Dopamine Stacking

One task at a time

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Introduction

There is a productivity secret that rarely gets the spotlight: doing just one thing at a time. That’s it. No music pulsing in the background while you study for a test, no podcast playing as you crunch numbers in a spreadsheet.¹ It feels anathema in a world that glorifies multitasking, but it’s the truth. When we pile multiple activities onto our brains, our cognitive capacity takes a hit.² Layer in the constant interruptions from our smartphones, buzzing, pinging and always demanding our attention, and you have a formula for plummeting productivity both at work and at home.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s been in the middle of cooking dinner when a text comes in, distracting me long enough for the water to boil over and flood the kitchen. It takes effort to break the habit. Committing to just one activity at a time, without distractions or stimulation, feels depriving at first. Over time, it’s liberating.

A friend of mine recently came back from a trip to Indonesia. Her jetlag woke her up at 4am. She decided to try working, uninterrupted, on her coding projects during the early hours. Without social interactions at the office or emails hitting her inbox during those hours, she accomplished five hours of work in a three hour window. The lack of interruption allowed her brain to focus and get things done. Today, we explore three areas where dopamine stacking is robbing our potential to unlock greater results.

Photo by Nubelson Fernandes on Unsplash

Dopamine Stacking at Work

In Deep Work, Cal Newport suggests that humans have the cognitive capacity for roughly four hours of intense, focused work each day. This applies to both physically and mentally demanding tasks, and I tend to agree with him. Howeover, it raises the question: why do we consistently work far more than that? A large part of the answer lies in societal norms, such as the traditional eight-hour workday. While this structure is gradually evolving into alternatives like the four-day workweek, another critical factor of this equation is our need for rest.

Our brains cannot sustain four uninterrupted hours of hard work without breaks. Attempting to do so would feel as taxing as those all-night study marathons before exams. So, we pause to recover. A troubling trend, however, emerges during these breaks. Instead of seeking offline dopamine that refreshes our mental resources, we often opt for online information hits. We scroll through Facebook, read an article on Substack (👀), or binge YouTube shorts. This pattern undermines our capacity to focus due to the constant brain stimulation.

Offline Dopamine

My first suggestion is for you embrace offline activities during work breaks. Leaving your phone at the desk and taking a short walk is a sure way to combat sedentarism, increase brain function, and come back refreshed to your daily activities. Other examples are coloring or meditation. These are bettter suited for those with physically demanding jobs. The principle is the same: one activity during work time. One activity during breaks.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

Dopamine Stacking in Relationships

Ok. I must confess this is an area that I’m still working on. Being present with friends and family plays such a huge role in life satisfaction. But technology, in its subtle way, has made it harder than ever to give our loved ones our full attention. Even with dumbphones, there’s still the temptation to glance at the group chat instead of focusing on the person right in front of you. Maybe it’s because the topic doesn’t excite us, or we’re feeling a bit disengaged. Whatever the reason, we often retreat into our own preferences, forgetting the value of connection right there before us.

A study of technology-free family dinners in the United States revealed that frequent shared meals reduce risky behaviors and lower rates of depressive symptoms among adolescents. Additionally, families who establish regular dinner routines with clear media guidelines create a sense of closeness and trust among those present. These benefits extend beyond blood bonds. With intention, regular check-ins with friends cultivate connections and strengthen relationships. The key word here is “intention.”

Here is where I have still some ways to go. I’ve shared before about my pitfalls when visiting my grandmother in California. I should have focused on spending time with her, but instead, I ended up binging Cobra Kai during the limited hours we had together. I dopamine stacked by talking to her and watching TV. Since then, I’ve learned that the best way to focus on the present with loved ones is to embrace offline together. Janita Van Dyk captured this idea in her Gastronomica piece around portraiture, food, and friendship. As she worked to photograph her friends, she reflected on the process: “To get these people to pose, the photographer has had to gain their confidence, has had to become ‘friends’ with them.” And to become friends, you must listen without distraction.

Next time you head out for dinner or a social event, consider leaving your gadgets behind. In the car or at home. You might be surprised by how much more meaningful it all feels.

Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash

Individual Dopamine Stacking

The last area where dopamine stacking is limiting your potential is personal development. Take Exercise, learning a new language, cooking, or building a mindfulness practice. All of these pursuits demand a level of focus that dopamine layering simply cannot sustain. Mastery requires deliberate, uninterrupted effort. By dividing your attention between the task at hand and external stimuli, you dilute your ability to engage with the process. This is why I advocate for creating an offline space within your home. A room or even a small corner dedicated to single-tasking, free from buzzing phones or intrusive pings.

Breaking free from dopamine stacking is not easy. We have been trained to “get the most out of our time.” While we visit city sights, museums, or nature, the “standard” is to also snap a picture or read in depth articles about the piece or place. We attempt to exist in two worlds at once, but end up disconnected from both. Offline sessions give us the opportunity to recharge and travel the path toward expertise.

Dopamine stacking is alluring. I know because I still struggle with it. But I want all of us to do better. I want to live a life that I’m proud of. Free from the shackles of overstimulation. I hope you do as well.

1. There is something to be said about rote activities (driving, exercise plans, etc.). If you are doing an activity that is the same movement or a repetitive pattern, stacking music can help with the rythm/mood of that activity. However, there is evidence that driving performance decreases when you listen to music: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10790125/

2. Look into this study about multitasking and reading: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9817.12372