Mike Jacobsen

So you have decided to quit drinking. Now what?

Sure it seems simple enough. Just go about your day as normal – just this time with no alcohol. But what to do instead of that after work pint? The just got home glass of wine? The couple cans while you watch the telly? The whiskey night cap? The afternoon down the pub? The nights out on the town?

Before I stopped drinking my calendar was full. If I wasn’t working or sleeping I was drinking or hungover. As far as diaries go it was a fairly uncomplicated one.

So once I quit drinking this whole chunk of time suddenly became free. So much time I hardly knew what to do with myself.

If anything it was too much free time. I needed something to do. Something to take up my time. Something other than alcohol.

I knew that if I didn’t find something to do that I would eventually end up back in the pub.

Craig Beck, author of “Alcohol Lied to Me” (which you can get for free here if you watch one of his presentations), says that failing to replace the time previously spent drinking is the number 1 mistake he sees in people attempting to quit.

(he talks about free time at the 1:30 mark)

So what did I do?

I filled up that time. First with just busy work. Puttering around the house cleaning and fixing whatever needed doing.

Then I filled it with meetings. Getting to know the different type of meetings that are available in my area. Eventually I settled on one I like.

Still I had free time. So I ramped up my social engagements. Hung out with friends more often. Reached out to old friends. Made new friends.

And still I had free time. That’s when I decided I needed to take up a new hobby(ies). I went with cooking, writing (not very well as the grammar on this site can attest), coding, reading and most recently I am getting back into gaming.

For those of you who are familiar with this site you will have seen me talk about my free time and my hobbies before (here and here).

After writing the hobby post I had my first ever reader email (first of many hopefully!). Adam used the contact form to ask if I could help them find a hobby to fill all the free time he now had.

So a few back and forth emails were exchanged and after getting into his likes and interests we settled on playing football (soccer), learning the drums (god help the neighbors) and writing.

That was a few weeks ago now and I am happy to report that Adam is going strong. Still sober and enjoying life.

That’s my hobbies talked about. And my new friend Adam’s hobbies talked about. What about your hobbies?What can you pick up to fill in the spare time?

Hopefully it can be that simple for you. But somehow I doubt it.

Here’s some tips to finding the perfect “stop drinking hobby” for you.

1 – Revisit old hobbies

Is there a particular hobby or activity that you let slip while you were drinking?

Maybe something you used to do as a child that you could now revisit as an adult.

Good examples of this would be sports. Maybe you stopped playing because you were too unhealthy, but now you’ve quit drinking you want to get back involved. After all it is never too late. There are teams and clubs out there for all skill levels and all ages.

2 – You don’t need to drink to take part

Trivia nights, pool, darts, snooker, poker, comedy shows.

All of these generally take place in pubs, bars or other venues that sell alcohol. But that doesn’t mean you have to drink. Noone is going to kick you out if you just stick to your non-alcoholic drinks.

Plus you might fare a bit better than your inebriated opponents.

(Avoid this tip if you feel going to a pub would be a trigger for you)

3 – Ask your friends what they like to do

Taking part in your friends hobby will allow you to try something new while also connecting more with your friends. Win win.

4 – Search online for people with shared interests

Got a hobby in mind but have no-one to do it with? Search online for local clubs related to your new found interest. A quick google search could bring up all kinds of meeting places. I recently found an Aussie rules football team looking for new players all the way over here in sunny England.

meetup.com is a good place to check out. If there’s nothing in there for your city and hobby why not set up a new group so other people can come to you.

5 – Always have a backup solo hobby

People can flake out on you. The weather can be fine one minute and p*ssing down the next. Traffic jams. Train delays. Earthquakes. Tornadoes. Aliens.

Anything might happen that could scupper your plans. That’s why it is always a good idea to have a backup hobby that you can do on your own and on the go.

For me it’s reading. I have the kindle app on my phone so if boredom ever gets ahold of me I can settle in with a good book to keep my mind occupied.

# – If you get stuck you can always try closing your eyes and picking a hobby from wikipedia!

What are your favorite hobbies? How well do they work in keeping your mind busy? Share with us in the comments below

Do you have a drinking problem? (answer these 13 questions if you are still unsure)

A lot of people who abuse alcohol think they are shit hot at hiding it from everyone around them. And they often are. It is possible to hide that you have had a drink if you are not physically intoxicated. It is also relatively easy to hide just how much you have drank over the course of a day, or even week or month (“This is just my second” – bullshit).

What is less easy to hide is the punishment alcohol puts your body through on a daily basis. Sure other people may not attribute the symptoms to alcohol use but they will most definitely notice them.

Noticeable symptoms in an alcohol abuser include:

• Trembling hands – the shakes that come about from alcohol withdrawal
• Restlessness
• Dry old looking skin – alcohol dehydrates the skin leaving you looking old and haggard
• Brittle hair and nails – dehydration again
• Broken capillaries on the face and nose making it look like you’ve just come in out of the cold
• Loss of balance or unsteadiness – even when sober
• Yellow sunken eyes
• Yellowing of the skin – liver problems
• Irregular heartbeat
• Seizures – If you, or someone else, had or is having a seizure call for an ambulance immediately

And those are just the visible issues. If you see any of these happening to yourself consult your physician as soon as possible.

Alcohol is a poison: if you give it a chance it will try to kill you. Continued alcohol abuse is known to give rise to numerous ailments. Ailments that can remain undetected for long periods such as:

Heart attacks and strokes
High blood pressure
Vitamin deficiencies
Anemia
Cirrhosis
Gout
Depression
Absence seizures
Various cancers
Brain damage    

Quitting drinking can slow down or even reverse these symptoms. The below is a good video about liver detoxification:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZgNPJArsRI

It is not just your liver that will benefit from quitting drinking but your brain, cardio vascular system and gut will all begin to heal and improve themselves as you detox from alcohol.

Don’t forget it is never too late to get a handle on your drinking. Take a look at how I quit drinking.