Boredom – My Biggest Trigger.

Becoming sober is a massive challenge, I’ve been sober for nearly 3 years now and still find myself being triggered to drink. There are many causes for triggers, and these will be personal to you, however, one of the biggest and most complex, I've found is boredom. Here are a few of the things that I’ve done to avoid boredom and the onslaught of triggers.

Exercise

I never truly understood the benefit of light exercise until I tried it, everything from going for a walk, joining the gym or taking part in a dance class. I’m not suggesting that anyone tries to become a professional athlete, however, the benefits of exercise are 2-fold; you have less free time to think about drinking and the endorphins released make you feel better about yourself. The best advice I can give regarding exercise is to mix it up, if you start to get bored try something different.

Join a new community

The great thing about the internet is that you can find a community for anything, start by looking at some of the sobriety stuff out there, but go further than that and look for any groups that may be of interest to you. Join a club or a group that is local to you, so you can meet in person as well as online.

Read

Books have been my sober friends and the choice of what you read is endless. You can read a page a day or sit down and read a whole book. My personal choices are self-development books and fiction, the fantasy genre. Who does not want to make a better version of themselves while also quietly wishing they had magic?

Spend time with family/friends

This one can be a bit tricky as often these relationships have been developed around alcohol. However true friends will understand and support you. Write a list of friends and family and then tick the 5 that are most supportive of you. Spent time with these people, try something new. I’ve found a friend who is also an early riser, so I love a dog walk at 5.30 am before the rest of the world is awake.

Try a new hobby

The best and worst of not drinking is that you have all this spare time you did not have before. Not only do you save time not drinking, but you no longer lose time being hungover. Fill this extra time with new things that you have always wanted to try. I’ve taken up camping, astronomy and BBQing, but your choice is endless, try something, and if you don’t enjoy it, try something else. You have not lived until you have cooked a steak while it is snowing around you.

I hope this has given you a few ideas of things to try, however, the list of what you can do is endless. Hopefully staying busy will make your sober journey a little bit easier. I wish you all the success in anything you try.

Ben – Its that sober Guy

Disclaimer – I'm not a trained addiction or mental health professional, information is based on my own life experiences and shared in good faith to help others.