Are you looking ahead to September and thinking about taking a break from booze?
There’s something about that back-to-school vibe that makes it a great time of year to take stock and reset…
But before you stop drinking or set any goal at all, there’s something important you need to figure out first.
Let me talk you through it in today’s video.
Key points:
The theory behind taking a break
Trying to quit drinking forever is pointless – the very idea is so overwhelming, it can be paralysing. I recommend taking a six- to nine-week break from drinking instead. This gives you the opportunity to experience alcohol-free living properly and get beyond the difficult early days. (If you only ever stop from Monday to Friday, you just repeat the difficult beginning bit over and over). Go all in on your break. Give it 100% and allow yourself to test drive sobriety properly. Then at the end you can stop, reassess and decide what you want to do next.
Stats matter
As I mentioned above, when you get to the end of your break, you’re going to want to do some reflection. Unfortunately, the brain is a pretty unreliable source of the truth. It’s wired to protect you from pain, so it often conveniently forgets a lot of the really bad or annoying stuff about drinking. So how do we get round that? By collecting our data first. Let’s gather some information and get it written down in black and white.
What you want to track:
- How alcohol affects your sleep
- How much time drinking steals from you
- The cost of drinking
- What you hate about drinking
- What drinking prevents you from doing
Don’t forget… do this properly!
Please don’t be that person who says, “Oh drinking doesn’t really take up that much of my time, I drink whilst doing other things.” Booze will be eating up time in ways that you probably haven’t even thought of. I created my free Sober School Tracker to help you calculate this properly and make a thorough assessment of the impact alcohol is having – on every aspect of your life. Download it here.
7 responses
Hi Kate, thankyou for all your videos they really make me think about cutting down on booze because of my sleeping pattern. I think im getting great nights sleep but the next morning im so tired and feel i cant wait to get to bed again if that makes sense. Im quite a light sleeper anyway. I have taken a day out of my weekends to stay sober but i do like a friday evening to have few glasses of wine with my husband i think its more habit than anything else but il keep trying.. Thankyou again kate
Conversely drinking alcohol to help you sleep is like setting your house on fire to keep warm. Any sleep we get after drinking is more akin to chemical sedation than natural, restorative sleep and leaves you feeling more exhausted. I’ll talk you though these issues and more in my Getting Unstuck coaching programme starting soon: https://thesoberschool.com/course/
Hiya Kate I’m on day 3 of being alcohol free and this is my danger zone im already thinking of alcohol I’m going to try my best and do it in 6 weeks stages
Remember that alcohol is addictive so the cravings can be strong after a few days. Have a listen to one of my earlier blogs on this exact topic: https://thesoberschool.com/cravings-how-to-stop-them/
Thank you Kate. I keep listening to all your advice every week. It’s a reminder of how much better my life is now I have quit boozing. I haven’t had any alcohol since Christmas day. I’m done. Tired of the exhaustion, lack of sleep, headaches, arguments, guilt, cost and feeling of greed (getting my fair share) of the fizz. I feel almost pure in my outlook now about life and alcohol. I’m not fooled by adverts, and how stylish I will look with a glass of fizz in my hand. Not so glamorous vomiting or being in bed all day feeling lousy. I drive every where now, no expensive taxis. I’m there in case of emergency for my grown up children. My children don’t realise it yet but I’m trying to be the best role model. To show life isn’t just about getting as much boozing done as possible and pretending it’s fun. It’s taken me till my 50s to give it up. With so much pressure, disappointment, and cajoling from my husband, mum and a couple of friends. My body, my choice, my life. I have so much spare time now. I realise alcohol filled a space, it was my entire social life and relaxation choice. That’s where the difficulty has been for me, what to fill the void with??? walking, reading and keep fit. It’s been a slow process, years in the making, starting with the excuse of dry jan, every year for 10 years. I’m now frightened to have a drink incase I’m sucked back down the snake after iv slowly climbed the ladder. Thank you, and good luck everyone xx
Congratulations on your lifestyle choices, Sarah, and the example you’re setting for your children and everyone around you. The changes in your behaviour and the way you present yourself to the world will undoubtedly create a ripple effect among those closest to you. Why revert to days lost in bed with a hangover, or feeling sluggish and unwell? You’ve chosen life, and that’s truly fantastic! ❤️
Thank you so much for this article. It can be very overwhelming to say and think I’ll never drink again. One step at a time. Alcohol dependency controls your everyday life from thinking about when you can have your next drink to spending lots of money on Alcohol and making stupid decisions and actions.