- Ask wife to set up screen time passcode and not tell me

- Block social media and other distracting websites in Screen Time

- Set a 1 minute time limit on distracting apps

- Keep the phone in the garage as much as possible

- Get an Apple Watch cellular so that I can still communicate with people, make payments, get directions etc when I am out and about

Not a perfect dumb phone but this has helped me reduce usage tremendously.

So far, I haven’t experienced any strong cravings for the gum when not taking it for a day or two. When I decide to stop in about a couple months, I will power through with discipline.

This was about 5 years ago.

Recently, I’ve started using nicotine gum to increase focus while working. I usually use 1 mg, maximum 4 times a day. I typically begin taking it in the afternoon, my morning work sessions are usually nicotine-free. I have been using it on most days for about 3 months.

I have zero desire to smoke or vape. On days when I am not taking it, I don’t have a strong craving for the gum.

I’ve also quit caffeine a few days ago, with the intention to not use it for at least 3 months. I find that even low amounts of tea increases my anxiety to the point that it becomes difficult to focus. I’ve been very productive since I stopped caffeine. Mild withdrawal effects in the form of physical tiredness, but I am fine with the tradeoff for less anxiety.

I might have developed some level of physical dependency to nicotine, I’ll see it once I’ll do an extended break. For now, it’s the only dopamine-increasing substance I consume, and I’m fine with it.

I've used it for some minimal coding via Codespaces or SSH, which was fine, but as a development machine, the 13" MacBook Air is a way superior choice.

For many, this is the whole point of taking psychedelics - to find self-improvement through these altered states. Science seem to confirm this works. [0] Why does it feel scary to you?

[0] Psychedelics and Neuroplasticity: A Systematic Review Unraveling the Biological Underpinnings of Psychedelics - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34566723/

MDMA, sure, would have severe consequences if consumed so much.

Psychedelics, such as mushrooms or LSD, would cause hardly any harm and simply would stop working due to tolerance build up, unless the user keeps doubling the dose every time.

Or perhaps the fact that it's legal and readily available in every grocery store, restaurant and entertainment venue? Unlike any other mind altering substance we use.

There are still places where more conscious partying happens. These are typically psychedelic trance or deep techno festivals.

Alcohol truly is one of the worst drug we use - just look at Dr. David Nutt’s research [0]. I really wish young people clubbing these days gravitated towards less harmful drugs.

[0] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/uk-11660210.am...

Changing my peer group was the most important thing. Hanging out with people who drink at places where drinking is the main activity is not a good way to stop drinking.

Travelling was a great way for me to find other likeminded people. I moved to SEA where I found lots of people who weren’t drinking.

Once you have friends who aren’t alcoholics, you can start doing non-drinking things for fun. Hiking, riding motorcycles, jamming on instruments, talking about philosophy, fishing, writing code… Anything that you would consider fun.

Partying is also possible without booze, but the event has to be one that’s less drinking oriented. Typically, venues are making most of their revenue from alcohol sales, so it’s not easy to find the right one. But there are still some underground electronic music events, raves or even Sunday morning ecstatic dances, etc.

If you want to use substances, I found that mushrooms at the dose of around 0.5-1g are a safe option for some social fun time. But be sure to do your research and experiment in a safe setting first.

* Sleep only 5 hours a day

* Spend 5 hours on TikTok every day

* Eat a diet of mostly processed carbohydrates

* Stay sedentary all day

Let’s see if this person starts showing ADHD symptoms after a week. Should we start medicating them?

I am not saying that there are no _legit_ cases of ADHD when it is indeed genetic or trauma based that cannot be easily fixed by lifestyle changes. There are people who really need the meds. But I am betting that that these people are only a very low percentage of the currently medicated ones.

Medication should be the last resort, only for severe cases, or perhaps not used every day so that the brain can recover. 4 day on and 3 days off seem to be a popular dosing schedule by some mindful advocates.

Of course, it’s incredibly difficult to do all the things mentioned above to aid optimal dopamine levels.

The way our society operates, it’s much easier to take the shortcut and pop some amphetamine after you wake up to get your day going.

Exceptions apply to legit, severe cases.

Andrew Huberman has a good podcast about the topic. [0]

[0] https://podcastnotes.org/huberman-lab/episode-37-adhd-how-an...

For work, I prefer more dynamic instrumental music. Specifically, hypnotic, minimalistic, psychedelic techno. An artist I really like these days is Luigi Tozzi[0] and the label Hypnus Record.

[0] https://soundcloud.com/hypnus-memoirs/1-luigi-tozzi