Dopamine Menu Ideas and Examples

What Is a Dopamine Menu?

 A dopamine menu is a list of activities that bring you long-lasting pleasure (dopamine), ranging from low-energy, low-reward activities to high-energy, high-reward activities. For example, scrolling is low-energy and provides you with quick dopamine, but it is not rewarding in the long term. Indulge in it sparingly, like a dessert. Going for a run or hanging out with a friend, by contrast, takes more time, energy, and intention. It may be hard to get started with these activities, but if you try it, you’ll notice a sustainable boost of dopamine. 

The dopamine menu is cleverly divided into 4 categories: Appetizers, Mains, Sides, and Desserts, just like a menu!

• Appetizer: Quick activities that provide a good energy boost.

• Main: Time-consuming activities that are highly rewarding and add value to your life.

• Side: Activities you can add to boring or understimulating tasks to make them more bearable. 

• Dessert: Indulgent, “quick fix” activities that provide a hit of dopamine but are not good for you if you overindulge. 

The idea is to choose activities from your dopamine menu (or dopamenu) throughout the day, much like you would a menu at a restaurant. This provides a steady stream of dopamine and helps prevent executive dysfunction or energy crashes. As you build your daily dopamine menu, you’ll want to keep nutrition in mind. A meal of sugary desserts alone will leave you with a headache or a stomachache; a healthy dopamine menu has 3-5 appetizers, a couple of main dishes/entrees, 4-5 sides, and 1-2 desserts. 

Does a Dopamine Menu Help With ADHD?

 Yes! A dopamine menu is an effective coping skill for many people with ADHD, as well as people with depression. People with ADHD have lower-than-average levels of dopamine, keeping them in a perpetual state of seeking dopamine hits. Someone with ADHD may fidget, get off task, or chase the high of new activities before their current one is done. The dopamine menu understands this behavior and uses it to its benefit. It “hacks” the ADHD brain, so to speak. 

Dopamine menus are also helpful for people with depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. Depression is also a dopamine-deficient disorder. One symptom is anhedonia: things lose their edge and ability to entertain; all of a sudden the activities that used to bring you joy don’t seem fun anymore. 

When you build a dopamine menu, you’re reminding yourself of what you enjoy and creating a structured way to participate in those things. For example, it might feel good to binge your favorite reality TV show, but a dopamine menu can help you make sure you get a Main mood food in (like talking with a friend), and a few appetizers (like going for a walk or taking a shower) in your day as well. 

At its core, a dopamine menu is a fun, easy way to conceptualize healthy coping mechanisms, and help people with ADHD brains chasing dopamine. It can be hard to remember your coping skills and hobbies when you’re in the middle of scrolling social media or in a depressive episode. A visible and ready-to-go dopamine menu for ADHD can help.

Dopamine Menu Ideas for Adults

 Here are some ideas for your dopamine menu that will help you as you build a sustainable well-being routine. Use these examples to build a dopamine menu that works for you.

Appetizers

Appetizers are used as quick and gentle starts or restarts. Sprinkle appetizers throughout your day to keep your dopamine levels steady or before starting a task that won’t provide dopamine.

Examples of Appetizers on the Dopamine Menu include: 

• Drinking a cup of water, coffee, or tea

• Listening to a favorite song or playlist that you like

• Going for a walk 

• Doing some stretching or meditation

• Do 10-15 jumping jacks or pushups 

• Eating a snack 

• Make your bed

• Completing a brain puzzle

• Petting your dog or cat

• Light a favorite scented candle

• Bird or people-watching

• Open a window

• Step on your porch or patio for a moment outside

Entrées / Mains

A main course should be anything that makes you feel alive or restores you. Usually, these are activities closely related to your sense of identity and include things you look forward to but don’t always have time or energy to do. Pull out a “main dish” when you’re taking a deeper break from work. These usually take 10-30 minutes to complete before going back to something that doesn’t provide dopamine.

Examples of Mains on the Dopamine Menu include: 

• Talking with a friend

• Working on an art project 

• Learning something new

• Paint or trim your nails

• Exercising (doesn’t have to be running or lifting weights, it could be a dance class or bouldering gym for a fun change of pace!)

• Journaling

• Getting a massage, a haircut, or your nails done

• Listening to a riveting podcast or reading a good book

• Going on a date

• Making an extravagant meal 

• Start reading a new book or audiobook

• Work on your hobby (painting, knitting, coding, drawing, making music)

• Take a relaxing bath with candles and Epsom salt

• Short Yoga session or high-intensity workout

Sides

Sides can help you get through the mundane, dopamine-less activities you have to do, like chores, long drives, or mindless work, and they make it easier to stick with and finish the “boring” stuff. You’ll notice that most of these examples are passive and can be done as you continue to work. 

Examples of Sides on the Dopamine Menu include: 

• Listening to fun music or ambient sounds

• Listening to a podcast

• Your favorite snack or drink

• Playing with a fidget, slime, clicking toy, or stress ball

• Listening to an audiobook

• Lighting incense or a favorite candle

• Snacking on nuts, dried fruit, or other healthy food

• Body doubling—being around other people who are also working, like a friend or strangers in a coffee shop

• Utilizing a standing desk or floor setup to change your work environment easily

Desserts

Desserts can be used as a reward or a treat. There’s nothing wrong with indulging in dessert, but desserts alone will end up bogging you down and depleting you. Typically, dessert items in the dopamenu are between 5-20 minutes and have guardrails. Be careful, as these can tend to grab more of your time than you’d expect. Most ADHDers utilize timers to pull themselves out of their quick fix and back to what they need to do.

Examples of Desserts on the Dopamine Menu include: 

• Scrolling social media or watching short-form videos

• Watching reality TV or YouTube videos

• Playing video games or phone games

• Eating something sugary or expensive

• Making impulsive purchases

• Thrifting

Specials

 Specials are items that are rare and infrequent. They might be bigger, or costly experiences, and they typically last at least 30 minutes, if not much longer. 

Examples of Specials on the Dopamine Menu include: 

• Attend a concert or sporting event

• Take a vacation or short day trip

• Try a new restaurant

• Explore a new local city

• Start a class for your hobby (painting, drawing, scrapbooking, improv)

How to Build a Dopamine Template

When you’re building your dopamine template you’ll want to write down each item by category. Some dopamine providers can be in multiple categories, while others are typically restricted to one. For instance, stretching might be an appetizer and a side, while scrolling through social media might just be a dessert. 

Your daily dopamine menu has about 3-5 appetizers, a couple main dishs / entrees, 4-5 sides, and 1-2 desserts. But remember that this is a flexible tool that is shaped by your needs on any specific day. 

If you’re not sure where to start, copy this sample dopamine menu.

A Sample Dopamine Menu to Copy

Appetizers: Stretch for 2-5 minutes, make a cup of tea, open the window

Main / Entrees: Call a friend or spend 20 minutes on a creative project you haven’t been able to start

Sides: Put on a favorite playlist while you’re folding laundry, listen to a comedy podcast while you’re unloading the dishwasher and cooking dinner, slice up an apple and snack on it while you respond to emails

Dessert: 20 minutes (with a timer) of guilt-free Tiktok scrolling

As you build the habit and start working within the dopamenu framework you can swap in your own favorites. Be flexible and allow yourself some grace as you work through it. And if you didn’t have success with it yesterday, try again today; ADHDers always need to start their days fresh, without guilt from the previous day.

Things to Consider While Making a Dopamine Menu

As you create a personalized menu of healthy dopamine-boosting activities, remember to keep your mood foods adjustable for your changing needs. For example, maybe playing video games with friends is a way to connect with your favorite people and is more of an appetizer or main than a dessert. That’s great! The goal of a dopamine menu is to hack your own brain into making you feel good and do the things that you value. 

Here are some steps to create a dopamine menu that works for you:

• Be realistic: Maybe “budgeting” is one of your main entrees right now. Is that really something you’re going to look forward to? It might be more of a task that you need to utilize your dopamenu sides to get through. Or maybe going to concerts is something highly valuable. Is it realistic to be able to choose that from your menu often? It may be more of a special event than a main item. 

• Prep for your menu: There’s nothing worse for a neurodivergent brain than being really excited to do something and then being faced with the prep activities. Try to prepare for your dopamine menu beforehand by keeping the necessary supplies on hand and planning ahead if you can. 

• Keep your dopamine visible: Print out your dopamine and make it look fun with bright colors or fonts. Then place it in areas you know you’ll see it! Maybe, have a couple accessible around the house. Place dopamenus in your bathroom, on your desk, or by your coffee or tea maker so you can call upon the tool as needed. 

• Adjust as necessary: Maybe your sides aren’t that enticing, or your desserts don’t have enough guidelines to limit them from taking over half your day. After a few days of working with your dopamine menu, readjust as needed. Change up the items when they start to get dull.

Lasting and Impactful Help for ADHDers

 A dopamine menu can be a powerful tool to help manage ADHD, depression, and other mental health issues. However, like all tools, it is not enough on its own. Healthy coping mechanisms, a strong support system, medication, and therapy are all other avenues towards health and recovery. 

Lifebulb counseling has online therapists specializing in neurodivergence, ADHD, and depression. We also have psychiatrists who can diagnose and prescribe medication. For more information, reach out to our team or browse our list of therapists near you. If you need help, we’ll get you scheduled with a qualified therapist or psychiatrist who is familiar with ADHD or depression; most of our clients see their mental health provider within 7-10 days of reaching out to us. 

Don’t wait until you’ve reached burnout. Call us today while it’s on your mind and the task is in front of you.