You’ve probably had that magical moment when you tick something off your to-do list and immediately feel better about life. Maybe it was “send that email” or “clean the kitchen.” For one fleeting second, you feel productive, powerful, and almost ready to take on the world. Then—poof—it’s gone. Back to scrolling.
That rush? It’s dopamine. And it’s your brain’s favourite reward chemical. The trick isn’t waiting for a major breakthrough to get it. The trick is learning how to make that tiny hit work for you, not against you.
This isn’t about tricking your brain into loving chores or pretending a 10-minute walk is the same as running a marathon. It’s about building momentum—because momentum, not motivation, is what actually gets you moving.
Let’s talk about how small wins can turn your day (and maybe your whole approach to work) around.
The Science Bit (But Not the Boring Kind)
Your brain loves progress. It doesn’t care whether you’ve finished a huge project or remembered to water the plant for once. Each time you complete something, your brain releases dopamine—a tiny chemical celebration. That rush encourages you to do it again.
The problem is, many of us save the party for the big stuff. The completed project. The promotion. The six-month fitness goal. And because those moments take ages to arrive, we spend most of our time in motivational limbo.
Here’s the good news: you can hack this. Dopamine doesn’t check your CV. You just need to give your brain regular, bite-sized reasons to celebrate.
Big Goals, Tiny Steps
We all love a good goal. But “write a book” or “start a business” is so vague it feels like a dare. You need to shrink it down.
Let’s say your goal is to “get fit.” Great. But your brain has no idea what that means. “Do 10 squats after brushing your teeth” does. That’s specific. That’s winnable. And when you do it, your brain gets a quick hit of dopamine. Do it again tomorrow, and you’ve started to build a streak.
Your brain starts linking the action (doing squats) with the reward (that tiny, satisfying high). Over time, it stops being a battle of willpower and becomes something automatic. That’s how habits are born.
The same goes for work. Don’t set a goal like “finish my business plan.” Try “write one paragraph today.” When you hit it, tick it off. Literally. Seeing progress—visually—matters more than you think.
How to Feed Your Dopamine the Right Way
Not all dopamine hits are equal. Social media, junk food, and random online shopping give you instant satisfaction, but they don’t lead anywhere. You end up with a dopamine hangover—momentary highs followed by guilt or fatigue.
Real dopamine wins come from progress that actually means something. The stuff that moves you toward the life you want, not just the life that’s easy.
Here’s how to get it right:
- Set Micro-Goals. Break your tasks into ridiculously small pieces. If it feels too easy, perfect. You’ll do it, finish it, and feel good about it. That good feeling makes you more likely to keep going.
- Track Progress Visibly. Use a checklist, wall chart, or app—anything that lets you see your wins stack up. There’s a reason streak counters work so well. The visual reward fuels your next move.
- Celebrate Tiny Wins. Yes, actually celebrate. Make coffee. Do a little chair dance. Say “nice one, me.” Your brain learns that finishing things feels good—and it wants more.
- Avoid Overload. The opposite of a dopamine boost is overwhelm. When your to-do list has 24 things, your brain doesn’t know where to start, so it shuts down. Pick three key tasks for the day. That’s it.
- Connect Progress to Purpose. Remind yourself why you’re doing it. Your brain loves meaning—it’s like dopamine’s favourite seasoning. “Send client proposal” is dull. “Take one step toward growing my business” is personal.
Meet “The 5-Minute Starter Trick”
Here’s a simple hack you can try today: promise yourself just five minutes. Work on your task for five minutes, and then you can stop.
Most of the time, you won’t. Because once you start, momentum kicks in. The hardest part of any job is the beginning. Once you’ve broken the seal, your brain says, “Oh, this isn’t so bad.” Dopamine rewards that too.
I used this trick when writing my first big project. I’d sit down and tell myself, “Just write one paragraph.” Sometimes that was all I did. Other times, an hour disappeared, and I had pages done. Either way, I was training my brain to associate “starting” with satisfaction—not stress.
You can apply the same thing to anything—emails, workouts, decluttering. The first five minutes are where the magic happens.
When You Don’t Feel Like It
You’re not supposed to feel motivated all the time. Nobody does. But you can still design a system that keeps you moving when motivation leaves the building.
Let’s say you’re having one of those “I’ll do it later” days. Start small—like, insultingly small. Send one message. Read one page. Open one document. Those little actions don’t look like much, but they keep the wheels turning.
Once you complete even a small task, dopamine starts flowing again. And that little chemical whisper says, “Hey, that felt good. Let’s do it again.”
The Domino Effect of Small Wins
Think about your last productive day. You probably didn’t wake up feeling like a superhero. You just got one small thing done early—maybe a workout or a phone call—and that win created a ripple effect. One task made the next easier, and by mid-afternoon, you were flying.
That’s the dopamine effect in action. Small wins build confidence. Confidence builds consistency. Consistency builds momentum. And momentum is where progress lives.
When you understand how your brain rewards progress, you stop chasing motivation and start creating movement. You don’t wait for a perfect plan. You don’t need grand gestures. You just stack small wins, one by one, until you’ve built something real.
Keep the Party Going
You can make dopamine your ally by turning it into a daily game. The rules are simple:
- Start small.
- Track progress.
- Celebrate everything.
That’s it. You’ll build a sense of forward motion that lasts longer than any burst of motivation ever could.
The next time you’re staring at your to-do list thinking, “I don’t even know where to start,” pick one thing—any thing. Do it badly, do it quickly, but do it. Then cross it off and let your brain have its moment.
That single, satisfying tick might just be the spark that gets the whole engine running.