A dopamine menu is a short list of things you already enjoy, written out like a restaurant menu, so that when you’re bored or restless you can pick something off it instead of opening the same three apps. To make one, write down what genuinely lifts your mood, sort it into starters, mains, sides and desserts, cut anything unrealistic, and put it where you’ll see it.
That’s the whole idea. The rest of this post is about making one that actually gets used, and about the one thing most dopamine menus quietly get wrong: where the phone goes.
Where the idea comes from
The dopamine menu (sometimes shortened to “dopamenu”) was popularized by Jessica McCabe, who runs the How to ADHD YouTube channel, and ADHD coach Eric Tivers of ADHD reWired, as Psychology Today puts it. The Conversation traces it to a 2020 How to ADHD video. ADDitude describes the menu in detail, including a How to ADHD video in which McCabe talks with Tivers about the stimulation ADHD brains go looking for.
The problem it solves is simple. When you’re under-stimulated, you grab whatever is closest. You don’t stop to think “what would actually make me feel better right now?”, because thinking is exactly what you don’t feel like doing. A menu does that thinking ahead of time, when you’re in a better state, so the bored version of you only has to choose.
What the science says (and doesn’t)
It’s worth being honest here, because “dopamine” gets thrown around a lot.
Dopamine is a brain chemical involved in pleasure, learning and motivation. That’s how Colin Davidson and Claire Hutchinson, professors of neuropharmacology and experimental psychology, put it in their piece in The Conversation. They asked whether there’s scientific evidence to support dopamine menus, and their answer was “maybe”. The authors note that it’s hypothesized that people with ADHD have low background levels of dopamine. That’s a hypothesis, not a settled fact. They suggest a menu should lean on healthy main courses rather than quick treats.
So treat the name as a catchy label, not a dosing chart. Nobody is measuring your dopamine when you go for a walk.
What does have research behind it is the planning. Deciding in advance “when X happens, I’ll do Y” is called an implementation intention, and it’s been studied a lot. A 2006 meta-analysis by Peter Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran pulled together 94 independent tests and found a medium-to-large effect on reaching goals. That research wasn’t about dopamine menus. But you can think of a menu as one of those plans, written on a piece of paper: “when I’m bored, I’ll pick from this.”
And one more honest note. ADDitude is clear that a dopamine menu isn’t a cure for ADHD or burnout and isn’t an alternative to medication or therapy. Tivers adds that if you can’t think of anything you like anymore, that’s a reason to see a doctor, because it could be depression.
The five sections
Most menus use some version of these; ADDitude lists all five, The Conversation the first four. The examples are a mix of ADDitude’s and our own.
| Section | What it is | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Starters | Quick things that give you an immediate lift | A minute of jumping jacks, a coffee, one song, stepping outside |
| Mains | Longer activities that take more effort and pay off more | Playing an instrument, a workout, cooking something new, a long walk |
| Sides | Things you add to a boring task to make it bearable | A podcast while you do dishes, music while you clean, body doubling (working alongside someone) |
| Desserts | Fun, but easy to overdo | Social media, TV, texting, video games |
| Specials | Occasional bigger treats | A concert, a massage, a vacation |
Notice where social media sits. ADDitude lists scrolling as a dessert, alongside TV and video games. Not banned, not evil, just something you have after the main course, and not instead of dinner.
The part most menus get wrong: the phone
Here’s the catch. A dopamine menu only works if you read it before you’ve already picked something. And for most of us, the phone has already been picked by the time we notice we’re bored. It’s in your hand, it’s unlocked, and the feed is open.
So if your menu lives in a notes app on your phone, it’s competing with Instagram on Instagram’s home turf. You’ll lose that one.
A few ways to set the menu up so it gets a fair chance:
- Keep it on paper first. McCabe keeps hers on her coffee table, her fridge and her office wall. Put a copy wherever you usually sit down and reach for your phone.
- Put a mini version on your Lock Screen. McCabe does this too. Take a photo of your starters list and set it as your Lock Screen wallpaper. You’ll see it every time you pick up the phone, before you’ve opened anything.
- Make the good options easier than unlocking. The book on the pillow, the sketchbook on the table. ADDitude’s example is McCabe’s guitar, which sits on a stand near the couch so it’s visible and easy to reach. And if a starter needs five minutes of setup, it isn’t a starter.
- Move the phone a little further away. McCabe moved her phone charger away from her couch and deleted one social media app from her phone.
If you want to go further with the phone side of this, our guide on how to stop doomscrolling covers the setup changes in more detail.
How to make yours in 20 minutes
Do this on a day when you feel okay. Not when you’re bored, tired or already scrolling. You want the version of you who remembers what’s fun.
- Brainstorm without editing. Set a timer for ten minutes and write down everything that reliably lifts your mood. ADDitude’s filter is useful: things that don’t leave you with a “hangover of regret” afterwards.
- Sort them into sections. Quick ones go in starters, longer ones in mains, things you can do alongside a chore in sides, the easy-to-overdo ones in desserts, the big occasional ones in specials.
- Cut what you won’t actually do. “Learn Italian” sounds great and isn’t happening on a Tuesday at 9pm. As ADDitude puts it, restaurants take things off their menus, and so can you.
- Check the starters. You want at least five that take under five minutes and need nothing you don’t already have in the room.
- Be honest about desserts. Put your phone apps there by name: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, whatever you actually open. Writing them down as desserts is the point.
- Post it. Paper copy where you sit, photo on your Lock Screen.
- Revise it after a week. Cross off what you never picked, add what you found yourself wanting. A menu that changes is one that’s being used.
A template to copy
Here’s a version with a few examples to get you going. Swap in your own and add to each list.
Starters (under 5 minutes)
- Stretch for one song
- Make a cup of tea and drink it at the window
- Text one person something real, then put the phone down
- Step outside and look at the sky for two minutes
Mains (20 minutes or more)
- Walk a loop around the neighborhood, no headphones
- Cook something you haven’t made before
- Play or practice an instrument
- Read a chapter of a paper book
Sides (to go with a boring task)
- A podcast or audiobook
- One album, start to finish
- A friend on a call while you both tidy up
Desserts (enjoy, don’t overdo)
- Instagram, after a main
- One episode, not three
Specials (plan these)
- Tickets to something
- A day trip
If you’re stuck for ideas, our list of things to do instead of scrolling is sorted by the moment you’re in, which maps nicely onto starters and mains.
When dessert keeps coming first
Be ready for this: you’ll make a lovely menu, stick it on the fridge, and still find yourself 40 minutes into a feed. That’s not a failure of the menu. It’s that the phone is right there and the menu needs you to look up.
What helps is a point where the dessert actually stops. A daily limit on the apps you put in the dessert section means that when you hit it, you’re back to the menu whether you planned to be or not. The trouble is that a limit you set yourself is also one you can switch off yourself. The dopamine detox plan covers a stricter reset if you want one.
PeerPause is one way to make the limit stick. It’s an iPhone app built on Apple’s Screen Time: you set a daily limit on an app, and when you hit it, the app locks with no ignore button. If you want more time, you ask your Time Buddy, a friend you choose, who approves or denies it. The trade-offs are real: your buddy has to answer, and setting limits on your own apps needs PeerPause Pro, though being someone’s Time Buddy costs nothing.
Whatever you use, the order is what matters. Starters and mains first. Dessert after. And the menu where you can see it.