What is a reward schedule?

A reward schedule is a structured approach to granting rewards, which can be designed to enhance motivation and regulate behavior towards achieving specific goals. Andrew Huberman explains that reward schedules allow you to define when and how often you get rewarded for your actions or efforts. This can be set to different intervals, such as daily or weekly, depending on what can be consistently maintained. The idea is that the reward releases dopamine, which is highly beneficial in reinforcing continued efforts toward a specific goal 1 .

Additionally, the effectiveness of a reward schedule can be enhanced through intermittent or random rewards. This method, known as intermittent reinforcement, can significantly increase the motivation to continue working towards a goal because it capitalizes on the uncertainty of the reward, resulting in higher levels of dopamine release, which is crucial for motivation and focus 2 .