Inability to stay motivated is often a result of feeling depleted inside. In fact, one of the main indicators of feeling depressed is lack of interest and motivation in activities that the individual would generally enjoy.
Dopamine is one of the monoamines – monoamines are chemical that allow the nerve cells in our body to send messages all over to allow us to do everything from breathing to talking, eating, walking, and thinking. And dopamine, in particular, aids in the proper functioning of the reward system, malfunctioning of which can lead to lack of interest and motivation in activities.
Boosting dopamine levels can reverse these feelings and improve motivation.
Creating your own Dopa-Menu
Dopa-Menu is a list of activities which you enjoy or have enjoyed in the past and which fill you up, formatted in form of a food menu. These activities are stimulating and mood lifting, and promote the production of Dopamine.
The menu can include:
- Entrees- big things that make you feel excited to be alive and hobbies you are passionate about, which can be done when you have some time on your hand, e.g. swimming, playing an instrument, quality time with friends
- Desserts- usual go-to’s that are fun in moderation, and can make you feel bad if done in excess, e.g. social media, netflix
- Appetizers- boosts of joy that that take less than 10 minutes and help keep your day going well, e.g. enjoying a cup of coffee, stroll around the neighborhood, dance break
- Sides- activities you can overlap with other less engaging tasks to keep yourself interested and stimulated, e.g. background music playlists, fidget toys
- Specials- occasional activities that you like to do but can’t do it very often, e.g. going on vacations
- And so on….
Creating a Dopa-Menu like so can help you develop a dopamine stimulating routine, which will prevent you from overdoing on typical go-to’s such as social media or netflix when you are low on Dopamine and have low motivation to choose a healthier option to refuel yourself.
Download the Dopa-Menu template here.
See more on Dopa-Menu here.
