Why is it easier to focus on things that we don’t have to do (like watching YT, TV shows, movies etc.) rather than things we “must” (for example studying, working out, going to job, finishing project and so on) ?
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See that pink fleshy crinkly thing inside your head? Well, hopefully not. If you can that’s a problem. So you’ll just have to take my word that it’s in there. That this is dumb as hell. All it cares about is short term pleasure and suffering, and the way it understands the pleasure part of that is by the release of a chemical called dopamine. The brain only knows one thing – it likes dopamine and it wants to maximise the amount of dopamine it has and the amount of time it spends experiencing dopamine.
Those easy things to focus on all release dopamine, and that’s great for holding your attention cos your brain is gonna keep doing it until it stops releasing dopamine. The trouble with that though is that the modern world is really, really good at triggering the release of dopamine. Everywhere you turn there’s a new flashy shiny thing saying “Hey kid, you want some dopamine?” And this *wrecks* your attention span. Your brain basically becomes addicted to its own dopamine. Having dopamine starts to feel like the normal thing, and everything else starts feeling like suffering in comparison. This makes your brain crave dopamine even more, and it becomes agitated when it doesn’t have it (and of course, it’s hard to concentrate when you’re agitated). Nothing you *have* to do releases dopamine. It’s all boring and difficult and stressful. So your brain tries to avoid doing, cos why would it want to do that stuff if it can turn on the shiny rectangle and get 50ccs of dopamine straight to the ventral tegmental area?
If you want to be able to concentrate better, you need to snap out of your dependence on quick and easy dopamine. And what that means is getting a fuck ton of willpower and using it to limit how much time you spend doing fun things and when you do them. Repurpose fun things as rewards you give yourself for doing unfun things, and learn how to be comfortable being bored.
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