5 Tips for your own Dopamine Sabbatical

This post is 98.5% true.

On holiday at the Alhambra with non-cheese-gratered-nerve-endings.

Now the experiment has come to an end and I take time with my journal and pen to reflect on the difference this time away from my usual dopamine triggers has made, I see it has been profound.

I shared a couple of days ago how the first few days went; today’s post is more about the lessons learned and some tips if you’d like to try it for yourself.

1. I’m going minimalistic on my email and probably not back to FB

95% of my email and 99% of my personal Facebook notifications that I scanned through on the final evening of my dopamine sabbatical were irrelevant, uninteresting and unnecessary.

Out of the 350 emails I received into my work inboxes while away, there was ONE that was written to me by an actual human that was not a newsletter. Three emails I genuinely enjoyed reading. One marketer sent me 14 emails in one day. This is email gone mad. I did a lot of unsubscribing.

My inbox will be a sacred space going forwards.

I know as a Manifesting Generator in Human Design, I am here to respond, and I can see now I was checking my email every day waiting for something to magically appear to inspire me into my next project.

I see now that life is always incoming. If something is meant for me, it will cross my path without me having to be subscribed ‘just in case.’

As, indeed, it did (more on that to come).

Out of the gajillion Facebook notifications, most were ‘You have a friend request from…’ or ‘X liked your post’. As I’m writing this, I realise I have not yet checked my feed to see what everyone else in the world is up to; I used to always feel worse after a few minutes hours of scrolling so I’m glad that is a habit that seems to have slipped away in the past month.

I shan’t be resurrecting it.

The six paintings created whilst on sabbatical will be shared on my personal FB page, then I think that’s it. I have another plan for my art….

Water & Flame

On the other hand, it was a pleasure to scroll through my Floral Project Facebook Community and enjoy all the flowers they have been growing and giving. And how they are truly a community – all supporting each other – I’m not sure they even noticed I was gone.

I consider this a success.

Tip: Taking some time away from the things you are addicted to allows you a fresh perspective on whether you want or need them in your life. List them. Quit them. Then decide. A sabbatical (rather than a ‘detox’ means you can always go right back to them afterwards).

2. Taking 10 days out before my holiday and 6 days after was fucking genius

This was unintentional but it just so happened that we managed to book a last-minute holiday and spend 12 days in sunny Spain. The fact that I had already had 10 days of nervous system healing before I left meant I glided into it already relaxed and so could slip straight into hours of lying on the beach reading and being chilled out without being my revved up, controlling, rigid, unable-to-sit-still, bored-stupid self for the first week.

And the best ideas arrive into a relaxed quiet mind.

The fact that I had 6 days of sabbatical remaining when we got back was also perfect as I arrived back all guns blazing with plans and ideas but quickly realised I was tired from the holiday.

How could that be?

For me, going out in the morning, out in the afternoon, out in the evening (even if it is to the beach and the bar) for 12 days straight is too much going out. I’m a homebody.

Spending 24 hours a day with other people also exhausts me (even if I love them). As does being away from my ‘things’ – my paints, my garden, my dog walks, my routine.

Such is the nature of being autistic.

So although I arrived back and painted 4 paintings on the first day to satisfy my craving, I then collapsed back onto the sofa for the rest of the week until Monday.

Now I’m truly ready to get back into my ‘real’ life.

Tip: Try it taking a week either side of your holiday off. I know, crazy idea but if you have the privilege of being able to do such a thing, I recommend. If you don’t have the privilege – is there any way to create it for yourself by next summer? Nothing’s impossible.

3. My creative process changed

Creating without being able to share my creations was HARD. I slipped up a couple of times, discussing ideas or sharing links to drafts of new programs and showing my mother-in-law my what was on the easel but on the whole I reduced this by 90%.

But on the upside, instead of create-done-share, create-done-share, create-done-share which I am capable of doing several times a day because I create FAST, I moved into create-create-create-create-discard-create-create-edit-improve-create-create-create-done.

Paintings received many more layers over many more days, giving them depth and beauty. Writing was edited and re-written. A new program ideas was written into a website page then sat with and altered so it finally expressed the exact idea I was aiming for.

Less slap-dash, more beauty and thought.

Tip: What is your creative process? What would you create if no one was watching and you could never share it with anyone? I have considered this before but actually DOING it gave profound insight.

4. I slept better

I get the sense that my nerve endings are no longer ragged because dopamine is like a cheese grater on the ends of mine.

They have had a chance to heal over and are now beautiful and calm and whole.

I haven’t studied the science of dopamine and what it does – I’m more interested in my own personal experiments with it – but I no longer felt on high alert.

Therefore more sleep. Therefore better decisions about food, exercise, parenting and everything. And I’m smilier.

I have had enough of a break that when I went into my socials and emails for the first time, I could FEEL the cheese grater and I did not like it.

I have taken a lot of time to consider the idea ‘that’s just the way it is’ while I’ve been away and all the places I erroneously apply it. Once such idea is “You have to use email and social media to be engaged with the world and/or grow a business, that’s just the way it is”. This is now open to question. I like sleeping more than I like cute kitten videos.

Tip: Taking socials off your phone for 3 days doesn’t cut it. Take a month and do not log in once. Really.

5. I disappeared and nothing happened

I have talked SOO many times about taking time away and never actually done it properly. Today I feel alive. I feel clear. I feel rested. I feel excited about my work again. I feel changed. I feel happier. The sky did not fall in – not even a little bit.

I was scared I would disappear.

This, I have recently discovered, is my greatest fear; that I will disappear, and no one will notice. Innocently, I have been running my life through the program of making sure I am seen because being nothing, nowhere and no-one was frightening to me.

Through physically withdrawing from the world of my phone; of socials and emails and of sharing my creations, I have discovered the opposite.

Discovering who I am when not on display and the freedom of invisibility has been wonderful.

I have also been working with Joe Dispenza’s meditations to discover that falling into the feeling of being nothing, nowhere and no one is one of the most beautiful feelings there is. The space of pure formlessness, before thought.

These meditations will stay in my life going forwards.

Tip: There are times to withdraw and times to step out into our full power and be seen. Take some time to seriously consider which your body is asking for right now.

Soon, I will show you the new program that has arrived in this time away, but not today because I have borrowed your eyeballs for long enough today and because rush seems to have fallen out of me for now.

Let me know below if you’re up for trying your own dopamine sabbatical.