No,

You're not addicted to your phone—you're addicted to the dopamine it feeds you.

In ancient times,

Kings and Monarchs maintained control by ensuring their people were fed— their minds occupied, and their ambitions restrained.

A full belly meant fewer revolts, and well-rewarded generals—carefully managed—posed less of a threat.

Power wasn’t just about brute force; it was about knowing when to give and when to take.

The key point of this ancient analogy— Good order comes from abstinence of action.

Now,

Fast forward to today.

We’re no longer ruled by kings.

But something else governs us just as effectively—technology.

The modern equivalent of the king’s strategy isn’t physical bread but chemical dopamine.

Think about all the times when you felt in a rut.

Social media, video games, endless scrolling, and algorithm-driven content floods the brains with micro-rewards and pacifies the drive for deeper thinking and meaningful action.

Even the most disciplined mind isn’t immune. You could be a trained monk, yet an overwhelming surge of dopamine can break through every barrier of mental discipline.

And once the chemical reaction starts?

You can’t just stop it. You can’t physically remove dopamine from your brain.

The only real control you have is preventing it from being artificially triggered in the first place.

Every notification, every viral meme, every perfectly timed dopamine hit is a deposit into the bank of engagement. The more we consume, the more we stay within the system.

And just like a kingdom where power was carefully distributed to prevent rebellion, modern technology distributes just enough reward to keep us satisfied—but never truly free.

Every time you indulge in cheap dopamine activities your borrowing your future motivation. The more you binge, the higher the cost for your future self.

Just like financial debt, you eventually have to pay it back—often in the form of low energy, burnout, and lack of drive.

Think: "Would you keep pulling the lever if you knew the house always wins?"

Think: "If you don’t even remember what you watched, was it really entertainment or just background noise for your brain?"

Think: "If a book never ended, would you ever put it down?"

All 3 of theses modern design practices take into account how our neurochemistry and psychology works to create "free" products of cheap dopamine which rob you from having the desire to go out and hunt for genuine dopamine by interacting with the real world.

This line perfectly sums it up:

If you want to avoid dopamine debt avoid the manufactured products that cheaply sell it.

It's important to remember that dopamine is not the enemy here— its just a biological reaction to the way we interact with the world. The way it reacts.

Instead it's real function is to create the craving that pushes us to seek those rewards in the first place.

And here’s the part most people don’t understand:

Your baseline dopamine level is crucial. It's like a motivation reservoir that determines your daily drive, energy, and willingness to pursue meaningful goals.

When you constantly flood your system with cheap, artificial dopamine hits, you're essentially draining this reservoir.

If you want to become more consistent and sustainable with your daily enegery you need to keep your dopamine in balance.

Here is the simple protocol I followed over the past 14 days to force a hard mental reset.

Non-Negotiables:

Absolutely no stimulating devices in the morning. The morning sets the tone for the day.

Personally I rather not get a blast of school notifications first second my consciousness catches up to me.

For every long burst of hard activity, or mentally complex task reward yourself. Intention rewards are much better than the instant mindless rewards from cheap dopamine which are unsustainable.

For every 50 min of deep work on my studies, I do 10 mins of doodling or walking which makes the process of studying more fun and i'm more inclined to consistently do the positive habit having a positive reward system that I love.

Practice daily review and gratitude. When you become painfully aware of the energy sapping activities you do on a day-to-day basis by reviewing everyday, you'll force yourself to change simply by accountability. However, without practice gratitude, you'll just end up burning yourself out with your own negativity. You need both review and gratitude.

Currently I'm testing out practicing daily review at night before bed by simply recalling the day as it was a slice-of-life show episode. (technically that's exactly what it is) Then in the morning I give the ratings to my show by practicing gratitude and highlighting the peak moments and acknowledging the fillers.

If I were to pick one of these to focus most on, it would be building mindfulness hands down— No matter how bad you feeling from overstimulated yourself and being in a rut— being accountable and acknowledging your mistakes is crucial to moving forward in a positive manner and growing from mistakes.

It's not easy to live in a time when attention is preyed upon.

Dopamine, even though it's invisible to your eyes, it's extremely sensitive to your mind. Technology's dopamine trap is sophisticated, but you're not powerless— You have full control (as you’ve learned by reading this far) but only when you realize it.