Like biting your nails or leaving laundered clothes to air long after they’ve dried, scrolling is a habit many of us can’t seem to kick. Globally, we average six hours and 40 minutes of screen time a day – an already huge stat that continues to rise as more areas of our lives become digitised.

It’s a well-rehearsed and universally known choreography: you reach for your phone when bored, overwhelmed, feeling low, avoiding another task or even for no reason at all, and before you know it you’ve lost an hour to a random TikToker’s skincare routine. An activity that seems as though it should be a momentary escape ends up feeling like a massive waste of time, with any prior feelings of stress only enhanced. The reason you continue to repeat this ritual, despite knowing from previous experience it rarely ever ends well? Your body is craving dopamine.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter made in the brain. It’s one of the ‘feel-good’ hormones and is part of the body’s reward system. “Dopamine is what gets you hyped up to chase after things that you find rewarding, like food, fun activities or goals,” explains Nicole Vignola, neuroscientist and author of Rewire: Break The Cycle, Alter Your Thoughts And Create Lasting Change. “It’s the brain’s way of motivating you to go after stuff that feels good or is important to you. So, when you’re excited about something or really driven to achieve something, that’s dopamine doing its thing, pushing you toward that reward.”

When you engage in an activity you enjoy or you complete a rewarding task, your brain releases dopamine, which results in a mood boost. Ever noticed how you’re more motivated to clean after you’ve completed a small task (putting away the aforementioned dried laundry, perhaps) than when you were sitting on the sofa contemplating the chore? This, Vignola says, is why using your phone can be so addictive. “When you use your phone, especially for things like social media, games or even just checking messages, your brain gets little hits of dopamine every time something interesting or rewarding happens. When you get a notification, a like on your post or you find something entertaining, your brain releases dopamine and you feel a small rush of pleasure.” Over time, she says, your brain begins to associate your phone with these dopamine hits, which makes you want to keep mindlessly scrolling to get more of that good feeling. “This can lead to a kind of cycle where you’re constantly reaching for your phone, even if you’re not expecting anything special,” Vignola explains. “That’s how addiction can start – it’s not just about the phone itself, but about the constant pursuit of those little rewards and the dopamine boost that comes with them. Your brain ends up craving that feeling, so you keep coming back for more.”

Aside from the many issues associated with high screen time, consistently relying on scrolling as a means for more dopamine can make it more difficult to work towards long-term and challenging goals as your body is used to quick hits. “The problem is, our brain is wired to choose the easiest path to feel good,” Vignola says. “So, if we keep going for those quick hits, it becomes harder to focus on bigger goals that require patience and effort, like studying for an exam, saving money or getting fit. The brain, having been trained to expect instant gratification, will keep nudging us toward those easy rewards, making it tougher to stick to long-term plans. It’s like teaching your brain to always take the shortcut, which can mess with your ability to stay disciplined and focused on things that are important but don’t give you that immediate payoff.”

One way that you can step away from your scrolling habit? Building a personalised dopamine menu. Coined by podcast host and ADHD coach Eric Tivers and How To ADHD founder Jessica McCabe, a dopamine menu is a curated list of activities that will provide a dopamine boost whenever you need it, and is a popular technique within the neurodiverse community. It’s helpful because when you’re running low on dopamine, it can be hard to identify activities that will give you a boost (that don’t involve scrolling) and motivate you to actually do them. Having a visual reminder on hand can remove the overwhelm of choosing an activity and the urge to pick up your phone.

“I love the concept of a dopamine menu because it means you’re allowing yourself activities that make you feel good that aren’t scrolling,” says Vignola. “If you were to leave it up to habit and automatic processing, your brain would naturally revert to doomscrolling out of automaticity [doing something without thought].”

A dopamine menu is exactly as it sounds, and typically features five sections (though, it’s totally up to you how you design yours).

Starters

Think quick, small tasks that fulfil that need for dopamine in a hurry. Such as:

• Stretching
• Playing with a pet
• Enjoying a coffee
• Grabbing a snack
• Doing a short burst of exercise
• Putting clean laundry away

Main course

Entrees, in this context, are the activities that are the most fulfilling and rewarding, and will therefore result in the biggest dopamine hit. But, they’re also the most challenging and time-consuming. Things like:

• Cooking a meal
• Working on a hobby
• Exercising
• Being creative (painting, drawing, writing, for example)

Sides

These are dopamine-releasing activities that you can engage in while completing a separate task, such as:

• Listening to music
• Listening to a podcast

Dessert

Screen time isn’t totally off the cards, by the way. Think of dessert as being the activities that are enjoyable but easy to overindulge in:

• Using social media
• Watching TV
• Playing video games

Specials

These are the activities that you probably don’t do quite so frequently, perhaps along the lines of:

• Getting your nails done
• Eating out
• Attending a concert
• Getting a spa treatment
• Travelling

It’s important to make your dopamine menu completely personal to you (what might feel rewarding to someone else may feel dull to you), so be mindful of the activities that feature in yours. Be sure to include activities for all sections of the menu, so you always have an option to suit your circumstances, whether that’s a five-minute work break or a full weekend, and try to prep ahead of time so you aren’t tempted to scroll instead.

This could look like ensuring your tea selection is stocked, having a curated playlist ready to go or signing up for a spin class in advance. Equally, it can include creating barriers to avoid scrolling, for instance, and setting time limits on apps or deleting them altogether when you really want to avoid distraction.

The key is to keep your dopamine menu within easy reach, whether printed and pinned to your fridge or saved as your phone wallpaper. This way, you’re always within quick reach of a reminder whenever you need a pick-me-up.

Images: Getty