As others have said no sober time is wasted.
I tried AA numerous times over 20 years. I thought i could go to a meeting once a week and I would stay sober. I kept drinking so I felt AA didn't work.
When I finally was successful was when I DID AA. Doing AA required me getting a sponsor and working the steps. Doing AA required me going to a lot of meetings, building friendships/sobriety network, reading literature and performing service work. When I became part of AA instead of being an outsider looking in it was only then the miracle happened