TJ Power

And that fundamentally means you wake, you don't snooze your alarm, as painful as it is, but simply beating that challenge of, oh, I could just lie in bed and stay in this comfort and doing something that's difficult is beginning that dopamine increase.

And that fundamentally means you wake, you don't snooze your alarm, as painful as it is, but simply beating that challenge of, oh, I could just lie in bed and stay in this comfort and doing something that's difficult is beginning that dopamine increase.

We then get people to, if they really struggle with snoozing, to literally, when the alarm goes off, just sit at the side of the bed and just get themselves out of the prone position effectively and sit there. We then get them to go straight to the bathroom. If you can, you then start brushing your teeth. Brushing your teeth is an annoying slow activity. Again, you're earning dopamine.

We then get people to, if they really struggle with snoozing, to literally, when the alarm goes off, just sit at the side of the bed and just get themselves out of the prone position effectively and sit there. We then get them to go straight to the bathroom. If you can, you then start brushing your teeth. Brushing your teeth is an annoying slow activity. Again, you're earning dopamine.

Like if you do it for 20 seconds, you always know, I feel a bit guilty for the fact I just did 20 seconds. You do the two minutes, you think, yes, task complete. So you go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, you splash cold water on your face, and you come back and you make your bed. There's this brilliant psychologist called Walton that looked at the relationship between dopamine and effort.

Like if you do it for 20 seconds, you always know, I feel a bit guilty for the fact I just did 20 seconds. You do the two minutes, you think, yes, task complete. So you go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, you splash cold water on your face, and you come back and you make your bed. There's this brilliant psychologist called Walton that looked at the relationship between dopamine and effort.

And it's very clear that if you utilize effort right at the beginning of your day, your dopamine starting on that nice slow curve, motivation then builds.

And it's very clear that if you utilize effort right at the beginning of your day, your dopamine starting on that nice slow curve, motivation then builds.

And then your capacity to further resist the phone and maybe get outside for a walk or do some exercise or get to your desk or make your kids breakfast is going to come from an easier place than the wake up, spike dopamine and crash and then try and get going from there.

And then your capacity to further resist the phone and maybe get outside for a walk or do some exercise or get to your desk or make your kids breakfast is going to come from an easier place than the wake up, spike dopamine and crash and then try and get going from there.

Be honest with me. It's interesting. And there is so much nuance with how the beginning of the day starts. And we get these questions all the time in our training and things like that. Fundamentally, the absolute gold standard would be you don't see a phone for 30 minutes. However, there There are scenarios where definitely a phone is not disadvantageous to these chemicals.

Be honest with me. It's interesting. And there is so much nuance with how the beginning of the day starts. And we get these questions all the time in our training and things like that. Fundamentally, the absolute gold standard would be you don't see a phone for 30 minutes. However, there There are scenarios where definitely a phone is not disadvantageous to these chemicals.

So if you think about listening to music, as long as you're not rapidly tapping through it and you're just listening to a song, that's okay. If you woke up and it's part of your routine to go straight into a meditation, utilizing a meditation app, again, that's a good use of your time. I know many people like because of the brainwave state to go straight into meditation when they wake.

So if you think about listening to music, as long as you're not rapidly tapping through it and you're just listening to a song, that's okay. If you woke up and it's part of your routine to go straight into a meditation, utilizing a meditation app, again, that's a good use of your time. I know many people like because of the brainwave state to go straight into meditation when they wake.

This is where it gets interesting. You really want to make sure that the phone doesn't charge directly by your head. That's like a gold standard rule. It can't be charging there because our willpower goes up and down depending actually on our dopamine levels and different areas of our brain being activated. Willpower in the morning is going to be slightly lower.

This is where it gets interesting. You really want to make sure that the phone doesn't charge directly by your head. That's like a gold standard rule. It can't be charging there because our willpower goes up and down depending actually on our dopamine levels and different areas of our brain being activated. Willpower in the morning is going to be slightly lower.

If the phone is there, it's irresistible. I always have this, like when I come away, for example, we're here at the moment, I don't have my alarm, so then my phone has to become my alarm. And suddenly it's like, where is the phone going to be? And I have to make sure that it charges the other side of the room. So it still wakes me, but I don't have that moment of, oh, I might just quickly check.

If the phone is there, it's irresistible. I always have this, like when I come away, for example, we're here at the moment, I don't have my alarm, so then my phone has to become my alarm. And suddenly it's like, where is the phone going to be? And I have to make sure that it charges the other side of the room. So it still wakes me, but I don't have that moment of, oh, I might just quickly check.

With that in mind, when you do check, if there's a whole stream of notifications, again, it's going to create this anticipatory rise in dopamine. Then you're going in. You're not going to be able to resist it. So you need to really be on airplane mode when you're going to sleep. So you wake up and there's nothing there.

With that in mind, when you do check, if there's a whole stream of notifications, again, it's going to create this anticipatory rise in dopamine. Then you're going in. You're not going to be able to resist it. So you need to really be on airplane mode when you're going to sleep. So you wake up and there's nothing there.