the dopamine menu: feeding your brain intentionally

the dopamine dilemma

If you have ADHD, you know what it feels like to be desperately under-stimulated. When your brain is starving for dopamine, it grabs the easiest, closest "junk food" available—which usually means hours of paralyzed doomscrolling, impulsive online shopping, or picking fights just to feel a spark of energy.

The hardest part of getting healthy stimulation is the friction of having to decide what to do when your executive function is already at zero. And when you're in burnout? This is even harder.

A Dopamine Menu removes that friction. Just like at a restaurant, you don't have to invent the meal from scratch; you just have to look at the menu and pick an option.

how it works

When you are feeling calm and regulated, you build a personalized menu of activities that bring you joy, energy, or relaxation. Then, when you hit that wall of paralysis or under-stimulation, you don't have to think. You just order off your own menu.

Here is how the menu is broken down:

Appetizers (Quick Bites): 5 to 10-minute activities that give a fast burst of dopamine to help you transition between tasks or break out of a freeze state (e.g., 10 jumping jacks, stepping outside, listening to one upbeat song).
Sides (Task Enhancers): Things you pair with a boring, under-stimulating task to keep your brain engaged enough to finish it (e.g., a true crime podcast while folding laundry, lighting a favorite candle while paying bills).
Entrees (Deep Engagement): Your main courses. These take more time and energy to initiate, but leave you feeling deeply satisfied and recharged (e.g., a hands-on DIY project, a hike, getting lost in a hyperfocus hobby).
Desserts (High Dopamine, Low Nutrition): Highly stimulating, easy-to-access activities that are great in moderation, but make you feel sluggish if you binge them (e.g., scrolling social media, playing video games, binge-watching a show).
Specials (Out of the Ordinary): High-cost, high-reward activities that require planning. Great for a major dopamine reset (e.g., taking a weekend day-trip, booking a class, going to a concert).

Create Your Own Dopamine Menu

Download Your Dopamine Worksheet, Instructions & Examples

Create Your Worksheet Using a Canva Template