Yes, I’m a dopamine junkie!
Last Thursday I checked my emails right before going to sleep. There is usually little risk in this behaviour since I never get any negative emails. There was a request from my speaking agent for an event so interesting that it triggered my curiosity and kept me awake for several hours.
Research shows that smart phone usage changes our brains for the worse. It makes our brains shrink – literally. Why do we keep doing it? It’s an addiction. How can we change this? Define certain times of the day or certain situations when you disconnect. Use a when-then-connection to make this easier. If you just tell yourself that you will use your phone less, it’s not going to happen. When in a meeting… When working on an important task… When I spend time with my kids… Your brain will thank you for it. Below see a picture of a brain that is shrinking due to heavy multimedia multitasking. Picture courtesy: Loh KK, Kanai R (2014)