Dopamine Detox: The Key to Productivity
Trick Your Brain into Enjoying Personal Development
Finding motivation is a problem that plagues many looking to reach an important goal. Whether you have a final exam to study for, a long-term project at work, or simply have to clean your house before the in-laws arrive, you’ve likely had trouble getting started on a task at one point or another. But what if I told you that the missing piece to this puzzle lies in understanding a chemical in the human brain? What if studying rodents could enlighten us on how to boost our productivity in all aspects of life?
What Motivates Us?
First, it’s important to understand why humans need motivation. Motivation is simply the desire to do something. All living creatures have one motivation in common: survival. We seek food, water, and safety from harm to stay alive as individuals. However, life is also motivated to continue via reproduction. Thus, we have ingrained motivations to survive and continue our species.
In the modern world, most people seek a purpose beyond survival. Earning money, learning a new skill, and starting a family are three common quests. However, modern goals related to graduation, retirement, and entrepreneurship are desires that ancient people did not have. In essence, our technology has evolved much faster than our biology.
But why is it so difficult to study, start a fitness plan, or just get out of bed each morning for work? What is impeding our motivation to get things done? The answer lies in the neurotransmitter dopamine.
Dopamine and Rats
Dopamine plays an important role in your mood, focus, and drive. The release of dopamine causes feelings of pleasure from activities such as eating food or having sex to reward us for taking actions to that result in the survival of the individual and the human species.
Although humans and rats are quite different, analyzing dopamine studies on our furry friends is imperative for understanding our own motivation.
A study in Montreal in the 1950s on motivation in rats demonstrates the power of dopamine. In this experiment, the rats were trained to pull a lever that produced electrical stimulation to the hypothalamus in the brain. The result was a surge of dopamine in the rat and the associated euphoria. Upon activating the lever, a light would flash, displaying the activity of the electrical device stimulating the rat’s brain.
Natural sources of motivation, such as seeking food, can be satiated upon acquiring the outcome. However, the rats in the study pulled the lever without satiation, performing the activity until physical exhaustion. In other words, they became addicted to pulling the lever to the exclusion of basic survival.
The same experiment demonstrated that the rats were willing to endure electrical shock to pull the lever rather than avoid pain. They also preferred to withstand pain to pull the lever rather than eat the nearby food, which was not obstructed by the electric barrier. Similar research displayed that rats chose starvation, despite having access to food, in exchange for stimulation of the hypothalamus resulting in dopamine releases. This reinforces the gravity of dopamine addiction. Much like these rats, you can become addicted to dopamine.
Beyond Rats: Addiction to Bad Habits
Although we have a more developed cerebral cortex than rats, humans don’t always act rationally. Similar to these rats, we can become hooked on unproductive and event dangerous vices that hinder our productivity. Drugs, video games, TV, and even social media can stimulate our brain’s pleasure center and give us that rush of pleasure we crave. However, we obtain this dopamine without context.
Our rational minds understand which activities evoke pleasure, and dopamine motivates us to continue seeking them out. Although life balance is important and certain activities such as using social media and watching TV are not inherently bad, focus on these to the exclusion of everything beneficial can lead to loss of productivity and long-term unhappiness. Without fixing this problem, you might become like those rats: pulling the lever until physical exhaustion for short-term pleasure without taking actions to improve your life.
The Solution: Dopamine Detox
In today’s society, it is too easy to get constant hits of dopamine. Although these provide short-term euphoria, they do not lead to long-term fulfillment. Why work on your business when you could play World of Warcraft? Why go for a run when you could watch TV after work? The primitive part our brain tempts us into taking the easy route, but there is a way to choose the hard path and still obtain pleasure.
In order to train your brain to find self-improvement pleasurable, you must remove:
- Social media apps that don’t contribute to an online business. Although only an estimated 5 to 10% of people are addicted to social media, many spend nearly 2.4 hours per day on social media rather than focusing on self-improvement. If you aren’t using social media for entrepreneurship or networking, remove the apps from your devices. These distractions are an obstacle to becoming the best version of yourself.
- Video games and TV. Although only 1 to 9% of people become addicted to video games, players spend 6 hours and 20 minutes per week gaming on average. Likewise, between 2013 and 2017, men spent an average of 3 hours per day watching TV and women spent 2 hours and 34 minutes. Much like social media, video games and TV can be addicting and prevent you from reaching your personal goals.
- “Comfort” foods that trigger pleasure and don’t assist in your wellness goals. The Standard American Diet is high in saturated fat, sugar, sodium, and processed foods. As a rule of thumb, I consume whole or minimally-processed foods such as oats, rice, nuts, vegetables, fruit, legumes, low-fat dairy, and lean meat. I also use an app to ensure I’m reaching my vitamin and mineral requirements. By focusing on food as a source of fuel rather than pleasure, I can prevent addiction to processed foods that deteriorate my health and halt my long-term motivation. However, I encourage you to consult a medical professional and do your own research before deciding which foods to include or exclude from your diet.
- Drugs and alcohol. This one should be easy to understand. Addictive, unhealthy, and dangerous substances should be removed from your life if you want to complete your dopamine detox. However, consult a medical professional if you require certain drugs for health reasons.
Should you permanently remove all pleasurable activities from your life? No, but these habits should be reduced or eliminated if they are stunting your productivity.
Monk Mode: Finding Difficult Activities Enjoyable
Now that you’ve removed these addictions, you’re likely wondering how to start finding life’s “boring” activities interesting.
In the beginning, dopamine will tempt you to revert back to your old ways and seek short-term pleasure. However, cutting those activities out is the start of rewiring your brain.
When you exclude everything “fun,” your brain starts to look for something new to give you stimulation. Without unproductive habits, you won’t have anything to focus on except productivity. By making small steps toward your goals, your brain will begin releasing dopamine from the activities you previously found difficult. When you begin associating these positive actions with pleasure, you will become increasingly motivated keep performing them.
Reading books, exercising, eating well, cleaning your room, and building your online business will start to become fun. A simple way to ensure the continuation of productive activities is through positive reinforcement. For instance, playing your favorite soundtrack only when going for a morning run will allow your mind to associate something you already like (music) with something you might not yet enjoy (running). You may have heard of the term “runner’s high,” and this study confirms the notion that exercise is associated with increased concentration of dopamine and elevated moods. Therefore, it is possible to find pleasure in strenuous activities.
Once you overcome inertia and build momentum, staying productive will become easier and more enjoyable. If you’re having trouble sticking to your goals, write a list of positive habits you want to perform daily and cross them off as you complete each one. This will keep you accountable and ensure that you stay on track.
Aftermath
Now that you’ve removed negative behaviors and adopted productive habits, you might be wondering how long you should continue this lifestyle. After all, most people don’t want to live like a monk permanently.
Reintroducing TV, video games, and junk food in moderation shouldn’t be something to fear. However, you should continue your positive habits such as working out, reading, and building your business. Make sure you stay on track with your productive activities long-term, and don’t revert to obtaining short-term dopamine rushes while ignoring your wellness.
If you want to stay motivated to reach self-actualization, you must learn to spend your time wisely. When I’m older, I want to look back to a fulfilling life. I want to be proud that I took risks, went beyond my comfort zone, and found joy in overcoming adversity. After all, the only constant is in this world is change.
Regardless of your goals in life, a dopamine detox can improve your productivity and set you down the path of self-improvement. When you’ve finally reached your destination, think back to the lessons the rat taught you about dopamine and motivation. Your fulfilling life is just around the corner, if you continue to move forward with positive choices. Remember: Freedom awaits those who fight.
