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When you were a kid, chances are, the adults in your found ways to convince you to do things you didn't really want to do. And it probably involved some kind of bartering. Go to the doctor? You get a trip to the park. Eat your vegetables? You get an ice cream. Do your home work? You get an extra half hour of television time. This likely all sounds pretty familiar… if a little distant. Sadly, when we grow up, we don't often get treats for simply doing the things we need to do. But then again, why can't we reward ourselves for being good, responsible adults? And thats exactly what a growing number of people are doing.
Allow me to introduce you to ‘dopamine anchoring,’ a TikTok-approved hack for essentially tricking yourself into doing all of those annoying, unpleasant tasks on your to-do list. Just like adults may have once bribed you as a child, dopamine anchoring is, effectively, all about bribing yourself. Of course, the little indulgences we want as adults tend to be a little different. “You know that feeling when you light a candle, play your favourite song, and suddenly that life admin doesn’t feel so heavy?” says Claire Thompson, a psychotherapist, life coach and hypnotherapist. “That’s dopamine anchoring — and it’s one of the simplest, most soulful ways to shift your state and get things done.”
The Rory Gilmore effect.
Dopamine anchoring is essentially all about pairing “bad” tasks with “good” things. “At its heart, dopamine anchoring is about pairing something you love with something you usually resist,” she explains. It could be that you promise yourself you'll have a long luxurious bubble bath after a gym session. Or maybe, while you book all of those dentist and doctor appointments you've been putting off, you put on your favourite playlist and order a takeaway. The key is to do the same ‘good’ thing every time you do a specific ‘bad’ task.
The tactic is based around the psychological principle of the “mental anchoring effect,” which is when you build a mental habit or anchor through repeated actions. For instance, if you light the same candle every time you go through your nighttime routine, you'll begin to associate that smell with your routine.
It's all about “activating the brain’s dopamine system to make habits feel more enjoyable, rather than forced,” explains Thompson. Instead of anchoring tasks to a specific smell or taste, you'll anchor those tasks to the feeling that comes from a dopamine spike. In other words, these annoying tasks will actually start to feel good. “It’s a nervous system-friendly way to build motivation, focus and emotional resilience.”
It works “because dopamine is a feel-good chemical that reinforces behaviours,” says Tam Kaur a self-help author. “When you consistently reward a difficult habit with something enjoyable, over time your brain starts to link the two. It’s like giving yourself a psychological high-five for doing something hard.”
Content creator Shelby Sacco is one advocate of the method.
TikTok content
In a TikTok video about dopamine anchoring, she explains that by linked ‘good’ and ‘bad’ tasks, “over time, your brain will start to associate pleasure or happiness with that task that you hate making it easier to do.” She cites one example of combining going to the grocery store with listening to a calming audiobook. “Now, I can't wait to go to the grocery shopping, 'cause I love listening to my audiobook.”
If you want to give dopamine anchoring a try, these are some of the “good," dopamine-boosting things that Thompson recommends pairing with your least favourite tasks:
- Journaling with cacao, gentle incense, or cosy textures
- Listening to frequency music (432Hz or 528Hz) while working or winding down
- Saving a gentle pilates class or your favourite stretch flow for post-task transitions
- Walking alone with no phone, letting your mind breathe
- Pairing admin or chores with a nourishing podcast
While you may think this all sounds an awful lot like a simple hack — a way to trick yourself into doing certain things — Thompson sees it as a lifestyle. “This isn’t about tricking yourself,” she says, “it’s about reconnecting with small moments of joy and rhythm, so your nervous system feels safe enough to move forward.” As she puts it, “Sometimes we just need to anchor in, slow down, and let peace lead the way.”
One word of caution though — try not to become too reliant on those dopamine boosts every time you need to do something unpleasant. “I’d say the key is moderation,” Kaur says. "If you become dependent on it to do anything even slightly challenging, that’s when it might need a reset. Use it to motivate, and not to avoid.”
Confidence, focus, relaxation, and more are just a sniff away.
