Need It Now - Instant Gratification

*buzz* *buzz* — that’s the sound of your phone’s notification. What could it be? A Snapchat message, a new follower, a text from a loved one? You won’t know unless you check. This one alert turns into half an hour of mindless browsing as you are sucked into the never ending amount of content on the internet. This experience is all too familiar to me, and probably yourself.

What have you done in the past hour? I will bet you have checked your phone, probably multiple times. In fact, the average American checks their phone 96 times per day. Even at one minute per check, this time adds up, totalling 584 hours or just over 28 days per year!

That impulse to check your phone is one cause of instant gratification — the emotional response to the satisfaction of a desire.

This short term happiness is often at the expense of long term benefits.

The “Pleasure Principle”

In most psychological models, humans are believed to act upon the “pleasure principle” — the compelling force that drives humans to gratify their needs, wants, and urges. These can be as simple as food or water but are often non-essential items such as the latest I-Phone or a pair of shoes you saw online.

Battle of the Brain

When you make a decision, there are 2 areas of the brain that play a part in it:

• The limbic system is associated with our emotions.
• The frontal lobe controls abstract reasoning.

When confronted with a decision, your logical part of your brain tries to reason with you. You might tell yourself “I will start working out today” or “I shouldn’t be eating another chocolate bar.” More often than not, your emotions get the best of you, just like watching a sad movie.

Actions -> Habits

Hippocampus - the part of the brain that acts as the memory headquarters

In teens, there is a big jump in hippocampal activity when it comes to reinforcement learning. Unlike other generations, today’s teens have grown up with electronics and have become accustomed to their devices being ubiquitous and their constant connectedness. This leads to extreme addiction. In fact, a survey showed that 50% of teens feel that they are addicted to their phones and 78% check them at least hourly. When you don’t get fulfillment, our psychological response is anxiety or tension which only worsens the more you try to avoid it.

Danger of Social Media

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter produced by the brain and it is released when it expects a reward. Tech companies exploit this organic chemical because they understand what causes dopamine surges in the brain. Algorithms use data gathered from our online actions to tailor what you see specifically to you. The more you use the product, the more it knows you and what you like, making it more compelling to continue using it. This creates dopamine driven feedback loops, making it extremely difficult to break out of due to the severe withdrawal and joyless state you experience without it.

“Nobody gives a care about the fate of labor as long as they can get their instant gratification.” — Squidward Tentacles

Perhaps we should listen to the beloved cartoon character, but how do we avoid these extreme temptations?

Take Control — How to Overcome the Temptations

Think Bigger

A recent study by a team of researchers used the lens of a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine. They found that when people waited for a reward, patient people were seen imagining the future. In more patient people, the researchers observed increased activity in the region of the brain that helps you think about the future (the anterior prefrontal cortex). By devoting more energy into the future benefits, the one off “feel good” moment won’t seem so valuable.

Fight Fire with Fire

As emotions are the driving factor in these impulses, tie a greater emotion to your goal. Turn your goal into something more gratifying than any possible distraction.

Be Aware

One of the most effective ways to manage distractions is by making sure they can’t distract you in the first place. Manage your environment. If you are on your phone too much, put it in another room. If you want to workout or do school work, have the equipment necessary in an easily accessible location, so you can start it before anything can tempt you.

At the end of the day, you’re in control. If there is something that you want, don’t let these small distractions stop you!

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