Design Your Dopamenu: A Selfcare Menu for Better Mood (Spring Edition)
- Apr 26
- 3 min read
How a simple, personalized “menu” of activities can improve mood and make everyday life a little more enjoyable.
Ever notice when your mood is low, it’s harder to think of or choose things that might help you feel better? Low mood can narrow attention and reduce motivation, making even familiar or enjoyable activities feel less accessible.
Creating an easy to reference list of selfcare activities is a practical way to support better decision-making and choose what feels helpful in the moment, especially when motivation is low. When it comes to your financial and mental health, it’s difficult to think clearly about money when you are emotionally overwhelmed or overstimulated.
What is a dopamine menu, or “dopamenu”?
Structured like a typical restaurant menu, a “dopamenu” is a personalized selfcare list of enjoyable activities designed to give your brain an intentional dopamine boost, helping to improve mood, focus, and motivation.
A dopamenu is typically broken down into these categories:
Appetizers: time-efficient activities that can be easily incorporated throughout your day.
Entrees: activities that take more time, effort, or planning. Typically immersive activities that tend to nurture deeper engagement or accomplishment.
Sides: simple, low-effort activities that can be done in the background or alongside required everyday tasks you already have to do.
Desserts: activities to be used in small doses, not to be exclusively relied upon.
Why dopamine matters?
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator that regulates motivation, curiosity, reward, mood, and movement, often called the “feel-good” chemical or the “reward and motivation signal”. It reinforces behaviors associated with rewards and motivates you to seek them.
Dopamine matters to our survival and connection to others because it helps us stay interested in life. Low dopamine can make things feel dull or meaningless. It can also lead to loneliness which can increase a person’s risk for heart disease and stroke, depression, and early mortality.
Creating your selfcare dopamenu (Spring Edition)
Spring is a great time to create, as many people can tend to feel a sense of renewal during springtime. The natural world is “waking up” with warmer temperatures and increased daylight hours that support more opportunities for social interactions and activities.
When reading the list of activities below, use it as inspiration to build your own self-care menu. The goal isn’t to follow what is written exactly, but more to notice what feels supportive for you.
Everyone is different and what works for one person may not work for someone else, or what might work for you one day may not be helpful on a different day.
Having a variety of options works best when taking into account energy levels, finances, time constraints, cognitive bandwidth, and available resources.
Appetizers:
Sit near an open window and notice the sounds, being present in the moment
Step outside or go for a short walk
Do a 2-5 minute stretch near natural light
Water a plant
Entrees:
Watch the sunset or sunrise
Tend to a garden
Plan an outdoor get together with someone important to you
Do a deep spring cleaning or decluttering
Sides:
Buy yourself flowers (while shopping)
Add a seasonal item to your cart (while grocery shopping)
Eat or drink something outside (while doing emails or calls)
Listen to a curated playlist of bright, uplifting, easy going songs (while doing chores)
One of my personal favorites:
Desserts:
Take a nap without setting an alarm, especially near fresh air or natural light
Get absorbed in watching nature, weather, or scenery for an extended period of time
Spend time scrolling seasonal content online while relaxing outside, just enjoying the moment.
Enjoy seasonal treats or drinks more often that intended
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading!!! I hope today you’re met with kindness, especially from yourself.
References
Build a dopamine menu for focus and motivation. (n.d.). UBC Science. https://science.ubc.ca/students/blog/dopamine-menu?
Fredrickson, B. L., & Branigan, C. (2005). Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought‐action repertoires. Cognition & Emotion, 19(3), 313–332. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930441000238
Health effects of social isolation and loneliness. (2024, May 15). Social Connection. https://www.cdc.gov/social-connectedness/risk-factors/index.html
Professional, C. C. M. (2025, December 22). Neurotransmitters. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22513-neurotransmitters
Tsuboi, D., Nagai, T., Yoshimoto, J., & Kaibuchi, K. (2024). Neuromodulator regulation and emotions: insights from the crosstalk of cell signaling. Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, 17, 1376762. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2024.1376762
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