I thought the hardest part would be not touching my phone.
It wasn’t.
The real challenge started after I removed the obvious distractions, because my brain immediately tried to replace them with “reasonable” ones: small tasks, quick checks, tiny errands, and endless context switching that felt productive in the moment.
This post is a honest breakdown of my 7-day reset, what actually hurt, what helped, and what I’m keeping long term.
What I mean by “dopamine detox”
I’m not claiming you can “remove dopamine” or that dopamine is the enemy.
For me, “dopamine detox” means reducing high-stimulation, variable-reward inputs during the hours I want focus, so deep work doesn’t feel unbearable.
In practice that meant:
- No infinite feeds during my focus window.
- No “just one quick check” loops.
- Less novelty on demand.
The setup (so this was realistic)
I didn’t do monk mode. I didn’t disappear for a week.
I set one daily focus window: 90 minutes. That was the only non-negotiable.
Outside of that window, I lived normally.
My rules during the focus window:
- Phone out of reach.
- Notifications off.
- No social feeds.
- No random browsing unless it truly blocked the task.
Day 1–2: The first surprise
Day 1 felt easy because it was new.
Day 2 is where the bargaining started.
Without the phone, I expected “focus.” Instead I got friction:
- Starting felt heavier.
- Boredom felt louder.
- My brain tried to escape without calling it escape.
That’s when I realized I wasn’t addicted to my phone.
I was addicted to relief.
The hardest part (what I didn’t expect)
The hardest part was staying with discomfort long enough for it to pass.
Not the big discomfort. The tiny one:
- “This is unclear.”
- “I might do this wrong.”
- “This is boring.”
- “I don’t know the next step.”
That tiny discomfort is where I used to context switch.
And context switching was the real “dopamine hit” for me: a new tab, a new idea, a new micro-task, a new reset.
What actually worked (my simple system)
I used a very small system that doesn’t require motivation.
1) Define the next action before you start
Before the 90-minute window, I wrote one sentence:
- “In this session I will…”
Examples:
- “Fix the failing test and push the patch.”
- “Write the outline and the intro paragraph.”
- “Implement the endpoint and cover the happy path.”
If the next step isn’t clear, the brain will find a distraction to avoid that uncertainty.
2) Use an “urge list” instead of willpower
When I felt the urge to switch tasks, I wrote it down on a note:
- “Check X”
- “Look up Y”
- “Reply to Z”
- “Refactor A”
Then I told myself: not now. After the block.
Most urges didn’t survive 20 minutes.
They just wanted attention.
3) One tab rule for research
Research is a legit need for developers, but it’s also a trap.
If I truly needed info:
- Open one tab.
- Get the answer.
- Close it.
- Return to the task.
No branching into 10 tabs. No “while I’m here…”
4) End the session with a clean landing
At the end of the 90 minutes I wrote:
- What I finished.
- What the next step is tomorrow.
This reduced the “starting pain” the next day, which reduced my need to escape.
What changed by Day 6–7
By the end of the week:
- Starting became easier.
- I could stay on one task longer.
- I felt less mentally scattered at the end of the day.
The most important change wasn’t “more work done.”
It was feeling like I was driving again, not just reacting.
What I’m keeping long term
I’m not keeping a strict detox forever.
I’m keeping:
- One daily focus window.
- Phone out of reach during it.
- The urge list.
- Clear next action before starting.
Simple, repeatable, boring. That’s the point.
My biggest trap was “just one quick tab.” What’s yours?
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