2. Accumulating Pain to Restore Dopamine Balance

Among my self-discipline group, inspired by my Twitter friend Unagi, I decided to start waking up early—around 6:30 to 7:00 AM. Since I started during the winter, it was exceptionally difficult for me.

Ever since my company transitioned to fully remote work in 2020, my routine of waking up at 8:00 AM to commute and cook meals gradually shifted toward staying up late and sleeping in.

In 2023, I built a weightlifting habit, forcing myself to hit daily protein goals of twice my body weight and consistently meet my weekly gym sessions. However, in early 2024, buying a house and writing quantitative trading algorithms disrupted my workout routine. Once the house purchase was settled and the trading bots stabilized, laziness crept back in.

Without a commute, I theoretically should have had much more time on my hands. Over time, however, it simply became an excuse to wake up late. I would roll out of bed, freshen up, and jump straight into work—eventually losing the habits I once kept during my commute, like reading e-books and listening to podcasts.

I was heavily affected by cheap dopamine: scrolling through Twitter, Threads, Instagram, and Shorts—I did it all. Before I knew it, I was hooked, and I realized my Doomscrolling was getting increasingly out of hand.

After resigning and stepping into an even more self-directed lifestyle, it became clear that it was time to reset my daily habits.

I really enjoy watching Shosho’s (張修修) videos, which introduce many productivity books, including insights on dopamine detoxing. For me, an effective approach is intentionally introducing pain.

Pain

Enduring pain takes practice.

Winter offers plenty of opportunities to accumulate pain: the discomfort from the temperature drop when crawling out of bed, the sluggishness of wanting to sleep in, the freezing wind whipping against your face while cycling, and the sting of crisp, frigid air in your lungs. Every single day, I think about giving up—staying wrapped in a warm bed feels so much better. Yet, this pain serves as training to sharpen my focus.

Recently, I watched an interview between Shosho and Tommy Chen (陳彥博). It’s hard for me to imagine just how much agony an ultra-marathoner pushing themselves to the limit in polar expeditions must endure. But for Tommy Chen, it seems to have become his core belief and life’s mission, making him willing to endure whatever suffering comes his way.

The benefit of accumulating pain is that your tolerance increases. Many everyday tasks that seem tedious or painful suddenly don’t seem like a big deal compared to facing the biting morning wind and extreme discomfort.

Keeping Life Simple

I often feel that software engineers can be hard to please, yet we are a group that frequently enjoys relatively generous perks: remote work, company benefits and subsidies, flexible hours, unlimited PTO, shiny titles, and prestige.

Once you get used to a comfortable life with a stable job and high pay, it becomes very hard to walk away—especially when you have a family and kids, which makes choices even tougher. That’s why consciously placing yourself in uncomfortable situations is so important. (I’m not criticizing anyone’s career choices; everyone has their own considerations.)

I probably don’t have much room to talk 😂 (just look at this guy buying a house and an electric guitar), but at least I consider myself willing to sacrifice some quality of life to focus on what I truly want. After all, I’ve lived through times when I had no money, no mobile data, and less than a hundred NT dollars left in my post office account—unable to even withdraw it to buy a meal.

I want to restore my dopamine balance through pain. Do you have your own ways of accumulating pain? Feel free to share them with me!