How to build a high-serotonin routine in a distracted world

Posted on by J.J. Hamilton

Trends are so misleading. They come with grand promises and, often, limited results. The Dopamine Detox Trend has been doing the rounds lately. This is the idea that you should deprive yourself of all pleasurable activities for 24 hours. No Netflix, no video games, and certainly no social media.

All of the things that might bring you joy in life? Put them to one side for a whole day. If not for longer.

But why? What good could this possibly do for us? The idea is simple: taking a break from addictive influences, like our phones – things that provide surges in dopamine – will make us feel better.

If it was that simple, everybody would be doing it. My issue is that dopamine is actually a very necessary brain chemical to help us function like typical human beings. Alongside serotonin and oxytocin, we do need dopamine. Those attempting the detox are right in one way; we do get too much of it. Our brains become geared around short-term pleasures and rewards, resulting in a desire to increasingly chase that high.

However, thinking that you could stay offline for 24 hours and instantly see the improvements? Impossible. There is absolutely a case to be made about being blocking from accessing social media too widely, but sitting in a dark room, with no stimulation, is just ineffective. Worse still, it’s promising far too much.

After all, if you only get one life, why are you depriving yourself that much?

What makes a lot more sense is understanding the neuroscience behind why we scroll, how to build a high-serotonin routine instead, and developing strategies to be able to resist the constant pull of dopamine-heavy activities.

That sounds a lot more promising, doesn’t it?

Understanding the neuroscience behind the scroll

Look, I’m not going to claim all knowledge of how the brain works, but there are some pretty simple principles that wouldn’t hurt for you to understand. Understanding why our brains want us to scroll is our first way of actively hacking it to perform a sort of reset without the need for a full-on dopamine detox.

Dopamine vs serotonin

Dopamine is all about short-term pleasure. Things that you can do now for immediate happiness. Dopamine in particular spikes when we’re using social media, which is one of the reasons why you’ll feel compelled to check your apps however many times a day; you’re ready for that next hit.

Serotonin comes about from feeling accomplished or peaceful. Often, this will occur during exercise or when reaching goals, meditating or practicing gratitude. It’s probably one of the reasons why keeping a gratitude journal was so effective during my first few years of teaching; even when the times were tough, I felt good about my progress.

Neurochemical audit

Take a second to sit back and work out whether you’re receiving the right levels of these brain chemicals. Are you spending too much time on social media? Gambling or spending all of your time gaming? You’re probably on a dopamine high, ready to crash any second.

Social media apps are particularly bad for this; they are literally designed to keep you on the app. Reduce where possible and block where necessary.

Building a high-serotonin routine

There are three ways that you’re going to design a high-serotonin routine.

  1. Use Deep Work as your Boss Battle

There is no better feeling than getting fully wrapped up in something. Finishing that long task that you’ve committed to for ages is incredibly satisfying, but chipping away at it, bit by bit, isn’t going to get you very far.

Put events in your Google Calendar as reminders that, right now, you are committed to deep work. This could be for your full-time job, a side hustle or hobby. Either way, make whatever Deep Work it is that you have to do your Boss Battle. Ensure you get that one thing done by the time the day is over. It’s the one thing facing you between now and bedtime.

Not only is this productive, but it’s also neurologically satisfying.

  1. Movement and Nature

Serotonin is boosted by sunlight and movement. So, it makes sense that you’d spend time outside and exercising to ensure that you feel as good as possible, right? Start your morning routine with a quick walk and a HIIT workout. Even better if you can combine the activities and go for a run or do some yoga outside.

Struggling with that? Let’s start small by getting your morning routine in order. Here’s mine if you need inspiration.

  1. Analogue evenings

Those influencers suggesting that you should have completely tech-free evenings are just unrealistic. Chances are that you’ll be watching the TV or playing video games or playing around on a phone, tablet or laptop late at night – that often can’t be helped. But why not replace that activity with reading a book next to low-level lighting every now and again?

Even better is if you can incorporate orange-tinted glasses to minimise the amount of blue light that you’re being exposed to, which is often responsible for disrupting sleep. I’ve tried and reviewed two pairs of these glasses so far, which you might want to consider in your quest for optimising your sleep routine:

If you must use technology before bed, try to stick to the one-in, one-out rule: if you’re using your phone, the TV goes off. If you’re on your laptop, the phone goes away. That way, at least you’re being intentional with your screen time. That way, you’re way less likely to doom scroll into the early hours of the night.

Resisting the call of dopamine

It’s all well and good planning this incredible routine for optimising for serotonin, but the call of dopamine is ever-present. Not only is it easier to allow this neurochemical to flood our systems, it’s also much more fun and, at the time, feels a lot more rewarding.

Therefore, it’s important that we actively plan strategies to resist the alluring call of dopamine. Here’s how we can do this:

The Focus Micro-Sprint

Heavy cognitive work is heavy for a reason – it feels hard. So much of the time, starting is actually the hardest part of the task, with the end result fuelling us with that dump of serotonin. So why not remove the friction?

Try out the 2-minute rule: if a task can be finished in 2 minutes or less, just do that one. Whether it’s emptying the dishwasher or practicing a language, these quick wins often empower us to keep going and get set into the real, meaty, high-brain-power work that you know you need to get done during the day.

Pre-mortem for distractions

Let’s get on top of those distractions before they even become an issue. Figure out what usually gets in the way from completing your most important tasks and remove the distraction entirely.

Phone constantly buzzing? Silence and take it away from your workspace.

Housemates coming in to bother you? Move to the local library.

Notifications flashing on your device for working? Enter Do Not Disturb Mode and try out these strategies for focus.

By performing a pre-mortem, you’re encountering these distractions before they encounter you.

Now that you’ve understood the importance of our neurochemicals and can optimise their production, and you’ve removed anything that was drawing you towards dopamine, you’re ready for a detox that is actually going to work. What other strategies do you usually use to ensure that your deep work stays deep, leading to more and more serotonin? Let me know in the comments below.

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