A Dopamine Detox I Didn’t Plan For

For Christmas, I got "The Hallmarked Man" by Robert Galbraith (pseudonym for J. K. Rowling). The few days following, I was mostly reading. My phone was disabled by Opal (Screen Time App), as I set this up during my exams and have not taken it off for the holidays.

The setup that I have since the exams is simple: from 22:30 till 7:30, social media is turned off for sleep, then from 8:00 till 17:00, it is blocked off for work. I kind of forgot and/or was too lazy to turn it off.

Furthermore, even though I thought I would have things to do, I really do not. There are things I can do, but there is no timely obligation, since most of these things depend on others also not being on holiday. This means that I am signed off till the 5th of January. Rather refreshing.

These factors combined made it so I gave myself somewhat of a dopamine detox, a time for slower and deeper engagement. A good gift to myself after a slightly overstimulated first semester.

And that is how I ended up reading 300 pages in 48 hours during Christmas. Something I had not done in a long time. Probably last time would have been in high school for some classes, i.e., in a completely different context.

This time around, the reading is not deadline-driven but by choice, which makes the experience feel personal and immersive in a different way.

Right after Christmas, I had a spa retreat with family and friends. Going to the spa, whilst having warmed up my brain to the concept of calm, was soothing. I was relaxed and receptive to that state.

The mix of being between Christmas and New Year's while simultaneously staying off my phone and thus the productivity train really helped to create a generalised peace of mind. In a way, it is my laziness, my lack of productivity, that helped create this space.

This Week's Suggestions:

📚 "The Hallmarked Man" by Robert Galbraith:

If you are looking for a 900-page detective novel to read that is enaging I can recommend it. I did end up reading it till 4 A.M at one point. The characters are well constructed with all their flaws, and the intrigue is gradually exposed with a bunch of side stories that play a role.

🎶 "Le Velour (Original Mix)" by Shonky:

I am in preparation of 2 hour set for the Nox in January. With bpm, we have an event where we are inviting Adrien Calvet and I am doing the closing of the event from 04:00 to 06:00. This song was one of my recent discoveries and will be going into my playlist.

Have a good end of 2025!