Empty Dopamine?

Most of us are familiar with the phrase, “empty calories” to denote foods that offer no nutritional benefit. Several clients have recently described some of their time-wasting behaviors, and I realized, they are filling up on empty dopamine!

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter involved with sensations of reward and pleasure. We get a good hit of dopamine when we are engaged in things we are passionate about. That’s good!

Unfortunately, we can also get dopamine hits when we do things like checking Facebook, answering unimportant email, or winning a level in Candy Crush. Hence the addictive quality of these behaviors. We get the good feelings, but none of the sense of accomplishment that would truly nourish our souls. The satisfaction is short-lived and requires frequent repetition.

Breaking empty dopamine habits

• Add healthy dopamine activities. We usually don’t crave empty dopamine, when we’re engaged in something we enjoy. I have a pretty bad Candy Crush habit, but I never think about it when I’m working with a client or hiking. These things energize me.
• Delay giving in to temptation. Set a timer for 5–10 minutes and take care of a few quick tasks, instead of indulging in your empty dopamine habit. If you still want to engage once the tasks are done, you have permission.
• Set boundaries. Set some limits on when you can indulge. For instance, I won’t allow myself to play Candy Crush for more than five minutes, unless it’s between 8 pm–8 am.
• Make it harder to indulge. Don’t tempt yourself. Delete the apps from your phone. Turn off your notifications. Take your work into a room with less distractions.
• Increase your awareness. We usually engage in empty dopamine activities when we’re trying to avoid something else. Spend 5 minutes figuring out why you don’t want to do it. Help yourself to understand. What supports or circumstances would make the hard stuff easier?
• Be kind to yourself. Beating up on ourselves does not increase the likelihood we will behave differently. Self-compassion yields better results. This includes not belittling ourselves for taking small steps or because of the nature of our challenges. So what if something is easy for your neighbor? We are all different, and your reality is valid. We all deserve the same respect.

Create new, healthy dopamine activities

Some activities that seem aversive can actually become more rewarding, if we allow ourselves to savor our successes. For example, if you hate to file, but you get it done anyway, take 2 minutes to think about what a good job you did. Likewise, after you wash dishes or turn in your travel receipts for reimbursement, take time to really savor how good it feels to have that aversive task done. Eventually, you will begin to crave those mini-successes, and it becomes much easier to do those tasks. You will actually look forward to doing them!

What empty dopamine habits do you want to change?

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