Cheap Dopamine Is Stealing Your Potential. Take It Back.

Cheap dopamine is ruining your life in one way or another.

Especially the cheap dopamine that comes with using social media too often.

If you want to rewire your mind for focus so you can spend more time doing things that matter—things that fulfill you, things that give more than they take—then you must understand how the reward center of your brain works.

But first…

What is cheap dopamine?

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter and hormone that is important for several brain and body functions. It influences movement, memory, motivation, pleasure, and reward.

Dopamine is released during pleasurable activities, reinforcing behaviors that are essential for survival (i.e., eating and reproduction). This makes dopamine fundamental for feelings of happiness and motivation.

Dopamine also regulates movement and coordination, and imbalances in dopamine levels are linked to neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Low levels of dopamine are associated with conditions like Parkinson’s disease and depression, while high levels can be related to conditions such as schizophrenia and mania.

Dopamine is neither good nor bad.

Cheap dopamine, however, refers to quick and easy hits of dopamine.

It’s the fast food version of happiness: Cheap dopamine activities are fun and rewarding in the short term, but often lack long-term benefits. 

The trick is getting it from healthy places instead of cheap dopamine sources that hurt your productivity or overall well-being.

Of course, no one will completely eliminate cheap dopamine sources. But the goal is to minimize cheap dopamine and invest more time and energy into healthy dopamine sources.

Too much time spent on cheap dopamine activities can lead to a lack of purpose or even anxiety and depression.

And cheap dopamine can be addictive.

Let’s take, for example, social media.

Parallels have been made between drug addiction and excessive social media use, with research showing negative outcomes: poor decision-making, the exploitation of our brain’s reward system, and habits that are hard to break and lead to dependency.

Social media [has become] a way to drugify human connection. (McNamara, 2021)

At first, it’s harmless. You get a high from consuming it. It’s fun. You like it, but you don’t crave it so much that it interferes with your day-to-day life.

But whenever there’s a trigger (we’ll talk in-depth about that in a second), you’re pulled back to cheap dopamine to experience that feeling again.

You consume a bit more than last time. This cycle repeats until the next thing you know, you can experience real withdrawals if you stop consuming social media.

These algorithms are designed to keep us coming back for more, and unconscious habits creep into our lives—to the point where it’s very difficult to change.

Let’s talk about how the cheap dopamine of social media messes with your mind and how to overcome it.

Confessions from former social media bosses

Several top social media executives have banned their children from getting smartphones.

Former executives from these companies have spoken up about the negative effects of social media use.

I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works. The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we’ve created are destroying how society works. No civil discourse, no cooperation; misinformation, mistruth. You are being programmed.

—Chamath Palihapitiya

These companies have every reason to keep you hooked. Incentives can explain why we’re in this position today.

Charlie Munger said:

If you know the incentive, you know the outcome.

Social media companies need to make money. To make money, they attract advertisers to promote their products on the platform. To get more advertisers, they need more users to stay on longer. To get more users to stay on longer, they need to make these apps as addicting as possible.

It starts off as a mission to make the product better and more entertaining, and then it quickly turns into…

The creation of a psychological weapon

This is the process your brain goes through when you become addicted to these apps. 

The persuasive “habit loop” keeping you hooked

“Hooked” by Nir Eyal explains the process behind building habit-forming products and the process your mind goes through to become more addicted.

If you want to build an addicting product, you need to create a “slot machine effect.”

Slot machines are addicting because they play on your mind’s variable reward system. You pull the slot lever, and you lose…but you almost win. You get two kings in a row instead of three.

Every once in a while, you do win a small jackpot. This combination of wins and near wins tricks your mind into thinking the next win is just around the corner.

Think of a notification you get from a social media app. You’re never quite sure what’s going to happen after you click.

Will you see a funny video?

Did your crush finally admit they love you?

Is one of your fans or peers going to praise you for your content?

This is a huge struggle content creators like me deal with every day.

You just don’t know, so you go to the app to find out. The answer is different every time, so you keep coming back. You then cycle through these phases that make you even more dependent on these apps.

The 4 insidious phases that addict you

With each investment you make, the social media algorithm gets another piece of information it can use to train you to become even more addicted. Here’s how it works:

Social media algorithms take your past behavior and use it to predict what you might like next.

They check how long you view a post or video, and whether or not you react to it or share it. It takes note of which posts cause you to get bored and leave the app. It makes sure not to post that style of content again and replaces it with something you do like until the algorithm knows you better than you do.

If past social media content wasn’t bad enough, we now have short-form content with apps like TikTok that are hyper-addictive because you get new, rapid pieces of content hurled at you constantly.

I used to make fun of TikTok. Then, one day, I decided to give it a try. I saw a funny video and hit like. I saw a couple more and hit like. I was shocked by how quickly the app learned what I liked. 

Next thing you know, I was on TikTok for hours. I try to avoid using the app altogether because I know I could ruin my productivity for the day if I do.

When it comes to getting rid of cheap dopamine forces, start taking your social media use more seriously than you do now.

The negative effects of cheap dopamine

I like to use this sales script when a potential client tells me they don’t have the time to take my program.

I remember one time I complained to my wife that I didn’t have enough time to write. She rolled her eyes and told me to give her my phone. She showed me my screen time on my phone and said ‘Hey I found some time for you.’

It’s a tongue-in-cheek response used to close deals, but in reality, this is something you can do to realize just how much time cheap dopamine is costing you.

They have a saying in addiction recovery circles:

The first step to fixing the problem is admitting you have a problem.

Most people don’t think of themselves as someone who has an addiction to the cheap dopamine of social media. But the screen time on their phone tells a different story.

So, try it now, go look at yours.

It might be much higher than you think.

Imagine what your life could be like if you replaced all the time you spend on social media with activities that benefit your life, like starting a new business, working out, or becoming a creator of content instead of a consumer of content.

Aside from wasted time, take time to think deeply about all the negative consequences of cheap dopamine so you can resolve to avoid it in the future:

Some people say social media is destroying society. Whether or not that’s true, cheap dopamine sources certainly contribute to serious societal problems.

It’s time to take your relationship with cheap dopamine seriously.

3 Ways to re-wire your brain

I wrote an article on how to do a dopamine detox to reset your brain chemistry so you can be more productive.

Here’s the TL: DR from that post:

@workingstudentlife This is your sign to do a dopamine detox!! I’ve put together the 3 best tips to do an effective detox. Read them with our in bi0  #dopaminedetoxing #howtodetoxmind #detoxingtips #howtodetox #detoxingclean #bestadvice2023 #lifehacks2023 ♬ original sound – Music table

A dopamine detox works like a drug detox. Write down your biggest digital/dopamine addictions and rank them. For at least a day, cut out those triggers entirely—no phones, no TV, no infinite feeds. Push through the withdrawals by staying present with activities like meditation, exercise, and nature walks.

Don’t try to go completely cold turkey, though. That’s unsustainable.

Build new rules and habits instead. Start with these…

1. Reduce cheap dopamine by adopting this habit

If the slot machine effect keeps you hooked on social media apps, flooding your brain with cheap dopamine, then the best way to stop “gambling” is to never enter the casino in the first place. Once you start pulling the handle, it’s hard to stop—so don’t pull it. Quit checking your phone at all until you absolutely have to.

As this viral video suggests, it really is that damn phone:

I work with business owners to help them sign more clients, and I stress not using their phone first thing in the morning because it has a direct correlation to how much money they make.

You’ll have more cognitive power on “no-phone days” than you will on a phone day.

If you start your day by checking your phone, now it’s a phone day. Now, every time you experience a trigger—the slightest sense of boredom—you will check your phone. 

Then the day begins to deteriorate.

Task switching: Each time you switch from one task to another your mind has to reset for 15 minutes before you can focus. Each single time you check your phone slices massive amounts of time and focus.

Feelings of guilt and anxiety: You’re on your phone when you know you’re supposed to be doing something else, something more productive, but you can’t get off of it, so you feel yourself wasting time in real time, which makes you feel both guilty for being unproductive and anxious because you have unresolved tasks.

Reinforcement: One phone day leads to two phone days leads to three. I notice these happen in streaks and spirals for me. I try to be ruthless about no-phone days because I know one phone day leads to a streak.

At first, it will be difficult to do, but you have to expend that willpower on those first couple of no-phone days. 

Starting your day phone-free is a “keystone habit,” which is a foundational habit that makes it easier to adopt other healthier habits.

2. Make cheap dopamine a little bit healthier

All work and no cheap dopamine makes Jack a dull boy. We do not need to live like monks. No need to live a completely stimuli-free life. But try a healthier version that allows you to maintain a bit more presence and get more joy from your favorite cheap dopamine sources.

TV shows are fun to watch. Nothing wrong with a juicy burger once in a while. There is cool and interesting stuff to see on social media from time to time. But try separating and enjoying these on their own, fully present.

It’s kinda sad. You see people in real life coming pretty close to the caricature of human beings portrayed in the movie “Wall-E.” They’re eating a fast food meal, while scrolling their phone, while the TV is on in the background. No judgment because I’ve been there. Pretty awful when you think about it, honestly.

Next time you eat that juicy burger, just eat the burger. Next time you watch TV, don’t have your phone out—just watch the show. Honestly, you may want to drop phone or social media use entirely. It’s pretty much a net negative, but if you must, dedicate time for that. 

Now we’re getting somewhere. We’ve tackled the phone and social media, the big culprits. Separating the use and occasional enjoyment of less-than-optimal dopamine sources is a good start. 

Now we can focus on adding healthier sources and re-wiring our relationship with dopamine.

3. Use cheap dopamine as a reward, not a default

Pair healthy dopamine sources with small doses of cheap dopamine to help rewire your brain.

James Clear talks about this in “Atomic Habits” when he discusses habit stacking and making hard habits more attractive:

The key to finding and fixing the causes of your bad habits is to reframe the associations you have about them. It’s not easy, but if you can reprogram your predictions, you can transform a hard habit into an attractive one.

Instead of reaching for chocolate out of boredom or stress, make it a reward after your workout. The dopamine hit becomes linked to the accomplishment rather than the avoidance of discomfort.

Now we are rigging the casino in our favor. The cue becomes the completion of something meaningful. The reward reinforces the behavior you actually want.

Over time, you may find you don’t even need the chocolate anymore. The workout itself becomes rewarding. But in the beginning, when you’re trying to establish the habit, pairing it with something “cheap” can help you stay consistent.

The trick is keeping it small and controlled. One piece of chocolate, not the whole bar. A single episode of your favorite show after your deep work session, not a four-hour binge.

What fills the void?

Everything you’ve been missing.

Once you’ve removed the cheap dopamine sources that were eating up hours of your day, you’re left with something both exciting and terrifying: time.

Lots of it.

The question becomes, what do I do with all this time?

Most people white-knuckle their way through a dopamine detox, feeling proud for deleting social media or locking their phone in a drawer. But then they sit there, bored out of their minds, because they’ve forgotten how to just be—how to sit with boredom or create without constant stimulation.

So they go right back to the apps.

But if you can push through that pain period, something better starts to happen. You slowly refill your life with real dopamine—the kind that comes from being fully present in your own life

You start doing things you’ve been “too busy” for:

• Picking up old hobbies.

• Starting creative projects.

• Chasing the side hustle you’ve been daydreaming about.

• Trying new things in your city instead of watching others do it online.

When I cut down my cheap dopamine intake, I started noticing opportunities for joy and growth everywhere.

I played basketball again. I finally tackled “Crime and Punishment”—a book I’d avoided for years because scrolling felt easier than focusing. I got back in touch with my faith. I started spontaneously texting friends to grab breakfast.

I even work out without headphones now. At first, it felt wrong, like I needed music or a podcast to survive the gym. But now, I enjoy the quiet. I’m just there, with my thoughts, fully present.

These things take effort. They require you to leave the house. They’re not as instantly rewarding as the infinite scroll.

This is what life feels like when you stop medicating boredom with cheap dopamine.

You rediscover what you actually enjoy. What sparks curiosity. What makes you feel alive.

And the more you fill your life with that kind of meaning, the less tempting the cheap stuff becomes.

That’s when you know you’ve made it to the other side.

What life looks like after minimizing cheap dopamine