"I live in New York City, a fast-paced, often over-stimulating epicenter. While I love everything the city has to offer—the food, the culture, the different neighborhoods—I sometimes feel anxious with all the bustling energy around me. So some weekends, I find myself sitting at home, doom-scrolling, or watching reruns of Sex and The City instead of spending my free time doing something I love, which leaves me feeling tired, unmotivated, or sad. Throw in spring Seasonal Affective Disorder (yes, it’s not just the “winter blues“; some people begin to feel seasonal depression symptoms in the early spring), and I’m lucky if I step foot outside. Cue the concept of a “dopamine menu,” a list of dopamine-stimulating activities for different situations and needs to give you a mood boost whenever you need it. Combine it with a taste of 60-degree days that we’ve been having, and spring in NYC has been giving fresh start vibes.
How Dopamine Works
Dopamine, also known as the “feel-good” hormone, is associated with the feeling of pleasure and motivation to seek out pleasure (kind of like a reward system). Healthy levels of dopamine can help you feel happy, motivated, energized, and focused, but if dopamine levels are low, you’ll likely feel tired, sad, or unmotivated. Little did I know a dopamine menu would become my go-to for avoiding those draining doom-scrolling weekends at home, not to mention providing a pick-me-up when I could really use some incentive (looking at you, afternoon slump). Read on to learn what a dopamine menu entails and how to create your own.
What Is a Dopamine Menu?
A dopamine menu is a curated list of pleasurable, healthy habits and activities that naturally elevate your dopamine levels, boosting happiness, motivation, and focus. It provides an actionable and sustainable approach to prioritize your mental well-being. While you can create and use one anytime of the year, The concept originated from a YouTube video made by Jessica McCabe, the creator of the YouTube channel “How To ADHD” and author of How To ADHD: An Insider’s Guide to Working With Your Brain (Not Against It), who shared the concept as a way to help people with ADHD get the stimulation their brains need to get more dopamine.
Just like a restaurant menu, a “dopamine menu” (also referred to as a “dopamenu”) is divided into sections: appetizers, entrees, sides, desserts, and specials. The idea behind the menu is for each section to contain a list of dopamine-boosting activities for different situations and needs. As the trend has taken off, some people are creating separate dopamine menus for mornings, evenings, and weekends, or even for different days of the week. The point is to make it your own based on activities that bring you joy and to change it as you see fit.
Appetizers
The appetizers section of the dopamine menu contains quick and easily accessible ways to produce dopamine. Since they’re not time-consuming, they can be enjoyed throughout the day whenever you need a break. For example, looking at a picture you keep on your desk that brings you joy, a five-minute meditation, your favorite afternoon snack, making yourself a cup of coffee, or cuddling with your pet.
Entrees
The main courses include longer activities that you may need to plan and carve out a few hours to enjoy, but they’re meant to recharge you more than the appetizers. These could be a dinner date with a friend, going for a long walk, cooking your favorite meal, or doing an arts and crafts activity.
Sides
The sides section of the menu is reserved for activities that are ideal for accompanying other tasks that are less gratifying but necessary. Think: putting on a podcast while doing chores, lighting a candle while answering emails, or calling a friend while running errands.
Desserts
Desserts are things you love to do but are best enjoyed in moderation; otherwise, they could become unhealthy. They are not “bad” or wrong, but finding the appropriate balance to savor them is key. They’re the sweet treat you can look forward to on occasion, like online shopping, scrolling social media, snacking, or binge-watching a TV show.
Specials
Specials aren’t always available, and they might be more expensive or time-consuming, so you only partake in them every once in a while. They can include going on a trip, a spa day, or seeing a comedy show.
Why Is It Effective for Dopamine Levels?
In McCabe’s YouTube video, she talked about how most of us don’t spend hours scrolling social media or binge-watching a TV show because we think it’s a great use of our time; we do it because it provides a quick fix for the stimulation we need to function. But while those mindless activities may give you a surge in dopamine initially, over time, their effects diminish, and the stimulation they provide don’t actually satisfy the need. Think about the times you’ve sat down after a long day of work and scrolled through social media out of boredom or tiredness, only to realize an hour has gone by. Chances are you don’t feel better, and maybe even worse.
A study in the Journal of Neuroscience showed that when you receive a high concentration of dopamine, you’re likely to either repeat the activity that gave you the boost to receive the same benefits or move on to another dopamine-increasing activity. This is why it’s so easy to get addicted to behaviors like doom scrolling, Netflix bingeing, or late-night snacking. Instead, a dopamine menu encourages you to engage in healthy, sustainable activities that provide long-lasting dopamine effects, so you don’t need to unintentionally jump from one dopamine-increasing activity to another. Activities like working out, socializing with friends, or dancing and listening to music provide sustained increases in dopamine, whereas others like eating a cookie or candy give short bursts of dopamine.
McCabe said that while the obvious answer is to make choices that do satisfy us, it’s easier said than done. “The more satisfying dopamine choices usually take longer to set up and require being able to tolerate the distress of being bored in the meantime,” she said. She related it to the difficulty of making healthy food choices when you’re hungry; we usually grab whatever is easiest and fastest. When you’re low on dopamine, it’s harder to make healthy choices that will boost dopamine. But a dopamine menu makes it easier to separate the planning from the choosing. Creating a personalized dopamine menu means taking the guesswork out of figuring out how to give yourself a healthy dopamine boost when you’re bored or unmotivated, increasing the likelihood of you making good dopamine choices.
How to Create Your Own Personalized Dopamine Menu
The most important part of creating a dopamine menu is catering to you and your needs. Start by writing down things that bring you joy—it could be your favorite travel destination, a cup of coffee, a song, dancing, or shopping. For me, my list looks like exercising every day, going for walks by the water (I’m very into blue mind theory), painting, reading, and listening to live music. Next, determine which items are realistic for your current lifestyle and separate them into the appropriate menu categories (for example, traveling is one of my favorite activities, but it isn’t realistic for me over the next few months, so I’ve cut it from the list for now). Add in and remove activities as you go, write them out in a colorful notebook, and place your menu somewhere out in the open where you’ll always see it. The next time you’re feeling stuck, bored, or uninspired, refer to your dopamine menu, choose something off your list, and get the dopamine fix your brain and body need.
To get you started, here’s some inspiration:
Appetizers (if you have five minutes or less…)
Use appetizers as a break in your workday, to motivate you to wake up in the morning, or to carve out time for self-care.
- Jumping jacks
- A quick meditation
- Turn on music and dance
- Make a cup of coffee
- Cuddle a pet
- Put on a facemask
- Make your bed
- Stretch
- Stand outside in the sun
- Water your plants
- Doodle/draw
Entrees (if you have an hour or more…)
Entrees are more time-consuming activities, but they also tend to give bigger doses of dopamine. They’re the things you love to do in your free time or on the weekends.
- Go for a walk
- Take a workout class
- Cook a meal you love
- Watch a movie
- Read a book
- Take an everything shower
- Go on a dinner date
- Re-organize your closet
Sides
Sides are the perfect activities to accompany the tasks or chores you have to do throughout your day. They can help you stay focused on one task at a time and make mundane chores more pleasant.
- Listen to a podcast
- Light a candle
- Put on a TV show you’ve already seen in the background
- Call a friend
- Play with a fidget toy
- Pull an affirmation card
- Listen to an audiobook
- Turn on a diffuser
Desserts
Desserts are the things you love to do that’ll give you a dopamine boost, but not a long-lasting one. They’re best done occasionally because if they’re repeated too often, their dopamine effects tend to waver and go away, making you feel tired or sad.
- Scroll social media
- Play video games
- Order takeout
- Online shopping
- Binge-watch TV
- Buy a sweet treat
- Drinks with Friends
- Snacking
Specials
Specials are usually the activities that give you the biggest boosts of dopamine, but because of cost or time, can only be done occasionally.
- Book a vacation
- Go to a concert
- See a comedy show
- Buy a new outfit
- Have a picnic
- Swim in the ocean/lake
- Take an art class
- Re-decorate a room
- Do a random act of kindness/pay it forward
- Get a manicure and pedicure
Katherine Chang, Wellness Staff Writer
Katherine Chang is The Everygirl’s Wellness Staff Writer with over five years of experience in the health and wellness space. She navigates the latest wellness topics and trends through expert interviews and studies, and she’s always first in line to try them firsthand.
Calissa Kirilenko, Breathwork Facilitator & Contributing Wellness Writer
Calissa is a Wellness Writer for The Everygirl who specializes in covering subjects surrounding mental health, meditation, and self-care. She is also a Certified Breathwork Facilitator and works with clients to heal through the power of their breath.