dopamine dopamine dopamine dopamine dopamine dopamine what exactly is dopamine and what is it doing to your brain dopamine it's the neurotransmitter that has you desperate for likes and keeps you doom scrolling for hours 100 years ago most people wouldn't even know what dopamine is but today everyone's trying to detox from it or enter monk mode to escape its grip the thing is these ideas are based on a misconception that dopamine is the reward you get from doing something that it's the reason why we're all hopelessly addicted but that couldn't be further from the truth because
as you're about to find out dopamine is one of the most powerful Tools in your productivity Arsenal provided you know how to use it through YouTube videos and the media you've heard and likely believe that dopamine is the reward you get from doing addictive things like gambling or binge eating junk food but in reality dopamine's produced in anticipation of something a mechanism that is crucial to our survival take for example our ancestors who were primarily hunters and gatherers the desire to eat and the dopamine released in response motivated them to get up get out and
search for food to search for their next meal this same desire and the dopamine behind it drove them to explore new areas travel to far off lands and constantly seek new experiences to stimulate their minds dopamine also encouraged social interactions within hunter gatherer groups pushing us to connect and procreate to expand the human population today modern society hijacks this essential survival mechanism in the past when hunger struck dopamine drove us to hunt or gather food a process that could take hours our bodies would even produce more dopamine for energy-dense foods like sugar and fat now
you can satisfy these Cravings instantly by going through the Starbucks or McDonald's drive-thru or even easier by tapping a few buttons on your phone and having food delivered to your door in minutes without ever having to get off the couch to make matters worse today's technology also lets us satisfy social and relationship Cravings instantly all through that very phone you're holding right now many years ago before social media was born you'd have to call a friend and actually meet up to fulfill that dopamine driven urge for connection now you can simply send a text or
post a photo online for a quick hit of happiness and when it comes to sexual Cravings well I don't need to explain how those cravings are being satisfied you see your brain doesn't really care how you satisfy a dopamine craving it just wants you to take the easiest path to get to it the path of least resistance so when faced with the choice of going to the grocery store cooking a meal and cleaning up versus ordering something on uberit you're far more likely to pick the easier option it's not your fault it's just how your
brain is wired but this raises the question why are some people able to control dopamine Cravings While others struggle well it's because they understand these two fundamental rules rule number one replace the easy with what is difficult first you need to understand that dopamine Works fundamentally like a drug when you first do something new and exciting dopamine strikes well above your Baseline level afterward it returns to normal back to Baseline however the next time you do that same activity the spike won't be as strong or as high over time this leads to a gradual decline
in the effects pushing you to seek that high again and again this is why things like social media and junk food are so addictive you experience a massive spike in dopamine and then you're constantly trying to recreate that same Spike by doing it over and over again now when you do something more challenging like reading a book you won't experience the same Spike and subsequent drop in dopamine this is because the rewards aren't instant as you read your dopamine levels remain high as you anticipate reaching the end and since it's takes time to finish the
book your brain doesn't become desensitized to the process so your dopamine levels don't dip below normal the same principle applies to exercise the anticipation is sustained long enough that your dopamine system isn't hijacked but with that said reading the same type of book and doing the same routine every single day will lead to desensitization this is why you'll want to constantly switch the types of books you read and the exercise routines you do to keep things interesting so to hack dopamine focus on things that are difficult and bring you long-term rewards as opposed to things
that give you instant results for little effort that way you won't overstimulate and desensitize your dopamine receptors rule two make your environment less exciting second those who can control their dopamine addiction understand the value of friction as mentioned earlier your brain tends to take the path of least resistance when seeking pleasurable activities it doesn't fundamentally distinguish between a sugary donut and an it only recognizes that both are food which sustains us think about it this way you wake up to start your day you have two options you can either get out of bed and go
find stimulation or you can sit in your nice warm bed and binge watch your favorite YouTuber heck you could even go make yourself a delicious sugary hot chocolate or a boatload of tatato tots to satisfy your comfort Cravings but do you think the best of the best are doing this no hell no they're getting right out of bed the difference between you and them is their involvement you see when you wake up you're surrounded by Temptation because of your environment you have your nice warm bed your TV in front of you your favorite video game
console your laptop and your phone with its charger all within Arm's Reach meanwhile the best of the best either don't have or they've removed these from their environment they go to bed with their phone in another room and a book on their nightstand they don't have a TV in their bedroom and they don't have sugary treats on a standby so when they crave that dopamine stimul ation they're forced to satisfy it with something productive therefore the next step in hacking your dopamine is to remove all easy Temptations from your environment start by cleaning out all
junk food from your house and replacing it with healthier snacks like fruit this way when you're hungry it's easier to grab an apple than to leave your house for chocolate AKA path of least resistance right next remove hyper stimulating apps like Instagram Facebook and Tik Tok from your phone replace these with something more productive Ive such as dualingo for learning a language this way when you're bored or using your phone in the bathroom you're more likely to use dualingo and be stimulated by rewards from passing levels and Milestones successfully instead of having to redownload and
log into these distracting apps make bad things hard make healthy things easy you can also go into your phone settings and turn your phone to grayscale mode contrary to what others online say this won't limit the dopamine you get from your phone however it will make it less enjoyable meaning that the next time you pick up your phone the dopamine produced in anticipation will be lower that is the real hack we're reducing the amount of dopamine produced in anticipation of the thing that's harmful to you finally limit hyper stimulating activities like video games or Netflix
but don't cut them out completely instead only use them on the weekends if you find it challenging to maintain this control ask a ruthless friend or family member to set a password for them and only give it to to you on those specific days with these changes when you feel a craving for something to do when your dopamine levels rise your only options will be to work on your goals exercise or maybe clean your damn apartment over time these activities will become your primary way of satisfying your dopamine Cravings then before you even realize it
you'll be hacking dopamine to work for you not against you
