The dopamine dilemma
Why is consumption (entertainment) so irresistible in the moment? We know afterward that we will feel like crap, but for some reason, it hijacks our rational brain. It all has to do with dopamine release, one of the most important chemicals that the brain produces.
Dopamine should be released while we are doing things, engaging in some activities to keep us going, but with modern tech, we can get it without doing anything. Our brain does not care if we are playing a game or driving a real car, both will release dopamine, one maybe more than the other.
So we need dopamine but at the right time, which means dopamine control is essential to harvest the dopamine molecule to the fullest potential
Learn to love working on projects
Reflect on how you feel after you did a 30-minute session of writing for your new blog. You will feel ecstatic. That goes with any endeavor to produce a concrete output, something real.
To get to a place where something quite boring is exciting is pretty easy, don’t do consumption, don’t do entertainment and it is remarkable how quickly the brain adapts, and in the low consumption mode, the idea of working on your side project is quite exciting.
The after effect
The last point to consider is how we feel after a production session, working on things that matter to us, we get more energy, and we don’t feel tired. Now, let’s compare that to 1 hour of doom scrolling on the internet, we feel like crap after an hour of wasted time on things that will make no difference to us.
Paying attention to how we feel after we do something is very useful, it can be a guiding principle for the future and a potent feedback mechanism.