Everyone needs to take breaks. You’re not a robot who can work for hours and hours with no respite. The problem with how a lot of us take breaks, though, is what we do during them. A (Very) Quick Guide to Dopamine Dopamine is the “reward chemical” that our brains release when we achieve something. It’s the thing that makes us feel good when we get a job done. That little boost when you cross something off your to-do list? That’s dopamine. But the modern world has heavily mess