“I literally can’t focus on a book anymore.” – was just a passing comment from someone I coach, but it hit. Not just because of what it said—but because of what it meant.
Not being able to focus on a book isn’t just about reading. It’s about the quiet, the stillness, the depth that’s become so foreign to our overstimulated brains. It’s about how our attention spans have been hijacked, our nervous systems fried, and our sense of peace chipped away notification by notification.
We’re not just scrolling. We’re rewiring ourselves. And many of us can feel it, deep down, even if we can’t name it yet.
Do you know what is a modern burnout driver? Dopamine.
Our phones are not neutral tools anymore. They’re dopamine machines—designed to hook, reward, and overstimulate. Every ping, every like, comment, and swipe gives our brains a little “hit.” And over time, we start craving that stimulation more than the slow, grounded moments that used to fulfill us.
But dopamine isn’t bad. It’s a natural part of how motivation and reward work in the brain. The problem starts when we’re constantly triggering it without real rest, meaning, or satisfaction to balance it out.
Think about it:You check your phone when you wake up. You scroll to avoid discomfort.You bounce between five apps without even realising it. You feel restless in silence, bored in nature, distracted even in conversations with people you love.
That’s not just a bad habit. That’s nervous system dysregulation.
And the cost of constant connection is high, but let’s be honest: the digital world isn’t going anywhere. So the way we engage with it needs a radical shift—especially for Highly Sensitive People and deep feelers who are more affected by overstimulation.
When we live in a dopamine-fueled loop of checking, refreshing, and responding, we lose more than just time.
We lose:
- 🧠 Focus – The ability to concentrate on one task for longer than a few minutes is eroding. And with it goes our creativity, clarity, and productivity.
- 🛌 Rest – Even when our bodies slow down, our minds stay hyper-alert. True rest becomes rare. We sleep, but we don’t feel restored.
- 💬 Presence – Our attention is split. We’re here… but also there. We’re with someone… but half-available to everything else.
- ❤️ Connection – We miss the micro-moments that build intimacy: eye contact, pauses, unfiltered emotion. We’re too distracted to truly feel one another.
And slowly, something inside us starts to ache for simplicity. For stillness. For the grounded life we know we’re meant to live. Our bodies can’t keep up with such pace, so they try to catch our attention by anxiety, inability to unwind or fatigue.
In this case, here’s what I’ve seen help—not just in theory, but in practice:
🔹 Start with one boundary – Set a daily time when your phone goes away. For real. Even 30 minutes can shift your system. For example, I never check my phone first thing in the morning. I wake up, have coffee, have breakfast, journal and when I feel ready for the day then I finally check all the notifications.
🔹 Practice “dopamine fasting” to counter dopamine addiction – This doesn’t mean cutting everything out. It means intentionally reducing stimuli for a few hours or a day to let your brain rest and recalibrate. If a thought of not being on your phone for one day scares you, then you definitely need it!
🔹 Let boredom return- Yes—boredom. It’s where creativity is born. When you stop consuming, you make space to actually feel, think, and create. Give.
You don’t need to quit the world—just the parts of it that are quietly quitting you.
We’ve normalised so much overstimulation that peace now feels weird. But that’s exactly why it’s powerful. Let this be your reminder:You’re allowed to reclaim your mind.You’re allowed to take your presence seriously.You’re allowed to quit whatever is numbing you—and return to what actually nourishes you.