Feeling low, unmotivated or stuck in a scroll-hole? A dopamine menu could be just what you need.
What is Dopamine?
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in motivation, focus, energy, and joy. However, modern life often depletes it quickly through stress, poor sleep, overstimulation, or even excessive caffeine consumption. That’s why finding healthy ways to support your dopamine levels matters.
What is a Dopamine Menu?
Simply put, a dopamine menu is a list of healthy, feel-good activities that boost dopamine naturally.
It helps you replenish dopamine in a balanced and intentional way. Created as a tool for people with ADHD, who some believe have lower baseline dopamine, it is a way to have an accessible list of activities to increase dopamine, but also to remove the obstacle of thinking about what to do.
However, they can be helpful for everyone, not just those with ADHD. We all move through different states of regulation throughout the day. Our environment and external pressures or demands can lead to our levels depleting throughout the day.
Organised into different categories, a dopamine menu is based on the amount of time, energy, and resources required for each activity. When you’re feeling unmotivated or just need a pick-me-up, you can choose an item from your menu, based on the time you have, and do it to help you feel better. The theory is that you will feel more motivated and regulated to get what you need to accomplish done.
How to make your Dopamine Menu
Each course represents a category, with appetisers representing the more minor things we can do for a quick boost of dopamine, typically taking 5-15 minutes.
Mains are activities that take a little longer and are good when you need a proper break, allowing you to give yourself an hour or two to zap your energy levels.
We’ve experimented with the concept of desserts. Some say that desserts are the little treats in the day that you can indulge in, but not often, like an hour scrolling on your phone. However, we don’t believe in demonising desserts to the point of only indulging in them ever so frequently. Instead, we felt that desserts were the moments that were deeply nourishing, like a meaningful conversation with friends, completing a project you’ve been delaying, or learning something new. They feed our souls and fill our cups.
A visit to our favourite restaurant wouldn’t be complete without scanning the specials board, and we’ve included our very own too. The specials are there for just that very reason - for when nothing else will do, and you need that pick-me-up, only a weekend away or a holiday will do. They take a little planning, but are something we can look forward to.
Are you ready?
We recommend finding a time when you’re feeling good to make your menu and make an activity out of creating it. You want it to feel like something special when you look at it, gifting yourself the joy of dopamine each time you engage with it.
Try to come up with a few items or activities per category so that you don’t always lean towards one or the other; instead, you have a choice should your energy or resources differ each time you come to it.
Having something in your hand always makes things feel more real, doesn’t it? That’s why we think that printing it out and having it somewhere you can see it (like a pinboard or a fridge) will act as a reminder to take care of yourself. If not, try to make it accessible on your phone so you can access it from anywhere.
To help you get started, we’ve included our very own dopamine menu below.
Call us on 02476363873 or email us at hello@madebydaily.com to discuss your questions with a member of our clinical team.
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