When you were a child, the adults in your life probably used some kind of barter system to convince you to do something. Do you eat vegetables? “You’ll get dessert afterwards.” Do you work from home? “You get an extra half hour of TV time.” Unfortunately, when we grow up, we don't get little treats for doing the things we should do. But why can't do we reward ourselves for being good and responsible adults?
Let me introduce you to Dopamine Anchor, a TikTok-approved hack that allows you to essentially trick yourself into doing all those annoying and frustrating tasks on your computer. to-do list. Essentially, a dopamine anchor is bribing yourself. Of course, the little indulgences we want as adults are usually a little different from the ones we craved as children.
“You know that feeling when you light a candleplay your favorite song, and suddenly this life admin won’t feel so heavy?” speaks Claire Thompsonpsychotherapist, life coach and hypnotherapist. “It’s a dopamine anchor—and it’s one of the simplest, most soulful ways to change your state and achieve your goals.”
The dopamine anchor is essentially pairing “bad” tasks with “good” things. “Essentially, dopamine anchoring involves pairing something you love with something you normally resist,” Thompson explains. Promise yourself that after your workout at the gym you will take a long, luxurious bubble bath. Or maybe you put on your favorite playlist and order takeout while you make those dentist and doctor appointments you've been putting off. The main thing is to do the same “Good” every time you perform a specific “bad” task.
This tactic is based on the psychological principle of the mental fixation effect, which is where you form a mental habit or reinforce it through repeated actions. For example, if you light the same candle every time you do nighttime activities, you will begin to associate that smell with sleep.
It's all about “activating the brain's dopamine system to make habits feel more enjoyable rather than forced,” says Thompson. Instead of tying tasks to a specific smell or taste, you tie those tasks to the feeling that comes from the dopamine rush. In other words, those annoying tasks will really start to be felt good. “It’s a nervous system-friendly way to increase motivation, focus and emotional stability.”
It works “because dopamine is a feel-good chemical that reinforces behavior,” says Tam Kaurself-help author. “When you repeatedly reward a difficult habit with something enjoyable, over time your brain begins to associate the two. It's like giving yourself a psychological high five for doing something difficult.”
