Our AVs will use any excuse to get us to take that first drink, whether that be a stressor (eg work stress or family issues or grief); a celebration (eg weddings or birthday or a team win); or a habit (eg. day of the week or particular place or people)
The thing is, if alcohol actually was helpful none of us would have arrived here at this forum trying to get sober or maintain our sobriety. But alcohol was not a solution to anything before, and it wouldn't be now. In AA the first step in the recovery program is to write a detailed list or account of the ways that alcohol made life unmanageable, and this is a great little piece of paper to get back out and look back over when my AV starts trying the 'a drink would make this better /easier' type ass-poop.
Also in AA I was taught to 'keep it in the day', or on a particularly trying day, 'keep it in the hour'. Effectively Mindfulness. Not letting my mind go trawling off into the past or the future, but to stay present and just deal with what is at hand right now. Which is the only thing we can really do anyway. And not trying to second guess other people's motives or what they're thinking, or projecting about how conversations will go (what my sponsor refers to as 'talking to people who aren't in the room').
Acceptance of others being as they are - 'warts' and all (although their warts may be more along the lines of erratic, selfishness, bullishness, etc.). Getting hung up on others foibles or behaviors is just sowing seeds for resentments, and these are a luxury that i can ill-afford I recovery. Resentments are like emotional poison. Much better to focus on my side of the street.
This is all stuff that I have learned through recovery - some in AA and some on here. And when people suggested most of these things to me I was disheartened. I wanted some more practical suggestions I suppose. But gradually my perspective altered. My alcoholic thinking used to have me grabbing for answers that would give instant gratification. Often i'd over reacting to situations that gave me fear of threatened to damage how I thought others might perceive me, and then find myself having to spend mental and physical energy putting those things right or stressing about them, all adding to my load.
There are a couple of practical / physical suggestions I'll make though. My own work environment can be very challenging at times, and on those days and weeks I would find it very hard to step back and breathe, and get some perspective on things. Problems soon grow disproportionately large in my head when I get to wrapped up in or close to them. So, nowadays I try to always have at least a 20 minute break from the work environment every lunchtime. I actually use a prayer / meditation podcast to listen to while I walk and focus on breathing and reducing the physical tensions that have built up in my body. Often, as I leave the building, I don't realise how fast I'm walking or breathing, and that my entire neck and shoulder area is tense as could be. As I walk and change focus these things become evident to me and I can address them. I always return very refreshed and more able to solve problems and cope with people and situations that were causing me insurmountable issues half an hour previously. That 20 minutes off effectively makes me more time effective for the rest of the day.
You may not be interested in going to AA, and that's fair enough. Each to their own as far as recovery goes. But it might be worth just looking online at the 12 steps of AA. What fascinated me (at a month sober when I first went along) was that only the first step even mentions alcohol. The other 11 steps are all about learning to live life on life's terms, and recovering from being who we were and becoming resilient through an altered perspective. Reading those steps gave me hope. I wasn't insane (as I'd been thinking) and life didn't have it in for me after all. I was just feeling as thousands of others had done before me, and will do after me. And there are steps I can take to feel better. I was not alone. I was not insane. I could, I was told, find serenity - inner peace and joy. And I have, through working a recovery program. Alcohol never gave me that, no matter what promises it whispered or yelled in my ear.
I wish you all the best for your sobriety and recovery, and hope that work won't seem so mountainous today. BB