Mental Mastery: The Antidote

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you want to become.” 

- James Clear

Disclaimer: This post is longer than usual since I wanted to provide an actionable plan.

Introduction:

Last time, we talked about the biggest distraction of the 21st century & how it has mentally impaired all of us from being able to focus inward & find meaning in life. 

Dopamine addiction & hedonism are the modern plagues & the only savior we have is ourselves. If you’re currently identifying with the habits mentioned above & squandering your potential, chances are high that you’re disappointed in yourself. 

Your brain is a computer & your self-image is the software. Your self-image should be a realistic reflection of who you indeed are, neither exaggerating nor underestimating yourself. 

The goal of everything we do regarding self-improvement is to better our self-image & identity because that’s the key determining factor to live a happier & more fulfilling life. 

To change your identity, you need to change the habits that are associated with it. 

With that being said, here are the phases to break free from any bad habit or addiction:

Step 1: Noticing & becoming aware 

Step 2: Develop the desire to change

Step 3: Replacing the bad habit with a positive alternative

Step 4: Conjuring up the will to stay consistent 

Step 5: Your mind begins to adapt & you start liking the new habit more than the old habit

Currently, you’re in the 2nd phase. You’re aware of the problem & want to change, but as you can tell from above, much more work still needs to be done. 

The antidote to dopamine addiction & hedonism is the meaningful creation that is garnered through the synthesis of deep work & flow state. 

To be more precise, the antidote is how you substitute these principles into your life & reinforce them to become a part of your newly crafted identity. 

Deep Work vs Shallow Work:

“The Deep Work Hypothesis: The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.”

- Cal Newport

When most of us work, we’re constantly bombarded with notifications from our devices. A study from 2008 tells us that every time we distract ourselves, it takes an astounding 23 minutes & 15 seconds to get back to the mental state we were in previously.

 The impacts of task switching are highly disruptive. This type of work is known as shallow work, & most people resort to this whenever they need to accomplish any arduous task or goal. 

Deep work is the opposite & can be defined as cognitively demanding work without context shifts. When engaging in deep work, you’re doing the highest priority tasks of your day. I’ve found that the most effective deep work block for me is around 1 & ½ hours. Schedule this time in the morning before everyone else wakes up so that you have a distraction-free environment conducive to maximum productivity. 

Tip: Ensure that the task you’re doing before engaging in deep work is less stimulating than the work you’re about to do. Stare at a wall for a couple of mins if necessary. The idea is that if you’re bored out of your mind, the hard work will seem fun & engaging. Follow the same principle during your breaks. 

If you want to learn more about deep work, I highly recommend Cal Newport’s book since he’s a pioneer in this field. I believe he also coined the term “deep work.”

Flow State:

If there was a steroid to crank up your productivity by 500%, would you take it? Well, lucky for you, it’s called flow & doesn’t have any of the deteriorating side effects that steroids do. 

Flow is a state of consciousness where work feels effortless. It’s a state of hyper-focus. You’ve probably heard athletes say that they were in “the zone” after outstanding performances. 

Thanks to advancements in neuroscience, we now understand that this is what they were referring to. Flow makes your work seem fun because of the neurochemical reaction that occurs when you’re in this state. The best part is that it feels a lot better than doom-scrolling & it’s more fulfilling. 

Here are the basics:

Our body wants to kick us into flow state: we’re evolutionarily wired for this. However, 80% of people check their phone within 15 mins of waking up, which is loaded with distractions. You want to make your physiology, psychology, & environment conducive to accessing flow state. Here are the triggers: 

1. You need clear goals

2. Immediate feedback 

3. Challenge to skills balance (engage in tasks about 4% more complex than your current skill level.

You can’t access flow state unless you’re doing deep work. You need to persist through the initial struggle phase, where your body releases neurochemicals like cortisol to prepare your psyche to enter a flow state. 

Think of this as an archer skilfully loading his bow before releasing an arrow. Once you’re in flow state, you should aim to stay there for 1-2 hours. This state of hyper-focus is very demanding on your body, so you need to recover before you can use it again.

Tip: Your body’s brain waves during flow state are similar to those during sleep. When you wake up in the morning, even if you are half asleep, you’ll be able to naturally enter flow state much more effortlessly than compared to the rest of the day. There’s also no cognitive load in the morning (no distractions), which also helps you enter flow state faster. 

Here’s the Flow Cycle:

Struggle→Release→FLOW→Recovery

If you want to learn more about it, I recommend researching information from the 

“Flow Research Collective.” It’s a vast topic & there are tons of additional triggers for it. 

For example, I’m listening to binaural beats as I write this. 

The Implementation:

“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.”

- James Clear

Here’s a summary of everything we’ve discussed so far, along with additional nuggets about navigating digital media & goal setting.

Here’s the fundamental principle: 

First, focus on cutting out the bad habits & replacing them with positive ones. Then, focus on improving your positive habits. In the beginning, rewarding yourself for completion becomes positive reinforcement for the habits you’re trying to instill.

• Save your attention & time by using ad blockers

• When you use YT, use a browser plugin/extension that disables the recommended section & autoplay if possible.

• Directly replace useless TV consumption with meaningful, high-quality content.

• Reduce your phone usage. To use your phone less, turn off your color filter in settings. This significantly reduces the dopamine you receive from using your phone. 

• To train your attention span & improve concentration, indulge in reading. 

• Split your work into hour-and-a-half blocks of deep work sessions.

• Before your deep work block, ensure that the task you’re transitioning from has a lower stimulation than the work you’re transitioning to. 

• One deep work session in the morning before everyone else wakes up & your responsibilities take over. 

• When you wake up, your brain waves are closer to theta or delta, so capitalize on this by getting straight into work within 60-90 seconds. Then, allow your body to recover by going through your morning routine. Yet another hybrid approach that works like a charm.

• Meditate or pray at least 10 mins/ day.

• Get new, healthier sources of dopamine from going on walks, spending time with loved ones, exercising, etc.

• Set goals, then build systems to reach your goals. Focus on perfecting the system & your goals will manifest into reality. A system can be as simple as a daily routine.

• Reframing your identity: Don’t focus on the outcome; focus on the person you need to become to attain your goals easily.

• Embrace boredom. Don’t scroll through your phone when you’re outside waiting in line. Allow yourself to become bored so that you’re itching to get started when it’s time to work.

Recovery vs Relaxation:

Note: Most people think watching TV is a form of recovery. TV is a form of relaxation, and it doesn’t do anything to promote recovery directly. Some studies show that TV might actually increase your allostatic load.

Allostatic load is how much stress your mind & body accumulate from adapting to the pressures of everyday life. You need to oscillate between exertion & recovery. 

Think about it: You stress a muscle during a workout, the muscle breaks down & its capacity increases post-recovery.

Recovery methods should activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which clears out allostatic load. There are two tests to check if something is functioning as active recovery for your nervous system: it should increase your HRV & you should feel a neurophysiological reset. Recovery is part of the grind. Relaxation is not.

Closing:

I know this was a lot, but hopefully, you found some value. Try implementing some of the things I suggested. I promise you won’t regret it. Tune in next week for my first post on physical mastery. 

Peace out,

J.R