Is the dopamine menu the key to better motivation?

The new year has officially begun, and you may want to adopt some healthy habits. Maybe it’s managing your time more wisely, playing on your phone less, or resisting the temptation to indulge in greasy food (or all three). Need some structure to help you jump-start those new or improved habits? You might want to curate a dopamine menu.

Next, we’re taking a closer look at the ins and outs of this TikTok trend with the help of Liz Daniels, DO, RD, FAAP, a pediatrician, nutritionist, and founder of New Story Nutrition in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Dopamine Menu is a personalized list of activities designed to boost your mood (and replace mindless addiction to your phone) in a healthy, sustainable way. These events are divided into appetizers, entrees, sides, desserts, and specials, which vary based on the time, effort, and quality of the current event. “Different sections include tools to help motivate you to be more productive, and are also based on how much dopamine ‘reward’ you get,” says Dr. Daniels.

As a quick refresher, dopamine is often referred to as the feel-good hormone. It’s linked to your internal reward system and also heightens the expectation of pleasure—even if it never materializes. (Think about it: staring at your phone, constantly refreshing your social feeds, thinking something amazing will pop up.)

According to Dr. Daniels, the dopamine menu is particularly beneficial for children and adults with ADHD. However, it may be helpful for anyone who needs more structure and motivation to maintain healthy habits and routines.

Dopamine detox is another way to avoid rapid dopamine surges. “It purposefully limits behaviors that people overindulge in, such as doomscrolling, overeating, playing video games for hours and watching YouTube Shorts,” Dr. Daniels said. They usually last for a short period of time, such as a day or a week. “Some people do this to ‘reset’ their thinking and make daily activities more meaningful,” she continued.

At the same time, the Dopamine menu carefully introduces healthier but still satisfying activities that you can incorporate into your daily life. This helps keep dopamine levels stable, which promotes stable mood and positive reinforcement to maintain healthy habits.

“The Dopamine Menu is designed to help people create a list of simple and easy ways to engage their attention without overindulging in the behavior they want to change,” says Dr. Daniels. It can also help create motivation to complete tasks that may feel less than ideal but will have a positive outcome (e.g., drinking more water, exercising regularly, and cleaning), she adds.

The Dopamine menu that’s best for you will vary based on your needs and interests. To create an activity for yourself, Dr. Daniels recommends making a list of your favorite activities, categorizing them into how long they take, whether they can be done with another activity, whether they require a time limit (like screen time), or whether they are a special or expensive activity. From there, you can sort these activities into your menu categories, like this:

Appetizers

Appetizers should take no longer than five minutes. You can rely on these to quickly and easily get a full day’s rest.

Example:

• Make coffee
• Enjoy healthy snacks
• Enjoy a few minutes of sunshine and fresh air
• Looking at photos of loved ones

main course

The entree is your main course. They take more time to complete but fill you up more than snacks. You can think of them as an investment of time that could end up being one of the highlights of your day.

Example:

• Have dinner with friends
• Go to a fitness class
• Talk to loved ones
• Cook your favorite meals

side

This part of the Dopamine menu is essentially the same as Habit Overlay. Sides include feel-good activities that you can layer onto what you’re already doing throughout the day. These are also great to pair with household chores, which may not be all that fun but can become more enjoyable with the right pairing.

Example:

• Listen to soothing music during your skin care routine
• Reading while riding the subway to work
• Burn scented candles while cleaning the house
• Take your personalized supplement with lunch

dessert

Desserts give us a strong but short-lived hit of dopamine and are best enjoyed in moderation. In many cases, they will include things that some of us may need a dopamine detox from. It’s important not to reframe them as mistakes or bad, but just things that need to be controlled, as they often distract from our larger goals (e.g., financial health, getting enough sleep, maintaining a healthy weight) and happiness.

Example:

• Indulge in sweet treats
• go shopping
• scroll on social media
• Binge watching Netflix

Specials

Last but not least, the specials are limited edition options on the Dopamine menu. They’re things to look forward to regularly—perhaps monthly, seasonal, or yearly—that make you feel rewarded and are good for your soul.

Example:

• Enjoy a spa day
• go on vacation
• go to a concert
• Reunite with family or friends in real life

takeout

Creating a dopamine menu is a helpful way to maintain healthy habits, regulate mood, and support overall health. It provides a ready-made, reliable framework for controlling your dopamine levels (minus the highs and lows) while getting you closer to your goals.