Dopamine Menu

A Dopamine Menu is a practical tool for combating seasonal depression and winter-caused productivity paralysis, and can revolutionize how you bring joy into your daily life with easily accessible serotonin-inducing activities.

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January usually brings about a lot of complicated emotions, from heavy pressure to stick to one’s goals and resolutions to trying to reinvent oneself, while simultaneously often experiencing a lack of serotonin, a general sense of apathy, and frequent depressive moods caused by the ever-gloomy weather that doesn’t seem to let up. To combat this, we need to use smart ways to trick our brains into producing more happy hormones and keeping us sane through the season.

Initially created as a coping tool for people with ADHD, the Dopamine Menu method has spread all over social media in the past couple of months, with people claiming it has completely revolutionized their approach to motivation and healthy routines. Winter time can be tough on everyone, with short days with little to no sunlight and cold weather making us significantly more prone to lethargy, seasonal depression, and a worsened version of our usual mental state. During December, we at least have the holiday spirit and decorations to lift our mood, while in January there is a lot of expectations present without many ways or reasons we can find to keep ourselves motivated. This feeling of hopelessness and lack of things to look forward to can often manifest as a productivity paralysis. It’s very easy to fall into endless doom scrolling sessions and waste the days away just waiting for the season to pass, and I’m pretty sure we’ve all been guilty of that (me, personally, almost every night before sleep).

Making a dopamine menu provides an easily accessible “menu” of options containing fun activities and serotonin-inducing habits that we can choose from in the moment of need. The idea behind it is making healthy activities more easily accessible, and preparing many ideas in advance so that we won’t get discouraged while trying to think of them in the moment and end up scrolling on TikTok because that seemed like the easier option. Instead, having a dopamine menu constantly at hand will provide you with good alternatives that will help your brain release more serotonin and bring more long-lasting enjoyment to your daily life, as opposed to just instant dopamine hits that pass just as fast.

So, how do you go about creating your own dopamine menu? You can start by brainstorming activities that give you serotonin, or habits you want to stick to more, and then putting the items on that list into the appropriate categories.

1. Appetizers/Starters

The first category on the menu are short activities that are usually easy to start and provide a short but strong burst of dopamine. Here are some of my examples:

• Taking a warm shower

• Drinking a cup of tea

• Cuddling with my dogs

• Doing a few stretches in bed

• Listening to a favorite song

2. Entrées/Main courses

These are more time-consuming activities that can include creative hobbies, physical activity, spending time with friends, and so on. Think about things that make you feel alive. For example:

• Reading

• Taking a walk

• Crocheting

• Doing a puzzle

• Spending time with a friend/Calling someone you love

• Meditation

• Journaling

• Playing ukulele

• Browsing a bookstore

• Listening to a favorite podcast

3. Sides

Sides are activities you can do in the background of another task, that make it more enjoyable and stimulating, such as:

• Listening to white/brown noise on YouTube

• Listening to a podcast/an audiobook

• Listening to a favorite playlist

• Using a fidget toy

• Body doubling with a friend while working/studying

4. Desserts

These can be your “guilty-pleasure” activities, things that are instant dopamine hits, not productive, and only good in moderation. Take care not to overdo these. Eating some dessert is nice, but too much is never a good idea. Desserts can include:

• Social media

• Video games

• Reality TV shows

5. Specials

Some people also recommend creating a smaller separate menu for specials, which can be more expensive things and experiences that are less convenient and require more planning, such as:

• Going on a trip

• Attending a concert

• Trying a new restaurant

• Buying yourself something you wanted for a long time

• Going to a museum

• Seeing a play/musical

It is also recommended to create barriers for habits you’re trying to avoid, like putting time restrictions on social media apps, or logging out of your streaming platforms and removing them from bookmarks. On the other hand, you should aim to make the activities from your dopamine menu as easily accessible as possible, such as putting your hobby materials in a visible place, leaving a book on your bedside table, leaving your workout mat unrolled in your room (if you have space for that), and so on. You can make your dopamine menu more fun by designing an aesthetically pleasing one in Canva or using a similar platform, and you can hang it in your room so that you can always see it. If you have trouble deciding between activities, you can always use an online randomization tool to help you in the process! Hopefully, the dopamine menu can help minimize your seasonal depression and productivity paralysis, and bring more joy into your daily life.