Dopamine Detox: A Therapeutic Reset Toolkit
🧠 Section 1: Awareness — Identify Your Dopamine Triggers
Prompt:
Take a few minutes to reflect. What activities give you an instant dopamine hit but leave you feeling distracted, drained, or guilty afterward?
✍️ Write down your top 5 dopamine traps:
🔍 Reflection Questions:
-
When do you reach for these most often — bored, stressed, lonely, tired?
-
How do you feel during and after doing them?
⏱️ Section 2: Design Your Detox Plan
Choose your detox style
✅ Check one:
-
☐ 2–4 hours daily
-
☐ Full day (e.g., Sunday)
-
☐ 72-hour reset
-
☐ Weekly practice (e.g., every Saturday)
Start Date: ____________
Duration: ______________
✅ Section 3: Replace with Meaningful Alternatives
List activities you’ll do instead:
(Think low-stim, restorative, or mindful)
📘 Something to read: ____________________________
✍️ Something to write/journal about: ____________________________
🚶 Walk destination or time: ____________________________
🧘 Breathing/Meditation practice: ____________________________
🎨 Creative or focus task: ____________________________
💬 Section 4: Journal Your Detox Experience
Use this section after your detox period:
1. What was hardest to resist?
2. What surprised you the most?
3. What did you enjoy doing instead?
4. Did your focus or mood shift? How?
5. One thing I’d like to change permanently:
🔁 BONUS: Build a New Reward Loop
Replace instant dopamine with intentional joy.
List 3 healthy rewards you can use to reinforce good habits:
-
After deep work, I’ll treat myself to: ______________________
-
When I finish a workout, I’ll: _____________________________
-
After journaling, I’ll allow myself to: _______________________
💡 Final Reflection
“Doing nothing is where everything starts.”
How can you integrate more intentional boredom into your life?
