The art of tricking your brain into loving boring activities

“Dopamine is often considered a pleasure molecule. But that’s not quite what it does. Dopamine is what makes us desire things. And it’s that desire that makes get up and do stuff,” they explain. Through examples of studies, they show how it is not thirst or hunger that makes a rat get up to drink water or have food, and how it is dopamine which plays the major role. They explain that the brain prefers activities that release more dopamine, which could range from simply watching movies, to even drug abuse. Once the brain develops a tolerance, it keeps needing more and more dopamine, and normal tasks become increasingly difficult to complete. An excessive release of dopamine disturbs the body’s condition of ‘homeostasis’.

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In order to reset the body’s dopamine levels, one has to undertake a dopamine detox, they recommend. What this basically means is that any activity that stimulates the brain, needs to be discontinued for one entire day: no phone, no laptop, no TV. “Dopamine detox works because you become so bored, that boring stuff becomes more fun,” they say. A smaller version of this detox can also be performed. The video suggests that you are going to pick one day of the week where you’re going to refrain from one of your high dopamine behaviours completely. Whatever that may be. Another option is to use your high dopamine activities as a reward for completing difficult work.

They conclude saying, “We are all dopamine addicts to a certain extent. And that’s a good thing because dopamine motivates us to achieve our goals and improve ourselves. But it’s up to you to decide where you’re going to get your dopamine from.”