If your screen usage has hit an all-time high, you’re not alone. From TV to video games to social media, we often turn to these devices for quick entertainment and small hits of dopamine. But it’s not too late to turn things around! As a gardener, your love of the outdoors and all things green can be turned into a highly beneficial dopamine menu.
Nowadays, it’s nearly impossible to get away from screens. Unless you’re doing a digital detox challenge or out in the woods with no reception, you probably have some form of screen(s) you rely on for entertainment daily.
If you’re reading this, it means you’re staring at a screen right this very minute! And since I’ve reminded you that you’re scrolling, please keep reading, as I promise that what I’m about to tell you will be a game changer when it comes to reducing your screen time.
Since my kiddo was little, I’ve tried to keep him away from screens. Which, for his generation, is a tough thing to do. I make sure we read together, play board games, go on walks, cook together, and more to reduce how often both of our eyes are glued to a screen.
Dopamine menus are a relatively new trend and tool that people can use to find new sources of dopamine outside of screens. And because I am a woman whose core being relies heavily on plants, I knew I needed to make a dopamenu for gardening.
Today, I’ll show you how you can make your own dopamine menu for gardening and why you should.
- Are Screens Bad for Us?
- Screens and Sleep
- Screens and Mood
- What is Dopamine?
- What is a Dopamenu?
- Dopamine Menu for Gardeners
- Dopamine Menu Ideas for Gardeners
- Starters
- Mains
- Sides
- Desserts
- Specials
- More Ways to Find Gardening Joy
Are Screens Bad for Us?
We get the sense that too much screen time can be bad for our health, but what’s the science behind it all?
Harvard Medical School says that screens can affect how the human brain develops. Young brains are constantly building new neural connections and cutting down any they don’t use often. Screens can affect how our brain builds these connections.
Screens provide simulated versions of what we experience in real life. Essentially, they’re watered-down versions of our experiences, and so the neural connections being built aren’t as “strong.”
“Boredom is the space in which creativity and imagination happen,” says Rich, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. And I think that really summarizes how screens have fulfilled our endless need to be entertained.
Why do you think our best thinking happens in the shower? Or if you’re like me, when I’m out puttering in the garden.
Screens and Sleep
Using screens at bedtime has also been proven to disrupt sleep. Before bed, our body begins to produce melatonin as a response to darkness. But devices emitting blue light will suppress our melatonin and affect our ability to achieve REM sleep, which is essential for processing and storing information.
This means the next day, you may be more tired and less likely to process and retain new information. AKA, having a good memory.
Screens and Mood
Some studies have also linked screen time to symptoms of depression. And I can totally see why. Beyond the traps of constantly comparing ourselves on social media, many people rely on screen activities as a way to deal with stress. So when we go without screens, our anxiety can rise.
What is Dopamine?
Dopamine is a key factor in why we LOVE screens so much. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that our nervous systems use to send messages. It’s a chemical that spreads within the brain and the body as a messenger for pleasure.
Dopamine works as a reward system. Doing activities you enjoy will release dopamine. How much is released is based on the activity and its frequency.
Many things use this natural reward system, like drugs and alcohol, and yes, our beloved screens. Initially, they give us a big rush of dopamine. But then they diminish the more you use it.
Watching one episode of a show is fun. Binging the whole series? You might feel depleted and groggy afterward.
In response to the diminishing dopamine, we tend to either move on to a different activity to get a new reward or increase the initial activity to try and get more.
What is a Dopamenu?
A dopamenu is a tool we can use to help us find new sources of dopamine when we feel like we need a pick-me-up.
Originally developed by Jessica McCabe, it was originally intended to help those with ADHD. It’s believed that people with ADHD have lower dopamine levels and continually need to find new dopamine hits.
A dopamenu has a list of starters, mains, sides, desserts, and specials. Each of these categories has different activities or various lengths that you can turn to when you’re looking for stimulation.
Essentially, it’s a quick customized list of things that you know will bring you joy.
Dopamine Menu for Gardeners
While originally a tool for ADHD, I think everyone can benefit from a dopamine menu. It’s a useful tool to turn to to get away from screens, get outside, and find more sustainable dopamine hits.
And as a gardener, you know I had to make myself a list of things I could do in the garden to get myself engaged with nature. Nature has many many mental health benefits (which I talk about in this post), and trying to do activities outdoors can double up your benefits.
Dopamine Menu Ideas for Gardeners
I highly encourage you to make your own dopamine menu. Over time, fill it with activities you like to do outside and in your garden. Eventually, you’ll have a great list to turn to when you need ideas for how to get yourself up and moving.
Here are a few of my go-to’s that you can use as a jumping-off point for your own dopamenu.
Starters
These are quick, 5-minute activities you can do to take a break and get outside.
- Check on your worm/compost bin
- Water your houseplants
- Play fetch with your pup in the backyard
- Grow some sprouts inside
- Clean your pruners
- Deep water your shrubs and perennials during a drought
- Refill your bird feeder
- Read a gardening book
- Weed a garden bed
- Flip through seed catalogues
- Propagate your houseplants
- Enjoy your morning tea/coffee outside
- Refresh your hummingbird feeder
- Enjoy the return of the pollinators in the spring
- Cut some branches and force them to bloom inside
- Make notes about your garden to reference next year
- Plant some seeds outside
Mains
These activities take up more time and are great if you have an hour or more to spare.
- Add compost to your garden
- Plant summer/spring bulbs depending on the time of year
- Clean all your gardening tools
- Take a bath after a tough gardening session
- Tidy your toolshed
- Start seeds indoors
- Plan out your garden for the next season
- Make a wreath for your front door
- Deadhead your flowers
- Make a batch of cold process soap
- Make some cute plant tags
- Press some flowers
- Sit outside with family or friends
- Fill some containers with annuals
- Harvest and dry flowers and herbs
- Infuse herbs and flowers into herbal oils
- Force some bulbs indoors
Sides
When you’re already outside, these activities make for good add-ons.
- Listen to a gardening podcast (The Food Garden Life Show and Epic Gardening are great ones)
- Play a gardening audiobook
- Garden with a friend. Phone calls work too!
- Stop what you’re doing and listen to nature
- Share a harvest with a friend or a neighbour
- Light a candle inside or turn on some ambient gardening lighting
- Identify the critters you spot in your garden
- Smell the flowers
- Harvest something from the garden and eat it right on the spot
- Cut flowers for a bouquet and bring them inside or give them to a neighbour
Desserts
These are activities that you often default to. It’s best not to spend a lot of time on them, but they are good in small, planned doses.
- Scroll on social media
- Shop for seeds
- Enjoy a co*cktail outside
- Shop at the garden centre
- Watch a favourite TV show
- Play video games
Specials
These activities aren’t your everyday activities. They might be expensive or more time-consuming than others, but they are still worthwhile.
- Repair fencing or another large part of your garden
- Build a bug hotel
- Take a mushroom foraging class
- Make homemade candles
- Tour a botanical garden
- Build a seed library
- Set up a rain barrel or other water catchment systems
- Visit a community garden for inspiration
- Go on vacation. Your plants will be okay!
- Make a batch of jam from your harvest
- Can or pickle some of your veggie harvest
- Harvest seeds for seed saving
What will you put on your dopamine menu for gardening? Let me know in the comments down below so that we can all take inspiration as we make our own dopamenus for gardening.
More Ways to Find Gardening Joy
- 50 Gardening Glimmers: The Magic Behind Everyday Moments in Nature
- Try Dopamine Gardening for a Feel-Good Joyful Garden
- What is Chaos Gardening? And Why You Should Try It
- Inspire Joy With a Circle Garden Design
