Dopamine Menu Builder
A dopamine menu is a pre-made list of quick, free ways to get stimulation, written before you need it, so that when the craving hits you pick off a list instead of reaching for your phone. It is grouped like a restaurant menu: five-minute appetizers, fifteen-minute sides, hour-long mains. Build yours below, free and with no signup.
Feel the itch? Tap for a hit.
One tap gives you one thing to do right now. No setup, no deciding.
- 1 Tap an idea and it drops into your menu.
- 2 Rename a section (tap its title), or + Add a section of your own.
- 3 Drag ⠿ to move things around, and tick the box when you do one.
Tap any idea to drop it into your menu below.
Why do ADHD brains crave stimulation?
ADHD is linked to lower baseline dopamine activity. Dopamine is the chemical behind motivation and reward, the "this is worth doing" signal. When it runs low, boring but important tasks feel much harder to start, and fast dopamine (scrolling, snacking, the checkout button) pulls much harder than it should.
That is not laziness and it is not a discipline problem. The brain is short on something and is going looking for it. A dopamine menu does not argue with the craving. It gives the craving somewhere better to go.
What goes on a dopamine menu?
Restaurant menus group dishes by course. A dopamine menu groups by how much time and energy you actually have right now, which is the thing you cannot work out while you are already itching.
- Appetizers, under 5 minutes. A loud song. Cold water on your wrists. Twenty jumping jacks. Standing outside for air.
- Sides, about 15 minutes. A short walk. One episode. A call with the friend who does not need small talk first.
- Mains, an hour of real joy. The deep-fun hobby you keep saying you do not have time for.
- Specials, free and always available. A hug. Stretching. Water on your face. Petting an animal.
When does a dopamine menu actually work?
When it already exists. That is the whole trick. Built while you are calm, it is a list you approved in advance, so answering a craving stops being a negotiation about whether you are allowed a break. Built during the craving, it does not get built at all.
It also has to be visible. Taped to the monitor, set as your phone wallpaper, stuck on the fridge. A menu inside a closed app loses to the app you are already in.
What does a finished dopamine menu look like?
Here is a whole one, small on purpose. Three courses, two or three things each, the size that actually gets used:
- Appetizers: one loud song with headphones on, cold water on the wrists, step outside and name three things you can hear.
- Sides: walk to the end of the road and back, fifteen minutes of the game, tidy one surface with a timer running.
- Mains: the sewing machine, the bike, the long bath, the friend you can talk to for an hour.
- Specials: hug, stretch, cold face, dog.
Notice what is not on it: nothing that needs planning, nothing that costs money, nothing that lives behind an app you would have to open anyway. Those three rules do most of the work.
How do I build one that sticks?
Spend five minutes now, not later. Put two or three things in each course. Steal freely from the ideas above, then cut anything that is somebody else's idea of fun, because what recharges your friend may do nothing for you.
Then print it. The list has to exist before the craving does, and paper does not need charging at 2am.
Questions people actually ask
What is a dopamine menu?
A written list of things that give your brain a lift, sorted by how long they take, made in advance so you are not inventing options while you are already flat. The name comes from a restaurant menu: starters for a two-minute lift, mains for a proper reset, sides for while you are doing something else, specials for the rare treat.
Why write one down instead of just doing the thing?
Because deciding is the expensive part. When you are understimulated or fried, picking something good takes exactly the executive function you have run out of, so your hand reaches for the phone by default. A menu turns a decision into a choice from four options, which is a much cheaper thing for a tired brain to do.
What should go on an ADHD dopamine menu?
Things you have actually enjoyed, not things that sound healthy. A shower, one loud song, stepping outside, a five-minute walk, cold water, a text to the person who makes you laugh, tidying one surface. If it has never once worked for you, it does not belong on the menu no matter how often it appears in someone else's list.
Is this supposed to replace my phone?
No, and a menu that pretends scrolling has no appeal will not get used. The point is to have a real alternative ready at the moment you would otherwise reach for the phone automatically. Sometimes the phone still wins. A menu just means it is a choice.
Do I need an account to build one?
No. Your menu saves in this browser and nowhere else, so there is nothing to sign up for and nothing of yours stored on a server. You can print it when you're done, which is worth doing, because a menu you can see on the fridge beats one you have to remember to open.
