Hey everyone, today I'll be showing you a quick dopamine-based morning routine that not only made me addicted to studying, but it also got me an average of 98 grades at school.
So I got straight A's.
And the good thing about this routine is that it's so easy to implement.
It does not take much to implement.
You just have to literally change one thing and you're golden.
So let's get straight into it.
Now, this routine will not only make you 10 times more productive, but it will actually make you enjoy studying, which is the most important part.
It will make studying addicting, because this morning routine takes advantage of your dopamine levels.
Let's get straight into it.
Okay, so for a quick explanation of what dopamine is, let's say this is your day and this is your dopamine.
And I'm going to add a third line, which is your baseline.
Basically, when you wake up in the morning, your dopamine is somewhere around this range, somewhere here, right?
The problem is a lot of students, or people in general, start their morning routine by opening their phone or watching social media or, I don't know even pornography.
And the problem with those kinds of activities is it causes an early dopamine spike.
And the problem with huge spikes of dopamine in the morning is that it will create a huge drop to compensate for the huge dopamine spike.
Because of course your body undergoes homeostasis.
Your body needs to balance your levels of dopamine.
And because of its huge drop, whatever you do during this time will just feel like a freaking chore.
It will feel like work.
It will feel unenjoyable.
This is why whenever you use your phone at this time, it will cause a huge spike.
And typically when you try to study after using a device.
So, for example, here in this range, your studying will just feel really unenjoyable.
Like literally you will rather be doing anything else.
And this is why most people after using their phone and social media.
What do they do to circumvent this?
They obviously go back to using their phone again.
And that is the problem with starting your day off with a dopaminergic activity.
It starts your day off with such a peak, your day ends up looking like this.
It's gonna look very messy.
And because of these peaks, it's gonna be hard for you to focus doing literally anything.
Now, what about a top student? top student manages their dopamine levels like this.
So typically in the morning, when they wake up, the first thing they do is they don't use their phones.
So it's going to look something like this.
When you don't use your phone or if you don't do any dopaminergic activity, your dopamine stays at this baseline.
And because you're at this baseline, whatever you're doing, like work or studying or whatever it becomes enjoyable.
Because your brain is not suffering from a huge dopamine spike, therefore it becomes a consistent.
And throughout the day when you're eating or whatever.
As long as you're keeping this line in check, then you're going to have a good, consistent study habit.
Top students typically aim for more natural sources of dopamine like, for example, studying itself or going outdoors or even exercising.
And you could check out Matthew Smith's video on this.
He actually created a very good video explaining about dopamine loading.
So the first thing I do whenever I wake up, or regardless of what time I wake up although I do wake up at 5 am nowadays because I find that to be the most practical time for me, but there isn't really a correct time to get up
So as long as you just follow this routine when you get up.
But literally the first thing I do when I get up and I get out of bed is I don't go to my phone.
I literally don't touch that thing.
It's usually in silent mode and i just don't open it.
I don't check messages, i don't check emails, i don't even check my classes if there's an announcement.
I don't touch a piece of technology, i just go straight to meditate.
And basically my meditation does two things.
The first thing is that it clears my mind, it stabilizes my dopamine, so it's not spiking, so it has that baseline level.
Not only does this help start my day, but it also helps me study, because anything that's occurring in my mind will be flushed away when I'm meditating.
So I always do this before I study, because it's quite beneficial as well, because when you're taking information as much as possible, you don't want to have too much cognitive load like thoughts or anything disturbing you.
So that's why the first thing I do when I get out of bed is I literally just meditate, and I meditate for a couple of minutes before I start studying.
The second thing that my meditation does and it's very, very important but i essentially prime myself for the day.
Whenever i meditate, i try to align myself with what i have to be for the day.
So this is very useful if you want to stay consistent for a long period of time, because a lot of times people, when they're motivated to change or to apply this certain habit, every time they wake up the next day they just forget everything.
And i wanted to get behind that, And my solution to that was to just literally align myself, to remind myself like okay, you have to be this person.
Don't forget your goals.
You're going to have to be doing this and that you have to act a certain way today.
In order to keep my mindset in the long run, you have to be constantly reminding yourself of what you have to prioritize.
So literally, while I'm meditating, I am not only clearing my mind, but I'm also trying to align myself.
So basically I would remind myself, okay, this is a person that I have to become.
Today I have to study hard because I have high aspirations and I really want to deeply learn the stuff that I'll be learning today.
So, as you guys know, I'm someone who likes learning other things like math and science or computer science, and I like spending my time productively instead of just scrolling through social media or just scrolling through TikTok.
And especially when it comes to learning computer science, math and science.
I like it when it's very visual, and that's why this video is sponsored by Brilliant.
The one thing that I love about Brilliant is that they teach in a very visual and engaging approach.
So, instead of just blindly teaching you topics, they actually make you do the problems themselves and they help you tackle problems and grasp concepts by doing.
I've been so interested in AI lately so I've been doing their How AI Works course under technology and I've been having so much fun just learning the core principles of AI and have it in a fun, presentable way as well.
So if you guys want to learn for free, then go to brilliantorg or scan the QR code on the screen, or you can even click the link in the description.
Brilliant was kind enough to give Kind Notebook users a 20 off the annual premium subscription, which just basically gives you unlimited access to Brilliant.
So again, check the link in the description, QR code, or you can go to the link.
Anyway, back to the video.
And of course, right after meditating, I just go straight to study.
I don't even wash my face.
I don't even eat.
I don't even prepare my day.
I just go straight to studying.
And the reason why is because my mind is already primed and cleared with a baseline of dopamine that I want to take advantage of it.
And because of that, I just start studying.
I don't do X or Y. I don't prepare my environment.
It's already prepared.
My desk is literally nothing but my laptop.
So I don't have to do anything.
I just have to go to my desk, and just start studying.
My showering and breakfast can come later.
And you know, you could do this first, whatever works for you.
But that's kind of the reason why I also wake up early is because it also allows me to study a bit in the morning.
And literally my classes become my review because I've already learned the information.
So in a way, class becomes my secondary review, which is pretty gnarly if you ask me.
And another good thing about waking up at 5 AM is that no one is up.
Like I'm just there, like I'm alone.
Like I'm just there with my studying and nothing will distract me.
So here's a morning routine that you can implement early in the morning.
And basically, the one thing that you have to do is not necessarily doing stuff that makes you more productive, but it's more about removing the things that make you not productive.
You need to clear your morning so much that the only thing you feel like doing is studying.
You need to give yourself no reason to watch your phone or to do X and Y, so that you will be naturally gravitated towards studying.
And literally the one recommendation I give every person I meet or every student is to literally don't open your phone.
Don't do anything that spikes your dopamine first thing in the morning.
So like social media, chatting, chatting with friends, heck, even pornography.
If you start your day with those kinds of activities, you're just going to end up spiking your dopamine and experiencing that low level of dopamine which just makes your studying or anything less enjoyable.
So one takeaway you can take from this video is to literally balance your dopamine.
It's okay to use your phone.
It's okay to play games.
It's okay to do stuff that you like, but make sure that you regulate it.
You don't just start your day with that dopamine activity.
You can do so later.
You can enjoy everything later, but your morning is like the most important one hour of your day, because that sets the rest of your day.
If you want to make studying fun, or anything fun in general, you need to cut out the external sources of dopamine so that you yourself can make the studying itself intrinsically fun.
You can't just stack dopamine and use your phone and watch subway surfers while studying, because obviously studying requires your full attention.
If anything, studying can be intrinsically fun.
There can be a bit of fulfillment if you just focus on studying itself rather than layering dopamine over it.
But that being said, I hope you guys enjoyed today's video.
I hope that tomorrow morning you're going to not use any gadgets or any social media.
You're just going to do what's important.
Obviously you can modify your routine but at the core essence try to avoid any dopamine inducing activity first thing in the morning.
Speaking of dopamine, let's choose the emoji of today.
I'm thinking syringe because dopamine, syringe, chemicals.
Comment down a syringe emoji if you've reached this part of the video and I'll see you guys in the next one.
Don't forget to drink your water.
Bye.
