Deep Work or Dopamine Junkie? How Our Brain Unlearns Focus – and How to Rebuild It

jessevisionfactory
1 hour ago
6 min read

Author:Elisa Krahl

Woman in glasses, wearing an orange shirt, reads a book at a table surrounded by stacks of books. She appears focused. Bright window behind.

The modern workplace can be loud. Slack pings, emails, and smartphones keep us busy. But that does not just apply to the workplace, often it is even louder once we leave work.

The chores that need to be done, bureaucracy, children or elderly people who need to be taken care of. And there is anyway someone or something trying to get our attention. Our ability to staying focused and not being distracted is challenged every time.

Social media for example offers quick entertainment where attention lasts seconds.

Over time, focus shrinks - just like a muscle getting weaker.

So why is it so hard to focus? And what does brain science say about it? Let’s try to move from “dopamine junkie” distractions to a culture of deep work and a life more enjoyable since we are no longer so hardly fighting the everyday distractions.

The neuroscience of focus

Before we go into the “how to solve this”-part, we will take a look of what actually happens in the brain.

First, there is the prefrontal cortex, which is our control centre in the front of our heads. It manages working memory, planning, and decisions. When it is active, we can concentrate. But the dopamine system craves novelty and excitement.

Each ping or like delivers a micro-reward like a little applause of your brain for what you are doing.

Over time, attention shifts from long effort to short bursts of pleasure and there is no such thing like being full of pleasure at one point so that we do not want this anymore.

This pattern explains why social media, with its endless novelty, is linked to shorter attention spans and weaker working memory.

Then there is the default mode network (DMN). It switches on when the mind wanders. Wandering can support reflection and creativity, yet too much wandering harms performance. Focusing on a task quiets the DMN, which can feel almost calming because the brain no longer drifts aimlessly.

The myth of multitasking

Since I studied business psychology, it is clear to me what the underlying misunderstandings of multitasking are.

But I have seen that people still love to say that they multitask.

In reality, the brain cannot process two complex tasks at once. Instead, it switches very fast, that we barely notice. We can only perform multiple tasks at once, if all tasks but one are automated to a level where we do not need to think of what we are actually doing. These tasks are considered not to be complex.

This task switching in fact carries costs. Gloria Mark (2015) measured that the average recovery time is 23 minutes. After each switch, a residue of the previous task lingers. Today, compared to 20 years ago, twice as many employees in Germany report being frequently interrupted, that is every second worker.

Even minimal interruptions lasting just a few seconds can double the error rate.

Man in white shirt looks intently at a laptop, holding a phone. Bright office with window view. Books, cup, and yellow folders on desk.

The numbers are clear: frequent multitaskers show slower reaction times, more errors, and higher fatigue. Creativity also suffers because the brain never stays in deep thought long enough to connect ideas.

Research shows, that heavy media multitaskers actually perform worse on attention tests than light multitaskers and that trying to handle two tasks at once is lowering efficiency. In the workplace, Gloria Mark (2008) discovered that knowledge workers are interrupted every three to five minutes, mainly by email or chat. Each interruption pulls attention away and weakens the brain’s ability to stay engaged.

How our brains become “dopamine junkies”

At the same time, these constant notifications from emails etc. act like dopamine snacks. Every notification is giving the brain a little quick hit. Over time, this conditions us to chase novelty instead of staying with effortful tasks. It is like the mental equivalent of junk food: short-term pleasure replaces long-term nourishment.

Social media makes this cycle stronger. The algorithms are trained to keep us on the screen and feeds are designed for instant rewards leading to endless scrolling through videos, that are all seeking our attention, with unpredictable updates.

This combination creates a loop of craving that researchers now describe as a form of behavioural addiction. In his book Irresistible, Adam Alter (2017) warns that tech addiction leads to weaker self-control, lower focus, and even disrupted sleep. And people often think, that can only happen to children because their brains are not fully developed yet.

But since it acts like a huge muscle, no matter how old we are, we can unlearn to focus. But that also includes the bright side: since we can always unlearn to focus, we can also regain that skill at any age.

Surprisingly different to what I would have thought when doing the research, neuroscience has shown that dopamine is less about “liking” and more about “wanting.” In other words, notifications don’t just make us happy; they make us crave checking again and again - even when the experience itself brings little joy.

The result is a brain trained for quick hits and constant novelty, but increasingly unable to engage in the sustained effort that deep work requires. Dopamine pulls us in, and willpower gets drained while fighting it. Fun fact: Human willpower spends around four hours each day simply resisting temptations - trying not to do something.

Deep work as a necessity

Deep work can be considered the opposite of being constantly distracted or experiencing pleasure all the time.

Deep work is distraction-free, cognitively demanding work. It is not just a productivity hack. It is a neurological necessity. And by that, this is our goal – what we want to accomplish to be able to focus again more easily.

Deep focus works like strength training for the brain. The more often we practice it, the faster and smoother our thinking becomes.

And when we stick with it long enough, we can enter a flow state—the feeling of being fully absorbed. In that moment, the real reward comes not from quick dopamine hits, but from the joy of deep immersion.

So the good news is: the brain is plastic. Attention can be retrained. With practice, focus grows again and by that it becomes easier for our willpower to resist distractions.

Practical focus strategies – the individual level

So what can individuals do?

Time-blocking & conscious monotasking. Work in 90-minute ultradian cycles, then rest or use the Pomodoro Technique. There you work for 25 min and then make a 5 min break – without distractions – no social media, checking emails and so on.
Digital hygiene. Before you start, batch emails, silence notifications, and use blockers or Apps to keep you focused like Forest.
Mindfulness. Meditation reduces the wandering of the mind. It is perfect for 5 min breaks if you use the Pomodoro Technique or before getting back into work after a longer break.
Breaks & recovery. Walks, daylight, and small movements reset dopamine balance and help calm the mind like meditations do.

Man reading a book at a white table, stack of colorful books in the background. Dark room setting, focused and calm mood. Earbuds on table.

Here are three brain-friendly tips in a nutshell:

Protect focus sessions like meetings.
Create an environment with zero distractions (or at least as few as possible).
Move, breathe, and step outside regularly.

Focus in HR and people development - the organizational level

Focus is not just an individual skill and as important at work as in private. It can be considered a workplace design challenge.

Companies should rethink the always-on culture. Providing quiet zones where people can work deeply may help reduce stress a lot just like introducing no-meeting blocks for teams.

Training managers in cognitive ergonomics, which is the science of how brains work best. This aligns work design with human neurobiology.

The benefits can be massive: Gallup (2020) estimates disengagement costs $7.8 trillion globally. Focused employees are healthier, more engaged, and more productive.

Conclusion

We have now seen how important it is to understand that focus is a muscle, which is not only about willpower. It is about neurobiology, surroundings, and habits.

By understanding dopamine-driven distractions, we can start to rebuild attention. Both individuals and organizations must create conditions for deep work and a life with less distractions. This is not just crucial for efficiency but also for our health.