Free tool · from the maker of HYPER
The Dopamine Menu
A dopamine menu is a list of things you enjoy, laid out like a restaurant menu, so on a flat day you can pick instead of decide.
- Free
- No account
- Stays in this tab
by HYPER
About this tool
A dopamine menu is a list of things you enjoy, laid out like a restaurant menu, so that on a flat or restless day you can pick something instead of deciding from scratch. The idea is traced to a 2020 How to ADHD video by Jessica McCabe. This free builder starts you with a sample menu to rewrite, with ideas to tap in, an emoji for each line and four styles, then lets you print it, save it as a phone wallpaper or copy it. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
- Five courses, from five-minute starters to now-and-then specials.
- Start from the sample, a blank menu, or ideas you tap in.
- Give each line an emoji and the menu a style, then print it, save it as a phone wallpaper, or copy it.
- No ticks, no streaks, nothing to keep up.
- Nothing you type is sent anywhere; this tab keeps your menu until you close it.
This page is HYPER’s design position, not a research finding. It argues for a choice; it doesn’t report a study.
HYPER · free on iPhone and Android
When it’s time for a Main, go deep in HYPER.
- One mission, a short Threshold, a clock that counts up
- A Dopamine room: a free fidget toy, and games free to begin
- Free on iPhone and Android, no account
What goes in each course?
- Starters: quick things, five minutes or less. A glass of cold water, one loud song.
- Mains: things worth going deep on. The project you keep thinking about.
- Sides: things that go alongside a dull task. A playlist, a podcast, something for your hands.
- Desserts: things that are easy to start and easy to keep going. Scrolling, a video rabbit hole.
- Specials: bigger things, now and then. A concert, a day trip.
The sample is only a start. A menu works when it’s yours: rename it, rewrite every line, and leave out any course you don’t need.
Where does the idea come from?
The idea is traced to a 2020 How to ADHD video by Jessica McCabe, “How to Give Your Brain the Stimulation It Needs”. It shows how to make one, calls it a “dopa-menu”, and points viewers to Eric Tivers of ADHD reWired1. A 2023 article in The Conversation traces the concept to the same video2. Neither is connected with HYPER.
The name is a nickname. This page makes no claim about dopamine or brain chemistry.
Is there research behind it?
This page reports no research. The dopamine menu is a practical idea, not a studied method, and we can’t point you to a study of it.
How can you use it?
One way: keep it where you’ll see it without looking for it, as the phone’s lock screen or printed on the fridge. Another: pick by how much energy you have, a starter on a low day and a main on a good one. When a line stops fitting, rewrite it. There is no right way to use it, and nothing to keep up.
Stuck choosing even from the menu? “Pick one for me” under each course chooses for you. Stuck writing it? Each course has ideas you can tap in, and every line can carry an emoji, so the wallpaper reads at a glance.
What happens to my menu?
This browser tab keeps it while the tab is open, so you can visit another page and come back to it. To keep it for longer: print it, save the wallpaper image, copy it as text, or copy its link. The link holds the menu itself, after the “#”, the part of an address browsers don’t send to any server, so anyone you give the link to can see your menu. Copying it doesn’t change this page’s address. There’s no account, nothing is sent anywhere, and closing the tab clears it.
Where does HYPER fit?
HYPER, a free iPhone and Android app from the same maker, is built for the Mains: you set one mission, cross a short Threshold of dark and breath, and work with your mission and a clock that only counts up. You can try that ritual free in your browser in the Focus Room. HYPER also has a Dopamine room of its own: Fidgets, endless sensory toys with nothing scored, and Games. Halo and the first three levels of each game are free; the rest is in HYPER Deep.
Sources
- Jessica McCabe, How to Give Your Brain the Stimulation It Needs, How to ADHD (YouTube, 26 May 2020). The video’s description: “Here's how to make a dopa-menu full of things that do!” youtube.com — the video
- Colin Davidson and Claire Hutchinson, Dopamine menus: the science behind the trend – and how it might help people with ADHD, The Conversation (11 December 2023): “The dopamine menu concept comes from a 2020 YouTube video by Jessica McCabe (How to ADHD).” theconversation.com — article
These sources say where the idea comes from; this page makes no research claims. Each was read at its source, and the exact sentences relied on are kept on file. How these pages are sourced.
