Place in the Dopamine Economy

It seems like there is something happening in our brains that keeps pulling us into the digital realm beyond a healthy relationship with technology - possibly getting in the way of optimal emotional & cognitive performance of knowledge workers (and the ability to enjoy life in general!).

In the last edition, I wrote about our never ending urge to be emerged in the digital world, and whether ‘place’ itself can become the antidote to our digital addiction. I argued that, instead of trying to make physical space compete with the digital realm, we could use ‘place’ as a strategic tool to enhance our relationship with technology.

In this edition we will dive deeper by approaching the topic from a neuroscience point of view. What do we need to know about dopamine, an important neurotransmitter (and hormone), to better understand the tug of war between physical place and the digital space?

Dopamine Economy

I recently read the book Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lembke (highly recommended!). It was such a delight to read about the scientific reasonings behind our digital addictions - confirming many of my observations and assumptions over the years.

Dr. Lembke argues in her book that we live in a dopamine economy: there is the continuous pursuit of pleasure, whilst at the same time we've lost the ability to tolerate even minor forms of discomfort. She argues that “the reason we're all so miserable may be because we're working so hard to avoid being miserable”.

In this sense, digital distractions are the perfect formula as they provide a dose of dopamine (pleasure) whilst distracting ourselves from the present moment - avoiding moments of boredom and pain at all cost.

Dr. Lembke goes as far to say that the smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation.

“The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation” - Dr. Lembke

The Pleasure Paradox

The issue is that our brains are not evolved for a dopamine economy. With constant access to screen-based technology - particularly since 2010, when smartphones achieved widespread adoption - we're experiencing unprecedented digital immersion. Perhaps it's no coincidence that Western industrialised nations report lower happiness levels now than during 2005-2010, according to the newly released 2025 World Happiness Report (2). As our digital consumption has intensified, our collective wellbeing appears to have declined in parallel.

If we go on to continue the pursuit of pleasure 24/7 it may not work out as we'd have hoped to. The paradox of the pursuit of pleasure for its own sake, Dr. Lembke writes, leads to anhedonia, which is the inability to enjoy pleasure of any kind. This can affect how human beings experience everyday life; things like going for a walk, observing nature, watching the sunset, and enjoying a meal with friends. “The net effect is that we now need more reward to feel pleasure, and less injury to feel pain” Dr. Lembke states. How is the dopamine economy affecting knowledge workers?

Dopamine-based Workstyles

The dopamine economy has also entered the workplace.

As we're avoiding pain and seeking distractions, are we still up for it to go through the painful learning curve of continuing to push ourselves into evolving our cognitive and emotional development, in order to perform at our best and deliver our best work?

With the arrival of mainstream artificial intelligence platforms - many have gone on to praise its utility, especially around efficiency and productivity. And whilst there is certainly a place for the use of AI, there is also a darker downside that is connected to our pain-avoiding human behaviour. Namely, research shows that there is a significant negative correlation between frequent AI tool usage and critical thinking abilities. There is something that is called ‘cognitive offloading’, where we delegate cognitive tasks to external aid. Cognitive offloading may lead to a reduction in cognitive effort, causing what some researchers refer to as cognitive laziness (3).

It's also well-known that checking emails releases dopamine too (4). This relationship between email checking and dopamine helps explain why many knowledge workers develop compulsive email-checking habits - repeatedly interrupting focused work to get small dopamine hits, despite knowing this fragmentation reduces overall productivity and cognitive performance.

We human beings like to go for the easy route, avoiding pain and perhaps seeking easy answers from AI, or avoiding cognitive intense tasks by focusing on the email inbox instead. How might this cognitive convenience affect our capacity for deep work and innovation in workplace environments over the long term? How can knowledge workers survive, and even thrive, in a dopamine economy? Could physical place play a role in balancing out our addiction to the virtual / online world?

Geographic Self-Binding

In the context of neuroscience and addiction, "self-binding" refers to intentionally creating obstacles or barriers between yourself and the addictive behaviour / drug of choice, in order to gain control and avoid compulsive overconsumption. Dr. Lembke describes that self-binding has become a modern necessity in our dopamine economy: “external rules [...] will never be sufficient in a world where access to an ever-growing variety of high-dopamine goods is practically infinite”. So, if we want to get a better handle on our technology use, we need to take action ourselves.

Geographic self-binding - or physical self-binding, is one of the strategies that can be applied to manage addiction. The tactic is to create a literal physical barrier and/or geographic distance between ourselves and our drug of choice. This is very similar to what I had undertaken intuitively during my 100 digital detox to better cope with my own digital overconsumption. I started putting my phone on the other side of the bedroom to avoid scrolling in the morning. When it comes to the big screen, we have our TV placed in a separate “tv-room”, which made the abstinence of watching TV for 100-days so much easier as well. In hindsight, after readings Dr. Lembke’s book, I realised that both these strategies form part of geographic self-binding.

So, physical place and/or geography, can certainly be seen as a tool to manage our digital overconsumption. Or, as Dr. Lembke says: “Binding ourselves is a way to be free”.

Place in the Dopamine Economy

The modern workplace sits at a fascinating intersection of our dopamine economy. Our digital tools promise productivity and connection, yet often deliver distraction and depletion. Whilst many business leaders are grappling with the question around mandating people back to work from the office - it's become a hot political topic in Australia too - isn't there something more fundamental that requires attention in this deliberation? What are businesses doing to help their people navigate the Dopamine Economy?

Our digital tools promise productivity and connection, yet often deliver distraction and depletion.

I believe that the technology itself isn't inherently problematic - these tools have transformed how we work in countless positive ways. Rather, it's the relationship with technology that requires attention. Geographic cues and barriers could support the workforce regain control over how much time is spent in the virtual realm. However, we may need to take a step back first: do we truly understand how dopamine-inducing technologies are affecting how work is being performed?

By actively trying to understand this dilemma, there may be the opportunity to support the workforce creating healthier relationships with the ‘rectangles’. And in turn, I believe knowledge workers will have more time & space to become more creative, unique in their outputs, smarter & more capable - and perhaps more importantly, more fulfilled and resilient human beings.

I’m curious to know, how is your workplace enabling, or disrupting, people’s dopamine balance?