Your Brain Is Addicted to Distraction (Here’s How to Reset It)

In this episode, I break down the dopamine and nervous system reset I’ve been doing, and how I realized my nervous system had quietly become dysregulated without me fully noticing it. We talk about dopamine, overstimulation, manifestation, nervous system regulation, and why so many creatives struggle with focus, consistency, and feeling present in their lives.

I walk you through:

•  the signs of dopamine dysregulation 
•  why your nervous system affects manifestation 
•  how scrolling, caffeine, sugar, and overstimulation impact creativity and focus 
•  the exact reset I’ve been doing 
•  and the shifts I noticed almost immediately after regulating my brain and body again 

If you’ve been feeling restless, disconnected, unmotivated, or like you’re constantly chasing quick dopamine hits instead of building the life you actually want this episode is for you. 

You can book a Rewire Session with me here

Connect with me on Instagram and TikTok @chelsea_annco

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Expansion Edit Podcast, where if you hang around long enough, you'll learn that you can achieve anything by rewiring who you believe you are. I'm Chelsea, a licensed therapist, turned identity coach for the woman ready to create an extraordinary life and become the living manifestation of her vision board. Not through wishful thinking or fluffy affirmations, but through identity embodiment using proven techniques, rewiring protocols, and psychology-backed strategy grounded in neuroscience. Here we talk subconscious rewiring, nervous system safety, identity shifting, and manifestation in a way that expands your life from the inside out. So let's unlock your next level. Welcome back to the podcast. Today we are going to be talking about a little reset I've been doing. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know what I'm talking about, but I've been doing a little dopamine reset, which has also, you know, snowballed as these things do into like a complete nervous system reset, which is apparently what I needed because I have a confession to make, you guys. My nervous system became dysregulated without me even knowing it, without me even thinking that was the case. Also, if you hear my dog breathing in the background, it's fine. And I want to chat about it because I feel like this can happen. I mean, I talk about nervous system regulation all the time, all day, every day. It's all I talk about. It's not all I talk about, but it is a big part of what I talk about. Because if your nervous system is dysregulated, you cannot hold bigger. And if you are manifesting, you're most likely trying to call in something bigger than you currently have. The problem with nervous system dysregulation is that it can be super sneaky. Like it can be this thing where you consciously think that you're regulated, but your body will always send you signs that you're not. So if you are feeling restless, feeling exhausted, but you can't sleep, feeling a sense of unease, or an inability to just be sitting in the present moment, or just an overwhelming feeling that something might be wrong. Like all these things, and you don't need to have all of those things, but like even having one of those things, your nervous system is probably dysregulated. And a lot of us have lived in fight or flight or lived with dysregulated nervous systems for a long time. So we can't all it's not always easy to identify that we're dysregulated when that's just maybe our normal state of operation. So for me, I was noticing that I was like on my phone more often, doom scrolling more often, constantly being behind, not getting the things done that I want to, forgetting things a lot. And this is, I mean, I do forget things quite often, but it was it was excessive. What there were a lot of signs. And I just also felt in this, like, I felt this feeling of just that like I wasn't living up to my potential, which that in and of itself is not necessarily a sign of dysregulation. But if you are not doing the things that you know you need to be doing in order to make progress towards your goals, that can be a sign that your nervous system is overwhelmed or it's just too much. So there were things that I wasn't doing, like, you know, I'm usually really good at doing my my meditation every day. And like there were days where I wasn't doing it, and I was like, I know I need to be doing this because, and this is a little bit of a tangent, because I don't feel like you need to meditate in order to manifest. Like, there's nothing you don't need to do a routine, like you can just manifest things, but I do think for creating familiarity within the subconscious, it is such a hack. And therefore, for me, that is something that I feel like is a necessary thing that just not only helps me manifest, but it also just helps bring me into the present moment and again regulate my nervous system. It's something I know I always feel better when I do. And in these times where like things are off and I miss days, like I know I need to be doing that thing and I'm not doing it. That is a sign that my nervous system is dysregulated and overwhelmed or burnt out. So there were signs, I knew there were signs, and I wasn't really doing anything about it again because I was feeling just this burnout. But what's interesting is there's nothing that like happened to make me get into this state. Like there was no event, there was nothing really crazy going on. It was just really a bunch of little things, you know, piling up and falling out of my habits and and routines and checking my phone more and you know, feeling more comparison. Like it's a slow roll down a hill, I guess you could say. So I looked at my life and I was like, okay, something needs to change. I need to change something. What can we do here? And the common denominator, what I was finding was like, I was going for these quick dopamine hits. And I have always known that my brain runs a dopamine heavy. Like, I just I've always known that. Sorry, not always, but I've known that, you know, in my adulthood, I've known that I run dopamine heavy. And that's why it's actually like I think a lot of people see it as a negative if you have a dopamine-wired brain. But I actually think it can be such a positive if you can train your brain to get dopamine hits from building your dream life and from creating something amazing and through impacting other people. Like, if you can wire your brain to get dopamine hits from that versus these quick, cheap dopamine hits, it can be such an asset. So, what had happened with me is I had moved from that level of where I had trained my brain to be, and I was falling into these patterns of sugar, caffeine, doom scrolling, like all these kind of quick hits. And on top of that, I was finding I was more irritable. The dopamine wasn't lasting very long, like I would need more and more and more. So I was like, you know what? We're just gonna do a dopamine reset. That's what we're gonna do. We're gonna cut out all the things that are currently like feeding this cheap dopamine hit situation, and we're gonna retrain it to go for the longer-term rewards like building your dream life, like building a business, like all of those fun things. So I actually put this on my Instagram story, and a lot of you were interested in doing something similar, and so I have written it up, and I will include the link for the free download in the show notes if it is done by the time this episode comes out. If not, it will be available very, very soon. I'm just gonna walk you through what I did, and you guys, some of the things sound hard, but also I think that living where you don't feel happy and you're just irritable and not working towards the things that you want to work towards is so much harder to me than like doing something hard in the short term, like cutting something out or changing a pattern or a behavior. Basically, okay, I just want to preface that like obviously dopamine is not the only thing that contributes to nervous system regulation, but it is a big one, and it's also a big one, obviously, for manifesting since it does affect the nervous system so intensely. Like I said, I was like feeling like I needed more caffeine, and and I didn't actually even realize that caffeine was kind of hitting that dopamine response as well, because it was like I was cutting down my social media, I was cutting down my sugar, and I was noticing I was reaching for the caffeine more and more to the point where I was finally like, you know what? I think this is part of it. And I did a little bit of research, turns out it is. I'm gonna go through everything that I did, but I just want to kind of give an overview that dopamine is responsible for the motivation, anticipation, and reward system. So it drives you to take action towards something that you want. When your brain is constantly getting that quick, easy dopamine like scrolling, sugar, caffeine, constant stimulation. I'm not a gamer, but I would include this that in this list. It starts to expect that level of instant gratification. And the negative impact of this for me, and also, I mean, anybody who's trying to build something bigger or do something, is that slower, more meaningful work feels harder, and your attention span drops, and you can start to avoid depth, and your nervous system becomes more reactive. And I kind of like this analogy, but like all of a sudden, I was feeling like my nervous system was kind of like my two-year-old because it was demanding, cranky, and instantly triggered. So this is what can happen if your dopamine response gets, you know, exhausted. And obviously, like I'm not talking about um alcohol or drugs or anything, but like kind of same idea. You know, we can look at that as well. So I'm gonna just tell you exactly what I did. And again, this will all be in the download if you're interested in implementing something similar. But these are the things I did. I set aside 30 minutes to prep food without screens because guys, cooking is something that I love and I was like not doing any cooking. And also with like cutting out processed foods and sugars, obviously I needed to be cooking. So it just became an intentional time where I could be present, cook, like do something creative in the kitchen, and you know, not have my screens. I also limited social media usage, so I didn't look at my phone for one hour in the morning, like after I woke up, and definitely no apps. And then I also did no phone 30 minutes before bed. And then obviously, this is a little bit tricky because for my job and for work, I am on TikTok and Instagram quite a lot between like editing, because I do all my editing in app. I know other people use CapCut, but like I do all my editing in the apps. So between like editing and posting, like I am in there quite a bit, but I limited my fun or like my own media usage to 15 minutes a day, which sounds like a lot, but if you actually think about it, like if you don't restrict yourself, oh my gosh, I was on it so much more, you guys. It was so bad. And it's just like that's not getting you anywhere, it's not getting you closer to your goals. When I say you, I mean me. So I was just like, you know what? 15 minutes is good. There's nothing else I need to do on there, or nothing else I'm gonna find beyond 15 minutes. So that's what I stuck with. And then I also made sure I was doing my meditation twice a day. And whenever I felt the urge to distract myself, I paused, breathed, and I checked in with myself instead of checking out. So when I felt this urge to like, I don't want to be bored, I want to look at my phone, I wanna like do something distracting, I just quieted my mind and my body, and I just sat there for a minute and I was like, why do you actually need this? Like, what are you looking for in this moment? And it was usually just like, I want a dopamine hit, I want to feel good right now. I just like my toddler is screaming and I don't want to deal with it. Like, whatever it is. For in the moment, rewiring, the checking in instead of checking out is like really good. Just asking yourself, like, what do you need right now? And not in a defensive kind of, you know, what's wrong with you way, but like purely curiosity. Like, what do you need? What does your body need? Are you feeling overwhelmed? Are you like what's going on? You know, check in with yourself, don't check out. And then obviously, daily movement. I do this anyway, but like really making sure I'm getting exercise steps outside time. Okay, outside time is so important. And I live in a place where when it's coming into summer, it is so gloomy because I live on the coast, and for whatever reason, like the part of Northern California that I live in, I'm on the coast and it just it's like all the heat is sucked inland, and we just get like all of this fog, and it's so gloomy. And so I never want to be outside this time of year because it's just so sad. But I was like, no, I'm gonna do it. I've been going to the beach a lot, that's been so amazing. Just like grounding and like being out in nature, even though it's cold and gloomy, it's just been doing wonders for me. So those are the things that I did, and then the things that I cut out, and this one might be hard, but I promise you it is so, so worth it. Things I cut out were alcohol, for sure, excessive caffeine. So at the time of recording this, I am officially down to 95 milligrams, or is that I don't think it's grams, I think it's milligrams per day of caffeine, which was a process, and I didn't realize how dependent I was on caffeine. Guys, I think I was this is so sad, but I'm gonna be so honest with you. I think I was probably close to like 350 to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day, which is like so much, and it's like, no duh, your nervous system was dysregulated. Like, that's so much caffeine. So I tapered down to 95, and that was a process, had lots of headaches, even had some insomnia in between there, a little bit of anxiety. I mean, and who knows, the anxiety could have been, you know, just cutting out all the things. But yeah, so I cut out alcohol, excessive caffeine, no eating out, and then also no processed sugar or simple carbs. I'll eat, and I don't know if this counts actually as a simple simple carb, but like I'll eat sourdough bread and I'll eat like sweet potatoes, but I'm not gonna eat um, I don't know, like white bread or rice or I don't know, things like that. So I don't know what the difference is between a simple carb and like a complex one, but I'm pretty sure sweet potatoes are complex. I don't know where sourdough bread falls on that, but that is something that I'm still consuming and I'm fine with that. So, and then the other thing I cut out was TV at night, just because I feel like again, it's it's another like sort of numbing experience. And it's not like I really watch that much TV anyway, but just cutting it out altogether gave me more time to connect with my family or journal or meditate or whatever it is, doing something more purposeful than just rotting in front of the TV. If you can, try not to skip any of these. Again, I'm not a gamer, but if I was, I would definitely add that to the list. Okay, things I added tea instead of additional coffee. Also, I do um greens drink every day, which I'm actually drinking right now. It's by Arbon. I love it. That's something I am doing instead of coffee as well. Also added, obviously, Whole Foods without any added ingredients. And then daily outside time, you know, I already mentioned this, but like even in the clouds, I'm like getting my outside time every day. And something that's interesting is like I really was feeling before this reset that I didn't have time to cook homemade meals. Like I kept being like, you know, I'm too busy, blah, blah, blah. But now that I've prioritized it as, oh, this is a 30-minute time that I like don't use my phone and I'm like being intentional and I'm being present. It's like all of a sudden, suddenly I have this time to cook, and so that's been really cool. So even though it was rough the first few days, I just feel so good. And so I'm gonna do this probably for 30 days and maybe even longer. But I think 30 days is good because that's you know how long it takes to reinforce a habit. So if you do this, I would recommend just committing to 30 days at the onset and seeing like how you feel at that point. But I would say the first two days were like pretty uncomfortable, more restlessness, urges to check your phone, boredom, resistance, frustration, like all of that. But I will say after those first two days, and who knows, it might take a little bit longer. You know, I think it depends on the person and what your normal habits are. But what I noticed after the first one to two days is clearer thinking, more creativity. I had fewer scarcity-based thoughts, I was implementing things faster and like not overthinking things as much. I felt way more grounded and present, and I felt like I had deeper connections with the people around me, my family, and like that's really important to me. And then any feelings of anxiety really I felt were replaced with like a calm confidence. And interestingly, though not surprisingly, I saw a direct increase in my manifesting. And I am going to go through at the end of this reset because obviously I'm still like in it right now, but I'm gonna go through at the end and show you. I mean, obviously, because I can tell you how I feel, and like that's how I feel, but I think it's different to like actually show the results of what having a regulated nervous system does. Like, I'm already seeing the tangible 3D results of that in my work, you know, in my social media presence and engagement, like all of that. So it's great to feel good. And I think if you listen to this podcast, I know that you want to not just be successful like on paper, because most of you probably already are successful on paper, but like actually feel that and feel what it feels like to live a life that you love and that you don't want to escape from. So feeling good is really important, but also when you can say, like, oh, my nervous system was dysregulated and now it's regulated, and look at all these results that I've had in my reality, like that's a way more tangible result, you know, of nervous system regulation. I feel like I made a little bit of a jump here, but you know, my dopamine response and kind of how I was distracting myself and moving, it was like it was directly tied to my nervous system regulation. And so it's been a little bit humbling, I'm not gonna lie, to be like, okay, I talk about this all the time, it's so important. And like yet, I definitely fell victim to having a dysregulated nervous system and not even fully realizing like I knew something was off, I knew I wasn't feeling the best, I was a little bit more snippy and short internally, but um, I didn't quite fully put it together until I did this reset. And now how I feel and the way I'm moving, and it just like if you have your nervous system on board, you literally can do anything. Um, I know that sounds presumptuous, but it's like if you can carry that level of certainty that you need, and when you are grounded and when you are calm, you can carry that level of certainty in order to continue showing up when you're not seeing proof of anything, continue to work when you don't have the results yet and you're just putting it out there in good faith. You're able to do that and you're gonna get the hit of dopamine from that because your brain is gonna be wired towards working towards your dream, working towards bringing your creative talent into the world, or creating that business, or scaling that business, whatever you know, stage or whatever thing you're working on, having a regulated nervous system is gonna allow you to grow that capacity that you need in order to see this dream come into fruition, in order to manifest it into the world. So highly, highly, highly recommend doing this reset if you feel like you don't feel as good as you want to, or you're not feeling as convicted or sure about what you're doing. This will get you on track. I know it might feel like a lot like right on onset to like cut all of these things out and change things, but for me, at the end of the day, it's like I'm totally happy to do something, quote, hard if it's going to get me to where I want to go and it's going to allow me to create more impact and it's gonna allow me to grow. I would rather do that. I also feel like I'm at a point in my life where like I don't really care if I'm quote fitting in with conventional norms. And I know that sounds weird, but it's like I know, you know, it's normal to scroll on your phone all day. I know it's normal to watch TV at the end of the day, to have a few drinks, to eat out, and you know, and that's fine and that's great. But the thing is, at the end of the day, I don't really want a normal life. And I'm fine with that. And I feel like to have a life that is not normal, you have to do things that are not, quote, normal. And I think some of the things that I've listed here might seem, quote, hard, but to me, it's just a natural thing that I'm gonna do in building what I'm building and having the capacity to hold what I'm building. And I'm so content with that and so happy with that. And I know that if you're listening to this, you don't want a normal life either. So I really recommend that you do this reset and just see how you feel. And not even just see how you feel, but see how it affects your ability to manifest and create the things that you have been trying to create. And not only create them, but hold them because that is something that I've been really working on and focused on lately is not only creating, but holding then what I'm creating and not, you know, being scared that it's gonna go away. So I just rambled a lot. I'm going to leave the link if I finish it on time in the show notes. If not, stay tuned because it will be available as a free download very, very soon. If you're ready to do some of this work with support and really shorten the time gap between where you are and where you want to be, you can book a rewire session with me. Those are open right now, they're filling, and I'm so excited to be doing them again. So I will see you in the next one.