"Dopamine might be one of the most powerful neurochemicals in our system. It's the molecule of motivation. It pushes us to have goals and to strive more. It's an innate tool that helps us propel forward." - Andrew Huberman

What follows are some edited excerpts of an article with the title "Why You Need a Healthy Dopamine System" (original article might be behind a paywall). The article starts with some good reminders about what dopamine is, and concludes with the list of activities that build it (do those) and ones that deplete it (avoid those). Note that many of the steps for building dopamine in the article overlap, and relate to the digital inputs we give ourselves — especially pornography. The article lists 13. I have eliminated the repetition, and focused the list on the top 10 strategies. 

What is dopamine?

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter essential for both motivation and pleasure. It is often called the pleasure chemical. But of even greater importance is the effect dopamine has on motivation.

Dopamine is a molecule in our brain that impacts our excitement, level of motivation, and willingness to push through discomfort to reach rewards such as money, food, or sex. Dopamine is also involved in many bodily functions, such as memory, sleep, and movement.

This neurotransmitter is an essential part of the reward system. The reward system is a network of brain structures and connections that motivate us to seek out things necessary for survival. In other words, dopamine motivates us to work extra hard for that promotion, bonus check, or to find a romantic partner at the social gathering.

Dopamine will make you charged up, ready to go, and excited about the world and the possibilities around you. Your focus will also increase, and working hard will be a lot easier if you have good dopamine levels. You will get a lot more done!

Addiction is more common than you think

Addiction impacts our dopamine in a horrendous way. It affects the dopamine system by downregulating dopamine receptors and decreasing dopamine production.

So, if we experience addiction, we will have less dopamine available, and the dopamine we do have available will have more difficulty binding to receptors.

It doesn’t matter what you are addicted to. It could be something as simple as social media addiction, which most of us experience. Addiction of any kind will hurt the dopamine system.

Unfortunately, millions of people go around the world today and fail to recognize that they have low-level symptoms of addiction that could be traced back to things such as spending too much time on social media, YouTube, porn, video games, and so on.

If you have low dopamine, you will experience tiredness, low energy, low motivation, poor ability to concentrate, and generally lacking zest in your life. That can come from addiction or simply allowing too many easy pleasures.

The Top 10 Ways to Increase Dopamine

Here are some ways to increase your dopamine and ensure that you manage your dopamine system well for the long term. Again, please note that some of these are positive -- things to include -- and some are negative -- things to avoid:

1. Avoid the common addictive "Dopamine Spikers" -- Avoid addictive things that create unnatural spikes of your dopamine and cause a crash afterwards. This includes not only the use of stimulating drugs, but also things like gambling and -- especially -- pornography (the original article mentions avoiding porn twice).
2. Avoid excessive digital stimuli -- Even innocuous digital stimuli, such as online news and social media, also spike our dopamine levels. (Why else do you think they would be so addictive?) Although the spikes and subsequent crash -- or at least diminished dopamine levels -- are not as severe as with drugs, gambling, and porn ... excessive digital stimuli will -- over time -- diminish our dopamine levels and lower our mood and motivation. Make these a small part of your life. 
3. Have an active lifestyle (various kinds of physical activity) -- Physical exercise is being studied more and more these days, not only for its benefits in health and weight loss, but even more so for increased longevity and mental health. It has tremendous effects on brain health ... which we experience as being more energetic, focused, and motivated.
4. Practice meditation -- Like physical exercise, meditation has become the topic of significant research over the past several decades. One of the reasons for its exploding popularity is its demonstrable effect on brain health. Among other things, it builds dopamine levels.
5. Work towards your goals -- Once again, recent brain research has demonstrated that working on our goals really does impact our dopamine levels. Each step -- setting goals, working toward them, and completing them -- builds our dopamine levels in specific ways.
6. Sunlight exposure (on the eyes) -- While it may seem "woo woo" to talk about this, once again modern brain research is demonstrating that direct sunlight exposure to the eye affects our serotonin levels and our circadian rhythm, both of which significantly impact our dopamine levels. (By the way, this involves spending time outside, not simply absorbing sunlight through windows. Important spectrum of light rays are filtered out by windows).
7. Take cold showers -- This is emerging as a practice that is supported by more than just "bro science." Deliberate cold exposure (through immersion or showers in cold water) activates the body's stress response, which in turn activates the release of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, cortisol, dopamine, norepinephrine, and β-endorphin.
8. Be social -- Spending positive time with friends triggers the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin during these social interactions, and contributes to overall well-being. 
9. Sleep enough -- Adequate sleep helps regulate dopamine levels, supporting mood, cognition, and motor control. Sleep deprivation -- through lack of sleep or poor quality sleep -- can disrupt dopamine release, potentially affecting mood and cognitive functions. What is "enough" sleep? That seems to vary from person to person, but most sleep experts recommend between 7 to 9 hours per night.
10. Take probiotics and supplements such as Tyrosine and L-theanine -- Tyrosine and L-theanine are both precursors to dopamine and can increase dopamine levels in the brain. When combined, they can have a synergistic effect on mood and stress reduction. By increasing dopamine levels and promoting relaxation, the combination can provide a boost in mental energy and motivation while also helping to alleviate stress and anxiety.

NEXT ACTION:

Today's action step is very specific -- and could be life-changing! Pick at least 2 things from the list above that you are either (a) not practicing at all right now, or (b) practice very little, and would like to increase. 

Step 1 -- Commit to doing these every day for the next week. Write down your commitment, and talk to someone else about it (your spouse, or some friend).

Step 2-- Do these things every day (or refrain from them, as the case may be) and track how it goes. And then as you near the end of the week, so some reflecting on how it went. Did you notice a difference?