How I Reprogrammed My Dopaminergic System To Crave Hard Work and Effortlessly "Lock In"
The Dopamine Project's 6-Step Guide to Locking In (Without Being Miserable)
Everyone thinks "locking in" means living a boring and repetitive life.
Or they picture waking up at ungodly hours and sticking to an insane daily routine.
That couldn't be further than the truth.
Locking in is all about: Getting addicted to the process of improving and making progress against a set of concrete goals.
That means that your brain is working properly and is no longer hijacked by cheap sources of dopamine like Social Media, Video Games, and Porn.
If that seems impossible, that’s just because you don’t know the secret yet.
It’s the same secret that everyone who is able to “lock in” and make extraordinary process (whether they’re aware of it or not) is using.
What is that secret?
They no longer get any pleasure from cheap distractions, and therefore don't even think of them at all.
Because their brain doesn’t crave cheap dopamine all the time, doing the work is natural and easy.
There’s no Herculean effort required…
No Atlas Stone to hold above your head…
And you don’t have to be Sisyphus in an endless struggle.
Your brain actually enjoys and is stimulated by the work.
It’s that simple.
And it’s a change that can be made incredibly simply.
Here’s how I did it in 6 succinct steps:
Step 1: Bring Awareness to Your Cheap Dopamine Sources
Everyone has a different stack of cheap dopamine sources to cycle through once one stops being rewarding.
For me, I would cycle between Social Media binges, playing a new video game, and looking at porn.
I found that I would check my phone first thing in the morning, pull up Twitter or Instagram whenever I was faced with a difficult task at work, play video games immediately after signing off work, then watch porn later at night to avoid reflecting on my day.
This was at my worst but even on good days I would use a little bit.
Sometimes I wasn’t even aware I was defaulting to this coping behavior, but over time I started to become painfully aware of the bad habits I was engaging in.
So to start the process of awareness…
I recommend just taking out your notes app, making a new note, and tracking the various different cheap dopamine sources you used during the day for a few days.
The key here is just to observe not judge, here’s an example of how I did it.
Do this for 3-7 days.
Step 2: Deconstruct Belief Structures
Now you and I are rational creatures.
We aren’t doing these things because we think they’re bad for us.
There’s a deep rooted belief that these behaviors are giving us some sort of benefit, or are protecting us from something.
Until we bring them to the surface and deconstruct them, it will be impossible to make any sort of meaningful change.
List out each of the activities that you indulge in from Step 1 on another notes app or google doc.
Ex:
Twitter
Instagram
Porn
Video Games
Ask yourself:
Why do you think you engage in this behavior?
What benefit do you think you are getting from it?
What emotional needs do you think it’s serving?
How does it actually make you feel when you are engaging in it?
Don’t pull any punches when doing this exercise. Take at least 15-30 minutes to fully write this all out.
You need to bring awareness to what you’ve subconsciously known for a long time for any of the next steps to work.
Step 3: Find Replacement Behaviors to “Lock In” On
One of the reasons people fall into these negative habits in the first place is they don’t know what to work on (or they’ve lost sight of what they want to be working on).
Either way, we have to fill the void somehow.
But luckily these bad habits serve a purpose.
They are a signal directing you towards work that will make you feel stimulated, fulfilled, and ALIVE.
You just have to know how to decrypt the signal.
If you did Step 2 correctly, you’ll find a whole set of unfulfilled needs.
They could be things like:
Lacking strong social connections and social life in your city (fill this void with social media).
Unfulfilled in my current job (fill this void with video games).
Unhappy in relationship (fill this void with porn).
Take your personal list and brainstorm what types of things would actually fulfill these needs (for me it was the above 3)
Now you know what you need to work on.
That is your purpose, your vision, and your mission.
Now the only thing in your way is breaking the negative patterns that have developed over time in your brain that prevent you from making consistent progress on these goals.
Because at some point, you likely knew you wanted these things.
But you got hijacked along the way.
Step 4: Neurological Education
This is the most important step and the one that most people are missing.
You have to start understanding why your brain isn’t working FOR you.
Once you understand the illusions and the false beliefs that are keeping you trapped in a cycle of bad habits, it all becomes easy.
The only way to do this is through reading.
I will keep updating this list as I find more, but the most impactful books for me have been:
Smart Phone Dumb Phone - Allen Carr
Hooked - Nir Eyal
Atomic Habits - James Clear
Never Enough - Judith Grisel (More about hard drugs but still relevant to understand. All addictions are behavioral at their core.)
If you had to read just one, Allen Carr is the way to go.
But don’t just read what I tell you to.
Do your own research, become curious about why you’re trapped in these cycles, and revisit materials as needed.
Take ownership of it.
Step 5: Strategic Intervention Tactics
Even when you are aware you are engaging in bad habits, have revitalized your goals and purpose, understand deeply why the bad habits are preventing you from achieving them…
It’s still hard to cut them out at first.
Our brain wants to achieve the most amount of stimulation for the least amount of energy expenditure. It’s genetic.
So you have to be armed and ready to fight back.
I recommend three types of Tactics for different scenarios.
Digital Restrictions / Environment Design (Preemptive)
We’re going to have weak moments throughout this process.
Days we will be tired, days we forget why we are trying to change, and days where we have intense urges.
By thinking ahead and setting up restrictions, we are preparing to win.
Read my two threads on restrictions and implement them ASAP.
Until I did this, I would go a few days then immediate backslide when I got tired or was feeling burnt out. I couldn’t rely on my willpower unless.
The Art of the Digital Deepclean
Behavioral Alternatives (Redirecting)
Even with restrictions, there will be times we get caught scrolling or giving into urges somehow (our brain is creative when it comes to getting cheap dopamine lol).
With that knowledge, you can prepare accordingly.
When you are craving cheap dopamine you have to have ready alternatives.
Here are some of my go-to’s:
Brain dumping thoughts onto an empty Google Doc
Writing down tasks to-do with pen and paper
Read a book (either physical or on my phone)
Switching to tasks with my hands (dishes, laundry, fidget spinners)
2 minutes of Box Breathing or your favorite breathing practice
10 push-ups
Take note of what works for you, and bring more awareness still to your triggers so you can be prepared.
(full tactics guide list will be here once it’s ready).
Last-Resort Interventions (Detach)
Sometimes our brains just don’t want to cooperate.
No matter how much we try, we just can’t focus on what’s in front of us.
These are extreme cases that I run into maybe once a week (usually from too much caffeine consumption).
How I Went From a Raging Caffeine Addict to a Tasteful, Conscious Caffeine Consoomer
I’ve “quit” caffeine many times.
When I catch myself in this sluggish zone, I have to detach from screens completely.
I either:
Go on a LONG walk
Hit some cardio (prefer assault bike)
Take a nap
Cold plunge or just cold water on my face
10 minutes of Redlight panel
Take my brain fog protocol
Put on blue light blocking glasses
Anything to change my internal mental state.
I’m not an idiot, not everyone has these at options at all times. These are all best case scenarios for ME and my mostly remote work situation.
It will look differently for you (especially if you’re in an office 5 days a week).
Step 6: Implement Deep Work
I’m going to follow up this up with a full guide for my interpretation of how to leverage Deep Work (link will be here), but for now I will give a brief introduction.
Out of all the productivity methodologies and, Cal Newport’s Deep Work remains the best and most effective.
That’s because it’s something fundamental, just rebranded for modern times.
It’s all about cutting out outside distractions, determining the most important thing to work on, and spending your most productive time doing it.
For now read the work, and figure out how you can schedule an hour or two of Deep Work into your schedule.
There’s no excuse because now you should:
Have some ideas of what you want to work on (revisit Step 3 if not)
Be more interested in doing that work than cheap distractions (revisit Step 2 & Step 4 if not)
And know how to keep yourself from giving into the inevitable urges and distractions (Step 5).
If you made it through the guide completely…
Congratulations.
You’re now able to Lock In without feeling like you need to wake up at 3am and cutoff all your friends and family.
If this helped at all, leave a comment, share with your friends, and subscribe for all the heat that’s coming out over the next few months.