The Time Currency: Investing in Moments with Impact

Understanding dopamine

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of pleasure, reward and motivation. It's the drive that propels us to seek out activities that bring joy and satisfaction, creating a desire for more of whatever has stimulated its release. The issue arises when we become desensitised to dopamine through overstimulation, leading to a need for heightened levels of stimulation to capture our attention.?

Steven Kotler says the concept of a ‘dopamine detox’ has become popular in recent years, but the truth reveals that we can’t detox from this essential neurochemical. The key then lies not in eliminating dopamine but re-sensitising ourselves to it. By doing this, we enhance our impulse control, allowing us to delay gratification and focus on tasks that yield more meaningful outcomes over time.?

How do we do this? The process involves three key steps outlined below:?

Making the Mundane Rewarding

The first step in mastering your dopaminergic system is to transform mundane activities into something rewarding. A common error made during work breaks is engaging in activities that provide a higher level of stimulation than the assigned work. Steven says the solution for this is taking ‘dull’ breaks that reset dopamine levels and heighten reward sensitivity.?

By making the activities before and between work unstimulating, we set the bar for boredom exceptionally low. This makes the work routine seem more exciting in comparison. This approach can be as simple as starting at a wall for a few minutes, taking a nap or some light exercise. The goal is to starve the brain of dopamine during these breaks so that it craves a return to work.?

Propel tip: Look at your diary for the next week. Can you block out times between your key tasks and meetings to clear your mind and recharge before your next task? Rather than checking your phone, can you use this time to stretch and breathe mindfully?

Inhabiting the In-Between

The second strategy involves leveraging the in-between moments that frequent our daily lives. Inhabiting the in-between is about resisting the urge to reach for our phones during these moments and instead allowing ourselves to settle into the present.?

By cutting out unintentional information consumption, we protect our attention from fragmentation and prevent further desensitisation of our dopamine receptors. Embracing silence and solitude during these in-between moments can help shift our mental baseline for what we consider to be uninteresting and cultivate a state of focus and flow.?

As an example, if you arrive early for a meeting, try to view this extra time as a gift instead. Observe, breathe and take in your environment. This focus allows you to be present in the moment and to mentally be where your feet are. This will also put you in good stead for the meeting as you will be tuned into the world of the people you’re meeting with what is required from you.?

Focus on One Thing at a Time

The final step in heightening your reward sensitivity is to practise monotasking. As we improve our focus and access to flow, our ability to multitask diminishes. According to Steven, this shift is due to the interplay between the Default Mode Network (DMN) and the Task Positive Network (TPN) in our brains.?

Multitasking often leads to a rapid shift between these two networks, which can make us oblivious to our surroundings. However, this shift benefits our flow as the faster we can transition from the DMN to the TPN, the faster we can focus. By focusing on one thing at a time, we train this ability and increase the flow of focusing neurochemistry into our system.?