BlackShip

So today is my Day 2 and a major hurdle presents itself. We got dumped with just over a foot of snow last night and my office, and most businesses in the area, have closed for inclement weather.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with myself all day without working or getting drunk. I mean, those are the only 2 things I've done for the past 2 years. It's only 1:20 PM and I'm already so bored.

I'm realizing that I will be adding 6-7 coherent hours to my weekdays and 12+ on my weekend days and that is probably going to result in some significant boredom. I feel like this is going to be one of the hardest parts of staying sober.

How do you guys cope with the "boredom" that sobriety brings?

Stevie1

You could be my neighbor, with that weather! I'm basically snowed in right now...I'm a ways from a major road and nothing is plowed here. I shoveled my driveway about 2 hours ago and it's getting all covered up again.

I don't know about bored...I've never understood what "bored" entails. If you were to drink, what would you be doing in the meantime? Can you do that same thing sober?

Other suggestions...clean house, groom dogs, go for a snowy walk, organize and clean refrigerator, read through old posts here... Or...nap. I'm fairly newly sober and still get really tired. I might take a nap this afternoon.

I always figure if I've got books (or nowadays, the internet), I can never be bored. I don't even own a TV.

BlackShip

Haha, yeah, I'm in Michigan as well.

When I would drink, I wouldn't really do anything. I would kind of watch TV and kind of surf the internet, but drinking was my main activity.

Stevie1

Yep I get that, me too. It is not an easy adjustment for sure...I am on day 11 after my most recent relapse. Before, by now on a day with no work I had to get done, I'd be crawling on my knees through snow drifts if need be to the nearest liquor store.

But when I have thoughts like that I "play the tape" and think hard about drinking all day into blackout, passing out fully clothed, waking up feeling like shite the next morning...nah. Waking up not hung-over and with no regrets or dread about what I did while blacked out feels so much better.

doggonecarl

I don't think that sobriety brings boredom. At least not to me it hasn't. However, I think what early sobriety brings with it is our attention to the void that we once filled with drinking. In its place is the craving. So I wonder, are we really saying to ourselved, "I'm bored, I could be drinking." Or should we be saying, "I'm addicted to alcohol; I rather be drinking than listening to the voice in my head that says, 'Go ahead, take a drink.'" I think boredom is the term we drinkers mistakenly use to describe the lack of fulfillment that drinking provided.

I remember those early days. It seemed like every minute I thought about drinking, and when you are marking the passage of time in minutes, it drags. And boredom is the word we use to describe the slow, painful, dragging of time.

And while I don't personally believe recoverying drinkers are bored by sobriety, enough folks here on SR cite it as a reason to drink for it to be a concern...at least for you. While an activity can't replace an addiction, it can put something between you and the urge to drink.

It gets easier I promise, but I feel for you. Being snowed in on day 2 is a trial. Good luck.

CarolD

In AA....I've been glad...sad...and mad...but never bored...

I've kept as busy as I wanted to be...and learned
how to enjoy being alone.
My AA friends are varied and interesting. We do all
sorts of things outside of meetings and we stay sober together.


You are still in the de tox stage
Be gentle with yourself...early sobriety is often difficult

FBL

I was worried about what to do after I first quit drinking. It wasn't long before I re-discovered other hobbies/interests I had before drinking pushed them to the side. Now, I don't have enough hours in the day to do everything I want to pursue.

tsmba

I wouldn't place a lot of stock in how you feel your second day.....things WILL improve! A guy in one of my meetings said that people who are easily bired are boring themselves. We all need things to replace all the time we burned using, and some of them must be things that cost nothing and can be done any time. I love to read, so its never an issue....I can always pick up a book.

We had a blizzard yesterday, so today is FAR from boring. Hell, it took most of my time just to shovel out my drive and my neighbor's!

Mark75

You should get yourself a pile of books about alcoholism and recovery... Myself, I think a copy of the Big Book is all you really need, but not everyone will agree... You've got some work to do... get started

Dee74

Hi BlackShip

If drinking was a central to you as it was to me, you'll have a pretty sizeable hole to fill...but the good news is, you're only limited by your own imagination.

Our life is what we make it, man
D

BlackShip

Yeah, I except to have a sizeable hole to fill as well. I am going to stay as optimistic as I possibly can, especially when it comes to the uncomforts of getting sober.

Picking up a book seems like a great idea for the few who suggested it.

Dee74

It can be tough for a while - but you'll always find support here to help with the discomfort BlackShip

D

UniqueNewYork

When I feel like just not drinking, I play video games and watch movies online. When I feel like not drinking but being productive, I type up notes for my new job or go to the gym and work out. I also socialize, but only with people who are on board with my sobriety (I don't shove sobriety down their throat, they don't offer me a beer)