Photo by Jeff Ackley
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Late in the day, a few more computer things to do … ugh. Or maybe you’ve saved the really tough task for after you’ve cleared your desk. Whatever the case, demanding work can eventually make you feel like it’s wearing down your brain but that doesn’t change the need to finish it up. And so you grit your teeth and muscle through.
Happily, there is another—better—way. Dopamine!
As most people know, this neurotransmitter, which carries messages around the brain as well as to and from the body, is often described as the feel-good hormone. Quite simply, a dopamine hit makes us, well, feel good. Even if you’ve never heard the word, as a human being you are familiar with the happy feeling it brings. It blesses us with a sense of pleasure and reward based on the activity we are engaged in.
You won’t be surprised to learn that dopamine levels surge with sex, and it’s also part of the reason recreational drug users go back for more. But dopamine doesn’t need such extreme triggers. Even routine activities can serve the purpose—sitting in the sun, smelling freshly baked cookies, petting the cat, that kind of regular stuff.
All fine and good, but what, you may be wondering, does this have to do with a tedious job wrap-up?
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