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It’s officially the start of a new year—and chances are there are some healthy habits you’d like to kick off. Perhaps it’s managing your time more wisely, scrolling on your phone less, or resisting the temptation to indulge in rich foods (or all three). Need some structure to help you kick these new or improved habits into high gear? You might want to curate a dopamine menu.
Ahead, we’re breaking down the ins and outs of this TikTok trend with the help of Liz Daniels, DO, RD, FAAP, a pediatrician, dietitian, and founder of New Story Nutrition in Cincinnati, Ohio.
A dopamine menu is a personalized list of activities that are designed to boost your mood (and substitute mindless binges on your phone) in a healthy, sustainable way. The activities are categorized into appetizers, entrees, sides, desserts, and specials, which vary based on the time, effort, and quality of the activity at hand. “The different sections include tools to help motivate you to be more productive and are also based on how much dopamine ‘payoff’ you get,” says Dr. Daniels.
To quickly recap, dopamine is commonly referred to as the feel-good hormone. It’s involved in your internal reward system and also enhances the expectation of pleasure—even if it never materializes. (Think: staying glued to your phone and constantly refreshing your social feeds, thinking something amazing will pop up.)
Per Dr. Daniels, dopamine menus are particularly beneficial for children and adults with ADHD. However, it can be helpful for anyone who needs more structure and motivation to keep up with healthy habits and routines.
A dopamine detox is another way to avoid quick rushes of dopamine. “It purposefully restricts behaviors that people overindulge in, like doomscrolling, overeating, playing video games for hours, and watching YouTube Shorts,” she says, Dr. Daniels. They typically last for a short period of time, like a day or a week. “Some people aim to do this to ‘reset’ their mind so that the everyday activities feel more meaningful,” she continues.
Meanwhile, a dopamine menu mindfully introduces more healthy yet still satisfying activities that you can include in your everyday life. This helps keep dopamine levels steady, thus promoting a stable mood and positive reinforcement to maintain healthy habits.
“Dopamine menus are intended to help people have an easy, go-to list of ways to engage their mind instead of overindulging in a behavior they want to change,” says Dr. Daniels. She adds that it’s also helpful to spark motivation to do tasks that feel less desirable but yield positive outcomes (e.g., drinking more water, exercising regularly, and cleaning).
The best dopamine menu for you will vary based on your needs and interests. To create one for yourself, Dr. Daniels advises listing your favorite activities, categorizing them into hold long they take, if it can be done alongside another activity, if it needs a time boundary (like screen time), or if it’s a special or expensive activity. From there, you can sort these activities into your menu categories as follows:
Appetizers
Your appetizers should take five minutes or less of your time. You can lean on these for a quick, feel-good break throughout your day.
Examples:
- Making a coffee
- Enjoying a healthy snack
- Getting a few minutes of sunshine and fresh air
- Looking at photos of loved ones
Entrees
Entrees serve as your main course. They take a bit more time to do, but fill you up more than snacks do. You can think of them as a time investment that could end up being one of the highlights of your day.
Examples:
- Getting dinner with a friend
- Going to a workout class
- Having a catch-up call with a loved one
- Cooking your favorite meal
Sides
This part of your dopamine menu is essentially the same as habit stacking. Sides include feel-good activities that you can stack onto things you already do throughout the day. These are also perfect to pair with chores, which might not be so fun but can be more enjoyable with the right pairing.
Examples:
- Listening to calming music while doing your skincare routine
- Reading a book on the subway ride to work
- Burning a scented candle while cleaning your home
- Taking your personalized supplements with lunch
Desserts
Desserts comprise the things that give us a strong but fleeting dopamine hit and are best enjoyed in moderation. In many cases, they’ll include the things some of us might need a dopamine detox from. It’s important to reframe them not as wrong or bad, but simply things to keep in check since they tend to distract us from achieving our greater goals (e.g., financial wellness, getting enough sleep, maintaining a healthy weight) and well-being.
Examples:
- Feasting on sweets
- Going shopping
- Scrolling on social media
- Binge-watching Netflix
Specials
Last but not least, specials are the limited-edition options on your dopamine menu. They’re something to look forward to every so often—perhaps once a month, seasonally, or annually—that feel rewarding and are good for your soul, too.
Examples:
- Having a spa day
- Going on vacation
- Going to a concert
- Having an IRL reunion with family or friends
The Takeaway
Creating a dopamine menu is a helpful way to maintain healthy habits, mind your mood, and support overall well-being. It offers an at-the-ready, dependable framework to keep your dopamine levels in check (minus highs and lows) while inching you closer to your goals.
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