamine level above baseline.

And the things that quickly spike your dopamine level are instant-gratification activities aka destructive behaviors.

So you start scrolling, eating junk food, watching movies, playing video games, and do all other garbage to quickly spike your dopamine.

The worst part is…

You can’t stop indulging.

If you stop scrolling your dopamine level immediately crashes and you’ll feel miserable again. So you quickly move to the next destructive behavior or continue scrolling.

It is a vicious cycle.

This is why you feel worse after watching porn and masturbating.

Being disciplined is actually easy if you stop messing up your dopamine level.

Here are some actionable things you can do:

Turn off your phone notifications (even WhatsApp if possible). 

I can only see who messaged me on WhatsApp if I open WhatsApp because my WhatsApp notification is off. 

I check my notifications with intention and it is really a game changer. Try it.

Embrace boredom. Develop the skill to be comfortable being bored.

More generally, the lack of distraction in my life tones down that background hum of nervous mental energy that seems to increasingly pervade people’s daily lives. I’m comfortable being bored, and this can be a surprisingly rewarding skill. — Cal Newport (Deep Work)

2 years ago, I did an experiment on myself.

I had this habit of scrolling or watching YouTube videos in bed until I feel sleepy.

One night, I decided not to take my phone to bed with me.

I kept my phone on my desk and went to bed.

I wasn’t able to sleep. I was staring at the ceiling and rolling left and right in my bed.

It felt so uncomfortable.

The urge to grab and scroll on my phone was extremely strong.

But I resisted. I wanted to see how much boredom I can take.

The first 2 weeks were extremely difficult. But after that, my brain rewired.

I became comfortable being bored.

I highly recommend you to try this experiment.

Start tonight.

Don’t use your phone after finishing your dinner. Keep your phone somewhere and go to bed.

Not able to sleep? Stare at the ceiling.

The urge to grab your phone will be strong. But resist it.

Be bored. See how far you can go.

After waking up, you should not touch your phone (other than turning off your alarm).

Just drink a full bottle of water, use the washroom, and immediately do something productive.

It can be reading, working on a project, writing, walking, meditation, or working out.

Because if you start your day by doing something productive, you’ll end up making your entire day productive.

It’s like a domino effect.

One productive thing leads to next and the next and so on.

Hope it was helpful.

See you again.

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P.S. Do the “stare at the ceiling” experiment tonight and share your experience in the comments.