Lately I have been thinking about the deeper meaning of being productive. I mean I think the idea of closing a loop and multiple loops a day is somewhat helpful. If you visualize a circle or sphere and then you can imagine all your behavior going forth to close a loop within that circle or sphere is what may release non-impulsive dopamine. In essence, the type of dopamine release you want is prolonged release which usually comes from finishing a task that is long term rather than impulsive and presents a burst of short term dopamine. Working on a meaningful task and then getting the prolonged dopamine release is more beneficial than let’s say indulging in a substance or behavior that produces a large portion of dopamine but for about 1-15 minutes.

Essentially, what I am arguing you take part in is long term focused behaviors but in the short term. Try and close a loop or two a day and you will feel amazing. Consistent exercise does the same thing too. So if you feel stuck or in a position where you feel like moving forward and feeling amazing again, close a behavioral loop attached to an external goal.

I imagined, or atleast, concocted this loop idea from the exercise rings on my Apple watch. If I saw one closed loop, I immediately wanted to keep going and close another. The antecedent of this behavior was seeing a closed loop and the behavior itself was continuing working and the consequence was dopamine release or feeling amazing. In essence, the ABC behaviorist model. Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence. You can also reverse engineer this model but I digress.