Unplugging · Reclaim your mornings: 10 minutes to break the dopamine trap

The Weekly Reset

The 10-minute morning buffer

This week, I want to offer a small but powerful shift:
Don’t check your phone for the first 10 minutes after waking up.

That’s it. No scrolling, no inbox, no news, no notifications, give your brain 10 minutes to arrive in the day before the digital world rushes in.

Why? Because those first moments shape more than we realise. When we wake up and immediately dive into apps, we flood our brain with dopamine — little hits of stimulation that feel rewarding but leave us foggy, anxious, and reactive before we’ve even stood up.

Instead, give yourself a gentle buffer. Something quiet. Something human.
Here are a few things you could try:

• 🌬 Open a window and take a few deep breaths. Feel the air, notice the light.

• ☕️ Make a tea or coffee and drink it slowly, without multitasking.

• ✍️ Write a couple of lines in a notebook. A thought, a dream, a to-do.

• 🧘‍♂️ Stretch, or sit for a moment. Let the body catch up to the day.

It doesn’t have to be “productive.” It just has to be yours.

I’ve been trying this for a while now. Some mornings, I journal; some mornings, I just stare out the window like a Victorian ghost. But every time I do it, I feel a bit more grounded — and a bit less pulled around for the rest of the day.

Try it once this week. Just 10 minutes.
Notice how it feels to begin your day on your terms.

Signal vs. Noise

Digital reward loops

This week I dove into a fascinating article titled:

👉 How to escape the ‘dopamine crash loop’ and rewire your curiosity – Big Think

Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff explains something many of us feel but rarely name:
Digital reward loops hijack our dopamine system.

Every swipe, like, refresh or update creates a tiny, unpredictable reward — and that “variable schedule” is exactly what our brains crave.

“Your brain’s reward system is meant to motivate you toward meaningful experiences — but modern tech companies exploit it with uncertainty and variable rewards.”

Over time, we get pulled into a cycle of instant but empty dopamine hits that leave us restless, overstimulated, and craving more.

The good news?
The same brain wiring that traps us can also help us become more curious, creative, and focused — if we use it intentionally.

Rewire Your Curiosity

Here’s how the article suggests breaking the loop:

• Identify your triggers. Notice when you reach for your phone — boredom? Anxiety? Habit?

• Swap empty rewards for real ones. Try a 10-minute walk, a creative break, or a curious question instead of another scroll.

• Let curiosity breathe. Explore a topic. Follow a question. Let your mind wander — deeply, not just distractedly.

We don’t need to eliminate dopamine.
But we do need to reclaim it — from the noise, back toward meaning.

A Moment Offline

The morning I didn’t check my phone

The other day, I woke up and left my phone on the shelf.
I didn’t check it — no scrolling, no emails, no notifications.
I made breakfast slowly, listening to the kettle, buttering toast, eating in silence.
No podcast, no screen. Just the small rhythms of a quiet morning.

And it felt… strange.

My mind reached for stimulation — out of habit. That twitchy reflex to check something, anything.

But after a few minutes, I noticed something else: the absence of noise. A calm, almost unfamiliar sense of being rooted in my body, in the moment.

We don’t always realise it, but every time we pick up our phone first thing, we’re flipping a switch — flooding our system with dopamine before we’ve even had water.
That morning, without that hit, I felt the difference.
I wasn’t chasing the day. I was in it.

Dopamine isn't the enemy — but the way we overstimulate it can leave us foggy, anxious, and scattered.

A calm morning is a reset. It gives your brain space to breathe before the noise begins.

Try one slow morning this week.
Delay the scroll. Let your brain wake up before your feed does.
Notice what shifts — in your mood, your focus, your energy.
You might find that less input gives you more of yourself back.

My recommendations for this week

Each week, I’ll share a few things that support a slower, more intentional life — tools, reads, small rituals, or quiet products I genuinely believe in. Nothing noisy, nothing spammy — just things I’d recommend to a friend over coffee.

Some are useful. Some are calming. Some are just a nudge toward a less distracted kind of day.

Take what resonates. Ignore what doesn’t. Let it be light.

See you next week,
Miguel

P.S. I’m currently working on something new that I think you’ll love — a Dopamine Reset Checklist and a printable habit tracker to help you break the cycle of digital overload and reconnect with what truly matters.

It’s designed to make this feel doable — something you can stick on your fridge, pin to your corkboard, or use as a quiet accountability anchor throughout the week.

If you’ve been enjoying these notes and want to help me keep writing and sharing them, you can always buy me a coffee here — it means a lot. Thank you for being part of this quiet little corner. 💙