10 Ways to Hack Dopamine with a Pen

10+ easy hacks for a happier life through pen and paper!

Is your life a mess of chaos and stress? Do you wonder around your house doing random chores, get distracted, and then at the end of the night feel like you’ve accomplished nothing? Do you feel like you have no time to rest or organize? Are you constantly struggling to keep things clean in your home?

I was the same way for years. I have been a stay at home and work at home mom for most of the last 20 years. When the kids were little, I would be cleaning nonstop. I always felt like I was completely drained every night. But nothing ever looked done! As the kids aged, we added in sports to our crazy lives and it got even worse. I felt like I was just constantly operating on chaos autopilot. I figured that’s just the way life is supposed to be.

It wasn’t until I got a head injury and my life halted, that I realized I was in trouble. The chaos that I seemingly coordinated before was a nuclear bomb now. I couldn’t stay focused to save my life. I loved slower and every single thing was a challenge. My worst fears started to emerge when bills went unpaid or late constantly. The house was more of a mess than it was when the kids were little. I never knew what day it was or what was going on.

I knew that I had to change something fast. And it had to be a change that was easy and adaptable for me otherwise I’d never stick to it. The plan had to be that it made my life easier and more relaxing. It couldn’t be unattainable or challenging. So I sat down and got to work.

I came up with a system of organizing my life just with a simple list. Armed with my list, every single day feels a whole lot easier! Life is organized now and flows much easier. I have plenty of time to relax and slow down. I’m amazed at how much I used to stress about! I can’t believe that, once it all got out on paper, life wasn’t so daunting after all.

Did you know that by writing a list it enables you to have small attainable goals throughout the day. When you have small attainable goals and reach them, it becomes a dopamine hack. Completing the goals gives you a boost and the happy chemical dopamine. We all need a little more dopamine in our lives. Not only does dopamine reward our brains with happiness, it also pushes us to keep going. The small goals are tricks to make our brains feel free and strong.

Dopamine fights off stress and depression and can boost your mood and hormones! Who would’ve thought that a pen and paper could boost your hormones and help regulate your body? What a simple way to start changing your life.

Boost dopamine in 10 easy steps
Fall in love with lists!

1. Why make a list?

If you often feel like your thoughts are all over the place and you run around all day and feel like you got nothing done, then a list is for you! You will truly be amazed how this one simple thing can help organize your entire brain. What if you aren’t actually dealing with that much chaos? What if your brain is simply overloaded and making it just feel that way?

A list is a great way to keep our thoughts organized and keep us on track. It’s almost like having our own personal assistant! Someone there to remind us of each task as we go along without overwhelming or overloading us. Who wouldn’t need a personal assistant? I know I’d love one!

2. How do you boost dopamine with a list?

Completing just one small task, and then crossing it out on a piece of paper can boost your dopamine levels. It seems like such an easy and silly thing to do but it really works! Even something as small as brushing your teeth, and then crossing it out on a piece of paper helps more than you can imagine. Every single time you complete a task, make sure you cross it off and move onto the next thing for that easy dopamine fix!

Pay attention to how you feel when you complete the task and cross it off. I’m betting you’ll start to feel better and more accomplished than you have in a long time. If you think it’s silly and won’t make a difference, just try it. See what it does for you. Use the simplest things on your list to start. Write down anything like; brush hair, brush teeth, drink water, take vitamins, make the bed or get the mail. Make sure you instantly cross it off once complete.

3. The trick to getting a boost of dopamine from writing list is to make it small tasks.

By taking on very small and easy steps, one at a time, you will not get overwhelmed. This will help you follow through and complete each task. If you get ahead of yourself and write down too big of s task, you’re going to fail. When you get overwhelmed with any task, it defeats the purpose of writing a list. Once you get overwhelmed, you may end up quitting and then scratching your whole to-do list in the garbage.

Think of it as baby steps towards a bigger goal. Small little steps to climb a mountain. You would never get to Mount Everest and just run straight towards the mountain and try to immediately get to the top. You would die and accomplish literally nothing. So why would you take on a bunch of difficult tasks all day long without small steps to get there?

The same goes with all aspects of your life. We face challenges every single day. Writing a small list may seem a little bit ridiculous, but I promise it works! I write down simple tasks like; get a shower, brush, teeth, drink, coffee, take vitamins, make my bed, etc.. those tasks seem easy enough right? Once you start crossing things off your list it will make you feel accomplished, hopeful, and get that boost of energy from dopamine.

4. If you have a task that requires multiple steps, make sure that you break it down into very small manageable steps.

Breaking a big task down into small little steps will keep you moving forward to the goal. Something like clean the living room is way too big of a task to write down. Start with simple tasks like vacuum the floors, dust the windows, clean off the coffee table, etc.. Also, make sure that you do not do more than one large task a day. Give yourself some credit for completing even the smallest of tasks.

5. Keep your list in the same spot every day and do not move it!

Get a book that has spots for your bills, a calendar and room for a list. You want to be able to focus on one day at a time. I write my bills and due dates on my daily task list as well. I also write what I am planning to make for dinner that day too. The key is to keep it very simple. The simpler the better! Do not move that list under any circumstances. And make sure to place the list somewhere where you are going to see it first thing in the morning. I have mine on a tall dresser near my bed. Once I stand up for the day, I write a very small list immediately. You could place your list where you sit and have your morning coffee every day. Or maybe near your bathroom, or where you get dressed. Place it somewhere where it will never move and you will see it as soon as you get up in the morning.

6. Having a favorite pen is another dopamine boost!

Again, this seems a little silly, but it really does work. I have issues with sensory and sensory overload. Having a pan that feels comfortable in my hands, is pretty to look at, and writes really smoothly, it is a game changer for me! It rewards my brain into writing a list because it is fun to do with my favorite pen.

I love writing my list every day because I have my special pens to use. I spent s little more money on them and no one else is allowed to touch them. They make writing things down a lot more fun. I even bought event stickers to add to my calendar list. Anything you can do to make it more fun always helps.

7. Try to write your list at the same time every single day.

Writing s list at the same time everyday will help program your brain at the same time every day. Your brain will automatically get in the habit of writing a list for the day. The repetition also helps calm the brain and start the day off less stressed. The jumbled mess inside your Brian will no longer be there since it’s all on the paper. This also helps you sleep better.

Your brain will be able to relax at night knowing that you will write everything down as soon as you wake up in the morning. It helps get everything out of your brain and onto paper. What a perfect and easy way to start sleeping better and waking up happier.

8. How to get an added free dopamine boost!

If you completed a task and forgot to write it down, or simply didn’t write it down, make sure you write it down and cross it off for a free boost! Sometimes I don’t write something simple down like putting my makeup on or drying my hair. I can sometimes simply do a task without thinking about it. If you need an extra boost, you can write the small task down and cross it off even after it’s completed. It doesn’t matter to your brain, as long as you completed a task, you still get that dopamine boost! Try not to make a habit out of doing it all this way though. You’ll go back to get overwhelmed and become a jumbled mess. This hack is just a seldom freebie.

9. Do not attempt to do any task that is not on the list!

By sticking to this rule, you will create a calm affect in your brain. If you start making a habit out of doing tasks without writing them down, you will get all confused and out of sorts. This will defeat the purpose of the list. Focus on the small tasks on the list first and make them your priority! After those are done, then you can move on to the next thing that is a more important priority.

10. Write down priorities first.

When you are writing your list for the day, make sure that you write down what takes priority over everything else for the day. My priority is eating breakfast and taking my vitamins. I was consistently forgetting to take my vitamins and eat for the day. This would create all sorts of problems and a blood sugar crash by 2 PM. Eating breakfast is a major priority in my life and I have to make sure that I do it before I move onto anything else. This forces my brain to focus on the task at hand, and by eating first, I have more energy to start my day.

11. Daily hygiene counts!

I thought that writing daily hygiene things on my list was silly at first. But taking care of yourself really gives you a brain boost for the day. Writing things like; getting a shower, brushing, my teeth, eating breakfast, drying my hair, putting my makeup on, and picking a favorite outfit for the day have become a very important task! Without these tasks, I wouldn’t have that boost of energy to feel good and accomplished about myself. This helps me to move forward and do things that I might otherwise have put off before.

12. When you are writing your list in the morning, make sure that it is quiet and you can focus. Those of you with little kids, I know this is extremely hard sometimes. You can buy small earplugs or use your earbuds to play relaxing music. All you need is just a few minutes of uninterrupted thoughts to write down a list. Sometimes you don’t even need minutes but mere seconds. Having this uninterrupted headspace will allow you to focus on what really needs done and keep your priorities in order.

Try writing a small list today and see how much better you feel! I hope the dopamine boost helps you like it helped me. You deserve to be happy and enjoy your life. Life is too short to be stressed out all of the time.