Dreading a task at the end of a long week? There may be a way to trick your brain into seeing that chore as a reward.

“Dopamine anchoring” is the latest psychology hack making the rounds on social media.

The technique involves associating a desirable thing – like music or snacks – with a less pleasant task or movement, so that “over time, your brain begins to crave the task itself,” according to Joshua Stein, M.D., a child and adolescent psychiatrist at PrairieCare in Minnesota.

From a neuroscience perspective, the strategy works through the brain’s dopamine pathway.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain associated with feelings of pleasure.

“When we expect a reward, dopamine levels rise before we get the reward” — which helps boost motivation, Stein told Fox News Digital.

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