Refreshing the Reward Center. in Whey and Sonic Screwdrivers.

So, I was on the treadmill contemplating the reward center of the brain. So, obviously I was in the gym. There’s a rule-of-thumb to change your routine every 4-8 weeks. Granted, I so acknowledge I was pushing myself too hard. Six days a week, 90 minutes per workout. I was still making progress, but it’s clear from my mental state that I overtrained.

It is quite unfortunate that the reward center of the brain gets bored of things if they’re done too frequently, or in the same way. If every day has the same routine, it will end up feeling like torture. Even if it’s a really great, healthy routine. You can’t watch the same things. You can’t play the same video games. You can’t read the same books.

We’re doomed to constantly require new stimulus. New input. This is partly how/why I can watch youtube indefinitely.

I wonder if this is why I oddly enjoyed college so much. Every 4 weeks, there’s new material to master. Every 4 months, there is a change in routine, however simple of a change.

I’m sure if you were told “Well, learn a new skill each month!” you’ll immediately draw a blank on what to learn.

November is usually good to me because it’s the only month I write a novel. Alas, I haven’t found my muse. I may still, but I’m finding it difficult to get the right headspace.

So yeah, I got back to the gym for the first time in a month. There’s a sense of satisfaction. But, we know the truth. Things that become routine… stop feeling as satisfying. Instead, it’s something you know you’ll feel like shit for if you don’t do them. The bar is raised, and you’re just trying to reach it. You add more and more to your plate, trying to feel satisfied.

Thus my cycle of building up and crashing.

I don’t have a solution beyond my anecdote of changing routine every 4-8 weeks. More… a note to myself.

Maybe I’ll never be truly happy again.