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This is a dopamine menu, and it's the
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one thing that saved me from doom
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scrolling and given me hours back to
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focus on what actually matters to me.
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But here's the craziest thing. I didn't
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even have to make any drastic changes in
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my life for it to work. So, in this
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video, I want to show you how you can
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create your very own dopamine menu to
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trick your brain into staying
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consistently motivated and focused, even
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if you've struggled with discipline
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before. I've also put together a
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complete template of the dopamine menu
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that you can get for free in the
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description below if you want to get
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started right away. So, have you ever
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found yourself stuck doom scrolling
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through YouTube or maybe Instagram and
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then you look up one minute and realize
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that hours have
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vanished? I have. And my first instinct
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was always to blame myself, thinking
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that I lacked willpower. But after
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reading the book dose by the
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neuroscientist TJ Power, I realized
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something surprising. This doom
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scrolling wasn't entirely my fault.
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Here's why. So, imagine that your brain
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is this glass. And in order to feel
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motivated, you need to fill the glass up
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to this line here with dopamine. The
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thing is, different activities pour
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different amounts of dopamine into your
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brain. And the higher above the line you
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go, the more energized and motivated you
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feel. But doom scrolling is sneaky
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because it drips just enough dopamine
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into your brain to keep you exactly at
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this line. You're never fully satisfied
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with your life, but you're also never
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motivated enough to seek healthier, more
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rewarding sources of dopamine. But this
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instinctive reliance on doom scrolling
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is exactly where the dopamine menu comes
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in. Originally created by Jessica
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McCabe, a dopamine menu isn't really a
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to-do list. It works more like a
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restaurant menu. Because instead of
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wasting energy deciding what to do with
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your time, you simply open your notebook
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and pick which healthy activity you want
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to do. This makes it easier to avoid
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doom scrolling because you make
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healthier sources of dopamine easier to
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access. You make them more like the
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lift. And as you can see in my dopamine
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menu, there's four distinct sections to
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it. Each of which provides a different
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purpose. And the first one works like
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this. So, have you ever looked down at
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your to-do list and seen things you
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genuinely wanted to do, but you felt so
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overwhelmed by starting the task that
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you ended up doom scrolling instead?
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Well, you're not alone. And in fact, our
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friend TJ calls this procrasting. But
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there's a simple fix to this built right
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into the dopamine menu. And to help you
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understand how this works, I want you to
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imagine that your motivation is a little
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bit like a snowball rolling down a hill.
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At first, it's really hard to get
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moving, right? It takes effort to push
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the snowball and get it rolling. But
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once it picks up speed, it quickly
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gathers momentum, gets bigger, faster,
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and easier to keep moving. And
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motivation works exactly the same way.
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When you're facing a task, the hardest
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part is always getting started. And
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because that initial push feels so
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uncomfortable, your brain prefers the
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easy dopamine hit of your phone instead.
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But the first section of this dopamine
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menu in the top left is specifically
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designed to help you overcome this
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initial resistance. And it's something
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called starters. So just like starters
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in a restaurant, these are quick and
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easy options you pick when you're
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struggling to begin something more
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difficult, one of those tasks on your
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to-do list. For example, for me, if I
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have an essay to write or a video to
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edit, I first glance at this starters
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menu. And on there, I've got simple
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activities like making a tea or coffee,
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journaling for five minutes, or playing
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one of my favorite songs on the guitar.
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And these activities give me a quick
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dopamine boost, just like with doom
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scrolling, but with a crucial
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difference. They're short and finite.
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You can't accidentally get trapped in an
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infinite loop of making tea. And because
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these starters take no longer than about
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15 minutes to do, they help you build
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just enough motivation to smoothly
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transition into those bigger, more
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meaningful tasks that if you're anything
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like me, you often put off. But here's
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the really exciting part. There's an
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even more powerful way that I use my
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dopamine menu to stop doom scrolling.
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And it's the next part of the dopamine
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menu works a little bit like this. So
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feel free to disagree with me here, but
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I think there's a worrying you trend in
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my generation because do you remember
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back during those co lockdowns? If
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you're like most people my age, you
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probably had way more free time than
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usual. So for me, this was when I bought
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my first guitar and started to learn how
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to play. But it was also when I spent
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way too many hours doom scrolling
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through YouTube. And I also don't think
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it's a coincidence that Tik Tok exploded
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in popularity right around then, too.
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But lockdown revealed something really
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surprising. Even when I had all the time
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in the world, I still ended up doom
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scrolling. And here's why this matters
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so much. As technology, social media,
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and AI keep advancing, algorithms will
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dominate our attention even more than
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they already do now. It's a loop that's
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going to feel nearly impossible to
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escape. But that's exactly why the
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second section of the dopamine menu
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called mains is so powerful. Mains are
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activities specifically designed to
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break this doom scrolling loop. They're
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meaningful, enjoyable things that you do
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purely for yourself. So, for example, on
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my mains list, you can see how I've got
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things like taking a walk without
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headphones, reading some of my favorite
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books, or creating some of these YouTube
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videos. But unlike starters, mains
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usually take 30 minutes or more. And
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this gives your brain just enough time
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to fully engage, immerse itself, and get
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into a little bit of flow. But did you
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know there's actually another hidden
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reason why we doom scroll? And it might
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just surprise you. I'd hear about this
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concept called dopamine detoxing and try
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to completely cut out these easy
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dopamine sources, but inevitably I'd
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always end up binging on them again and
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again later. But then I discovered a
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powerful concept called frontloading
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that completely changed the way I
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approached doom scrolling forever. Scott
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Young explains this really clearly in
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one of his videos because he gives the
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example of how Olympic athletes achieve
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sporting success because they
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intentionally structure their training
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by putting the toughest, most demanding
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tasks bursting in the week. And that's
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what frontloading is all about. By
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tackling the hardest tasks first,
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athletes create a sense of urgency and
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momentum. Then at the end of training,
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they can reward themselves and maybe
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with a cheat meal or a rest day. Now,
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productivity and procrastination work
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the exact same way. It might help to
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think about this process a little bit
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like a switch because if you frontload
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your important challenging tasks first
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thing in the week or in the day, you can
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build motivation and momentum early,
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then afterwards you can switch off and
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reward yourself with something
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enjoyable, even if it's a guilty
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pleasure. That's exactly where the third
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section of the dopamine menu called
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desserts comes into play. So, desserts
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are those enjoyable kind of quick
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dopamine hits that you intentionally
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treat yourself with after you finished
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your important work. You can think of
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desserts as kind of short-term treats.
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And if you take a look at my own
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dopamine menu, you'll see how I've
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written things down like eating a
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pastry, watching a movie, or to be
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honest, even sometimes I will spend time
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on my phone. I might use an app or
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something like Brilliant, who are kindly
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sponsoring this video. And if you
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haven't heard of it before, Brilliant is
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an online learning platform that you can
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data analysis, and AI. And you don't
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even need to spend a long time on
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Brilliant to see the results from what
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you learn. Because, as I'm sure you
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know, learning just a little bit of
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information each day is actually one of
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the best ways to learn anything new. For
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the past few weeks, I've been working
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through a course on Brilliant called
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Scientific Thinking. And I already feel
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like I better understand all of the
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modern technology I use in the world.
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So, if you want to try everything
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Brilliant has to offer for free for a
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subscription. So, thank you so much to
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Brilliant for sponsoring this video. So,
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as you can see in this dessert section,
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by deliberately placing your dopamine
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kind of rewards at the end of your
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harder work in the day or in the week,
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you can use frontloading to your
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advantage. You get the best of both
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worlds. Productive momentum at the start
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of the task and guilt-free enjoyment at
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the end. But the final way the dopamine
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menu helped me quit doom scrolling is
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actually the most powerful method of
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all. And I first discovered how
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life-changing it is back at the start of
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this year. So, back in February this
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year, I was creating my first ever
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digital product. It's a workshop where I
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go over a journaling method I've been
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using to stop procrastinating and to
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keep track of my progress towards my
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goals. You can check it out in the
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description if you're curious. However,
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I vastly underestimated how challenging
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this would be because I was trying to
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juggle my uni work, cooking and cleaning
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for myself, exercising, or I was trying
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to figure out everything it takes to
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create and market a great product. Then
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around halfway through, disaster struck.
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I ran into some major tech difficulties
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with my email platform and people
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weren't receiving the emails I was
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sending. Meaning nobody even knew that
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my product existed. I felt crushed. All
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that time, energy, and effort suddenly
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felt wasted. And even worse, instead of
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trying to solve the problem, I felt so
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overwhelmed that I just resorted to doom
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scrolling through YouTube shorts. But
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all of a sudden, I decided to do
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something incredibly simple that
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completely reset my mindset. Now, this
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was something that instantly stopped me
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from doom scrolling. gave me the
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motivation to push through this
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challenge and ultimately allowed me to
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launch this product and make my first
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ever sales from a business I created all
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by myself. So what exactly was this
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small but powerful change? Well, it all
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comes down to the final part of the
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dopamine menu and it's something that is
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called specials. So what starters train
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you to overcome initial resistance with
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a task? Mains reconnect you with your
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creativity and desserts reward you for
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frontloading your challenging tasks at
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the start of the day. Specials are your
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sort of emergency reset button. They're
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bigger, more powerful experiences you do
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occasionally, especially when you're
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feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, or
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dangerously close to giving up like I
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was. If you take a look in the bottom
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right, you'll see how in my specials,
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I've got things written down, like
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working from a new coffee shop, doing
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these what I call tourist days in
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London, where I'll explore weird places
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in the city I call home, or seeing a
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musical, which is exactly what I did to
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reset my mindset back in February.
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Because here's the harsh truth. No
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matter what some influencers might
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claim, no one can be perfect all the
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time. And in my case, I nearly quit
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everything because I set unrealistic
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expectations, overloaded myself, and
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burnt out. But the reason why these
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specials are so powerful is because
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doing something as simple as going to
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see a musical can completely reset your
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mindset. And it can give you the
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motivation needed to push through a task
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when you feel like things get really
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hard. But I bet you didn't know that
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there's actually one more powerful way
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that I use this pocket notebook to quit
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doom scrolling for good. I call it a
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dopamine list. And it's honestly one of
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the simplest yet most effective methods
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I found for permanently curing my
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procrastination. So watch this video
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next and I'll show you exactly how to
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create your own dopamine list and stop
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procrastinating step by step. So I see
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you all
