What is a dopamine menu and how do you make one

Where the idea comes from

The term grew out of a May 2020 video on the How to ADHD YouTube channel, "How to Give Your Brain the Stimulation It Needs," in which Jessica McCabe talks with Eric Tivers of ADHD reWired. The video's own description sums up the premise: the things we tend to do when we're bored often don't give our brains the level of stimulation they need, so make a "dopa-menu" full of things that do.

Writing in The Conversation in December 2023, Colin Davidson, a professor of neuropharmacology at the University of Lancashire, and Claire Hutchinson, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of the West of Scotland, described the menu as a tool McCabe suggests for people with ADHD who need stimulation but may be at a loss for what to do. By then, they noted, a social media influencer had gone viral for sharing one.

Treat the name as a metaphor. What a menu does on paper is simple: it turns a vague wish for something better to do into a few concrete options, chosen in advance at a moment when choosing was easy.

The four courses

Davidson and Hutchinson summarize McCabe's version in four parts, named like courses in a restaurant. Appetizers are quick to do and give immediate pleasure. Mains take longer but are ultimately more rewarding. Sides can be paired with less enjoyable activities to make them more pleasant. Desserts provide enjoyment but should be taken in moderation.

In practice an appetizer might be a glass of water and a stretch, one favorite song, or two minutes outside. A main might be a walk, a workout, cooking a simple meal, or an hour on a hobby. Sides are what you add to chores, like a podcast while you fold laundry. Desserts are the easy options, such as scrolling or another episode, and they belong on the menu so that you pick them on purpose rather than by default.

The exact number of sections matters less than having options of different sizes. The point is to match what you pick to the time and energy you actually have right now.

How to write your own, step by step

1. Write it on an ordinary day. Set aside fifteen minutes when you're not already bored or drained. Drafting the menu in the middle of a slump defeats the purpose.
2. List what has actually helped before. Think back over the last few weeks for times you felt better afterward, not just entertained while it lasted. Those are usually your mains.
3. Make every item specific and sized. "Exercise" is a category; "walk to the end of the street and back, ten minutes" is a dish. Add a rough time to each item so you can choose by how long you have.
4. Sort into courses, trim, and post it where boredom happens. A handful per course is plenty. Keep it on the fridge, on your phone's lock screen, or in an app you open anyway, and revisit it every week or two to drop what stopped working.

What the science does and doesn't say

Asked whether there is scientific evidence for dopamine menus, Davidson and Hutchinson answer "Maybe," and they build that answer from what is known about the brain's reward pathway. They do not cite any study that tested dopamine menus themselves. The idea, they explain, rests on the notion that people with ADHD have lower levels of dopamine and therefore need more stimulation.

Their main point is about duration. Many activities that turn up on menus, including board games and puzzles, visiting friends or family, playing an instrument or a favorite song, cooking, exercising, and trying something new, can cause dopamine to be released. How much, and for how long, depends on the activity: running can cause sustained low-level increases for several hours, they write, while a sugary drink gives a high but short-lived one.

They also describe habituation, where repeating a short-acting reward produces a smaller response, which tends to push people either to jump to a different activity or to do much more of the same. Their practical suggestion is to build the menu mainly around healthy main courses, such as exercise, socializing, or listening to music, rather than leaning on novelty or sweet treats.

This guide is general information, not medical advice. A dopamine menu is a self-help list, not an ADHD treatment. The National Institute of Mental Health lists medication and psychosocial interventions, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, as standard ADHD treatments. If attention, mood, or motivation problems are affecting your life, talk to a doctor or a qualified mental health professional.

Common dopamine menu mistakes

Writing categories instead of actions. "Be creative" gives you nothing to start. "Sketch the view from the window for ten minutes" does, and it tells you how long you're committing.

Filling the menu with desserts. If every item is a screen, the menu only reorders your phone. Davidson and Hutchinson's advice leans the other way, toward mains that last.

Making it too long to scan. Thirty options in small handwriting will lose to the nearest app. Fewer, clearer items are the ones that get used.

Treating it as a rulebook. Picking a dessert is not a failure. The menu exists so that whatever you choose, you chose it.

Keeping the menu where you'll use it

Paper works, and so does a note pinned to your phone. The weak spot of both is the moment of choosing: when you're bored, even a good list can feel like one more thing to read.

One way around that is to let something else do the picking. Bonbon keeps a menu in three courses, appetizers, mains, and desserts, starts you with one you can edit, and serves a single activity on a card with roughly how long it takes each time you tap Shuffle.

Frequently asked questions