I didn’t have time to read the entire article, so forgive me if I blatantly state what it said.
But, isn’t “being bored” leading to enhanced productivity deeply rooted in neuroscience, particularly with regards to dopamine and the reward centers of the brain?
Dopamine is incredibly powerful when understood properly. It can both be the reason you can’t seem to start, and also the thing that allows you to accomplish your goals. Your brain uses dopamine to get you to do more stuff that’s “good for you.”
The problem is, everything in our lives today is engineered to release dopamine, so we get “rewarded” for doing nothing.
By being bored, you dilute yourself down to either doing nothing, or doing the thing you’ve been putting off. It doesn’t take long before the thing starts looking appealing, and you get rewarded for doing it.
This is essentially what people experience when they do a “dopamine fast,” which isn’t really a thing at all, it’s more of a fast from stuff that isn’t productive. It simply works because we really seem to have a dopamine limit within a short time period, where, once reached, things that used to be enjoyable simply aren’t anymore.
Same goes for creativity, motivation, etc. Just stepping away from all the stimulation brings those baseline levels back down and allows you to get excited about doing stuff again, even if it’s not insanely fun.
But, isn’t “being bored” leading to enhanced productivity deeply rooted in neuroscience, particularly with regards to dopamine and the reward centers of the brain?
Dopamine is incredibly powerful when understood properly. It can both be the reason you can’t seem to start, and also the thing that allows you to accomplish your goals. Your brain uses dopamine to get you to do more stuff that’s “good for you.”
The problem is, everything in our lives today is engineered to release dopamine, so we get “rewarded” for doing nothing.
By being bored, you dilute yourself down to either doing nothing, or doing the thing you’ve been putting off. It doesn’t take long before the thing starts looking appealing, and you get rewarded for doing it.
This is essentially what people experience when they do a “dopamine fast,” which isn’t really a thing at all, it’s more of a fast from stuff that isn’t productive. It simply works because we really seem to have a dopamine limit within a short time period, where, once reached, things that used to be enjoyable simply aren’t anymore.
Same goes for creativity, motivation, etc. Just stepping away from all the stimulation brings those baseline levels back down and allows you to get excited about doing stuff again, even if it’s not insanely fun.