Welcome to Chasing Life. You know, we're finally settling into the new year, but I have to tell you,

as winter drags on, I've been feeling a little stuck lately. It's hard to describe, but just harder

and harder for me to find the motivation. I'm increasingly content to just sort of lie around

the house as opposed to getting up and doing things. And I got to tell you in

times like these, a little boost, just a little boost of something I find can go a long way.

And that's what I wanted to talk about today on the podcast, something known as a DOPA menu.

It's kind of a creative project meets sort of list of strategies to use.

You know, in some ways, it's like a portion of a self-care plan.

That's Eric Tivers, ADHD coach, host of the podcast, ADHD Rewired, and yes, creator of something known as the DOPA menu.

Now, it's exactly what it sounds like.

It is a menu of stimulating or healthy activities that are designed to boost your dopamine.

That's the brain chemical that drives motivation and reward.

So we have everything from like our appetizers, which is like the little things, you know,

the going for a quick walk,

or I'm having a snack, or, you know, putting some music on, or lighting a candle.

Like little things like that are pretty low effort.

The idea is pretty simple, that it can help brains like Tivers stay engaged. Now, he was diagnosed with

ADHD at age 19 right as he was on the brink of flunking out of college. But with that

diagnosis came a major shift in his life and a new understanding of how his brain works.

A neurotypical brain is kind of like a soundboard or a mixer.

You can adjust the different channels up and down to get more volume on what you want, less

how much you don't.

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