Taking advantage of lockdown to reduce compulsive purchasing
The VIDOC-19 health crisis of 2020 is quite unique with half the world confined at home. This may be a good time to pause and think about our consumption habits.
A forced reduced consumption
Staying at home makes it easier for us to consume less. It is the ideal way to question our buying impulses and review our real needs. Today, we only have limited access to basic necessities stores. There is consequently less head stuffing with advertising and attractive store fronts. This is the perfect time to start reducing our number of unreasonable purchases.
Asking the right questions
In your daily life, do you consume by impulse or by choice ? Is it irresistible to you ? If the answer to this last question is yes, then it is most certainly a form of addiction in order to activate the brain’s reward circuit and make you feel better. So how do you get out of this vicious spiral ?
How can we return to reasoned consumption ?
It is quite simple to reduce your consumption of products which I would describe as unnecessary, thanks to this list of affirmations :
- I really need it
- I don’t have an object that responds to my needs
- This purchase will be sustainable
- I need it now
- I’m really going to use it
If all the above points are TRUE then this purchase is certainly useful and necessary and you can buy it. If not, try to understand why you really want to buy it.
Reschedule your purchase
The ultimate tip is to wait before buying something you want. Many times you finally realize that you don’t need it as much as you imagined at first.
Listen how you feel after a purchase
If you decide to buy something, listen to your emotions immediately after you have made the purchase. You may feel a sense of liberation and a spike of joy. Does this joy continue over time ? The answer is usually no, after a few hours or even days you start to feel that it wasn’t exactly as useful as you imagined it would be.
The peak of dopamine caused by the act of buying irradiates your brain immediately after the payment or the receipt of the purchase, which causes a short term feel-good effect. It is consequently an act more related to the compulsive act than to the real need.
How to avoid compulsive buying
You can already start by applying all the tips mentioned above. It may also be interesting to replace this dopamine addiction with something else. Try to treat yourself differently. Your passion is reading, drawing or something else ? Then read a nice book, draw or do some sport. You have to find a parade for the brain and find another enjoyment. Little by little the need to buy will become smaller.
