WorkLife Harmony #10
dopamine queen, A-Z lessons, il faut
Welcome to the 10th edition of WorkLife Harmony: a newsletter about easing the tension between work, personal life, and play.
👸🏽 Top of Mind: Dopamine Queen
What are your fixes? Mine include caffeine, clothes, cocoa. My dopamine-spiking cocktail.
Dopamine is the neuromodulator that lights up your brain like a pinball machine. It fuels our motivation, drive, and cravings, while also residing at the core of all addictions.
I stacked my dopamine hits before and after work sessions: a triple shot espresso at 8:50 am, a post-meeting chocolate, and tracking the delivery of new apparel packages.
Fed up with the dopamine chase, I considered a dopamine fast, cutting out my added sources. Yet, casting them off as "vices" and quitting cold turkey is unproductive for me. Instead, I’ll channel my energy into enjoying effort (work) rather than eliminating caffine, chocolate, and shopping.
According to Andrew Huberman, acknowledging the friction during effort can lead to an increase in dopamine later on. It’s also equally important to remind yourself that in the present moment, you are engaged in the activity because you genuinely enjoy it.1
This self-talk is not about deceiving yourself, but rather recognizing that effort is necessary for improvement and deriving satisfaction from the process itself, distinct from the eventual rewards that come later.
Other ways to release dopamine during effort:
Incorporate novelty & variety: Explore new approaches, change your environment, or tackle tasks in different orders to keep things interesting.
Practice mindfulness: Honor your progress and remind yourself how good it feels to get things done.
Self-gratitude: While it may feel strange, thank yourself for your effort.2
🧠 Brain Bites: A to Z Lessons
Public speaker & author
shares a golden list of life lessons, from A - Z. Trust me, you’ll want to bookmark this.Here are a few of my favorites:
E— Every time you pass by a risk that excites you, your inner and outer world shrinks.
P— People need to be fully seen before they can see you back.
🙌🏽 Perspective Shift: il faut
In French, il faut translates to "I must" or "we must." Although the French language has the word should (devoir: “to have to”), il faut is more commonly used.
Must holds assurance. Unlike should, must eliminates any space for doubt or insecurity.3
You must enjoy your weekend :)
Thank you for reading WorkLife Harmony! Next week, I will share a personal essay about intimacy & belonging.
Huberman Lab - Episode on Dopamine
From Simple Sparks to Ignite Your Life by Ashly Perez
I MUST have a triple shot espresso. I MUST have dark chocolate.
I MUST be freeeee :)
Going cold turkey on caffeine, or just coffee, is a nice little reset. I like playing with it for short periods. Cannot give up caffeine forever, that sounds like an awful life lol
This song truly does feel like a hit of dopamine---I like.
As I was reading your essay and thinking about dopamine what came to mind was my very recently embraced attempt to engage on Twitter. As I was reading, I was considering how drawn in I was already getting by the Twitter algorithm. Enough that I deleted it from my phone yesterday, leaving my engagement strictly for work time when I'm at the computer. And then you unexpectedly called out that A - Z post. (Thanks!) It was truly a joy to write and share, but the need to intentionally get off the dopamine roller-coaster every so often remains as an essential discipline. I WILL enjoy my weekend.