How to charge up from every task instead of burning out

✅ how to charge up from every task instead of burning out

our brain is wired so that the more we enjoy what we’re doing, the bigger the results we can achieve. it’s logical: the brain will more readily give energy to interesting things, and you’ll want to get distracted less.

at the same time, you can do work you love and still burn out. annoying, of course. why is that? well, for example, it happens when we get too carried away and forget to rest. but not only.

📝 imagine you’re about to do something important. for example, plan your tasks for the week. let’s say you like planning (if you don’t — that’s a separate conversation, we’ll unpack that nasty situation in one of the next posts)

so, you like planning. you think about the upcoming work on the new plan, you anticipate the process. and at that moment a dopamine release happens: just from the thought of something pleasant, dopamine levels jump.

you probably expect to get some result out of it. you do it. you get the result — exactly the one you expected. and what about dopamine? nothing.

🙄 when we get exactly the expected result, there’s no dopamine spike. because there’s “no wow” — we didn’t surprise or particularly please the brain with anything. yeah, did it, so what?

and if the result turned out worse than expected, dopamine drops — and now we’re in a dopamine pit. because we got upset, and on top of that scolded ourselves for it.

😑 and when the task is done but there’s no dopamine, the brain gradually gets used to the idea that a task like this is some kind of useless waste of energy. because we spent the energy, got worn out, and there’s no dopamine. no joy. and over time we have less and less motivation for such tasks — even if we basically liked them. the brain no longer gives energy to them. what’s the point? we’ll get worn out again and get nothing.

☝️ and this is where we need result authorization — this is when we claim our own result. we say out loud or write down: what specifically was done, what worked out, and how it’s useful to me (specifically me, not someone else).

when we do this, the brain produces dopamine. and if you praise yourself, serotonin too. and as a result we didn’t just spend energy on a task and get worn out — we spent energy, authorized the result, got energy back 🎉 we enjoy it, savor it, and move on.

you get it, right? it’s almost like a perpetual motion machine, though of course it isn’t one)

🤓 and in the next post I’ll write a detailed script: how to authorize a result when it’s positive, and when it’s not. because even if the result didn’t meet expectations, you can still extract energy from it.