Mood enhancer
When you set yourself a goal and achieve it, you feel good. Why is this? The answer is nature. Every accomplished task gives you a shot of dopamine. Not to put checking off a list on par with eating chocolate or sex, but this hormone is the neurotransmitter responsible for the “feel-good” effect of these activities.
Human brains don’t distinguish between big goals and small goals. It just rewards you for accomplishing something you set out to do. Simply seeing items crossed off triggers the release of the feel-good hormone, helping you feel motivated. And, as any human being knows, if it feels good, we’re driven to do it again.
How it works?
I like work during the weekend. I found that sometimes after working during a weekend, I feel happy and motivated, and sometimes I feel bad and tired. The funny thing is that I can get the same amount of work done in both cases. Thus, I tried to find what the difference was between bad and good weekends for me.
If you are working, it’s great to know that you do your work. We all know how good it feels to accomplish something. However, it’s hard to finish big tasks in a short period of time. I found that the main difference in my bad and good feelings during the weekends was the sense of doing what I wanted.
Checklist
It’s important to feel that we are crossing things off our checklist. This should be our habit, and if we use it well, we become more productive. Getting things done not only gives us dopamine, allowing us to feel
“When you succeed at something, your brain releases dopamine, a reward chemical which boosts memory and triggers increased concentration and a desire to repeat the experience.”
As Brian Patrick Eha of Entrepreneur.com says in How to Reward Your Brain and Boost Productivity
Takeaways
- Break your indomitable task into smaller goals.
- Notice and enjoy the sense of satisfaction and your shot of dopamine!
PS.
I didn’t have this blog post on my to-do list. I felt bad about that, so I am adding it now.
….
I crossed it off, and now I feel motivated for the next blog post. Maybe I should write about my techniques for getting things done?