Summary

Star singer Adele discusses the challenges of quitting alcohol, emphasizing the initial boredom and the need to find new ways to fill time previously spent drinking.

Abstract

Adele's recent revelation about her journey to sobriety sheds light on the psychological struggles that accompany quitting alcohol, including withdrawal symptoms, anxiety, and moodiness. Beyond the physical and psychological hurdles, she highlights the unexpected challenge of boredom that arises once the habit of drinking is removed from daily life. The article underscores the importance of finding meaningful activities to replace the time once occupied by alcohol, suggesting that this is crucial for maintaining sobriety and can lead to a more fulfilling life. It also points out that the extra time gained from not drinking can be significant, offering opportunities for personal growth and productivity.

Opinions

The author believes that admitting to the boredom that comes with quitting alcohol is a critical step in maintaining sobriety.
It is suggested that the modern excuse of "not having enough time" is often invalid, and that quitting alcohol can reveal how much time was actually being wasted.
The author, who identifies as a restless creative type, opines that sitting still and passive activities like watching TV are not effective alternatives to drinking for everyone, especially those with ADHD.
The article conveys that finding activities that are personally fulfilling, such as exercise or writing, is key to successfully replacing the time spent drinking and avoiding the temptation to relapse.
The author encourages readers to view the extra time created by sobriety as an opportunity to pursue long-delayed goals and personal interests.

Star singer Adele revealed a MASSIVE challenge after you quit alcohol

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit there are myriad challenges that come with quitting alcohol.

There are the withdrawals, of course.

My physical ones were limited, fortunately — just a little trouble getting to sleep the first couple of nights.

The psychological ones — the anxiety, the moodiness, the cravings, the lack of direction — were much tougher.

But after those tapered off between 10–14 days into my quit alcohol quest, I was confronted with perhaps the biggest challenge of all.

Yes, I had to face a very surprising question.

And I knew I needed an answer quickly, because not having one was the biggest threat to my nascent sobriety.

A newly sober star confronts a surprising foe

A few weeks ago, superstar singer Adele was performing at her Las Vegas residency show.

At one point she was chatting with the crowd and made a surprising revelation.

Video of the exchange was posted to her Twitter account and was also quoted by the UK Independent in an article the same week.

Here’s what Adele said:

“I stopped drinking … maybe, like, three and a half months ago.”

“It’s boring.

“I mean, oh my God, it’s boring.

“I was literally borderline alcoholic for quite a lot of my 20s, but I miss it so much. I cut out caffeine (as well).

“So, enjoy your whiskey sour. I’m very, very jealous.”

The last line was said in jest, but the exchange hit on a surprising and sneaky problem that has thrown countless people off course in their quest for sobriety (myself included on many, many occasions).

And it’s something not everyone is willing to admit: when you quit alcohol, it is boring … at first.

That’s because your brain has been psychologically and physiologically trained to seek that easy dopamine hit, thus rendering everything else in life a shade of grey.

Not only that, you kind of don’t know what to do with yourself at first.

So the surprising question I was confronted with after my withdrawals tapered off was this: “How the hell am I going to fill all this free time?”

Superstar singer Adele recently revealed that she quit alcohol (Kristopher Harris from Charlotte, NC, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Filling the gaps

It seems like a good problem to have, right?

We’re all pulled in a million different directions in this modern society we live in and it often feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day.

(Side note: I believe almost all claims of “I don’t have the time” are total baloney no matter your life situation — check your screen time in your phone’s settings if you doubt me — but I digress).

But quitting alcohol actually frees up even more time for you — literally hours per day.

Just think, you immediately get back time once lost to:

Entire evenings numbed out on the couch staring at the TV or your phone
Extra hours in bed trying to sleep off the poison in your system
Countless unproductive hours the following day due to low energy and low mood

And if you’re a restless creative type like myself (and I assume Adele), the sneaky problem all this free time can present is crushing boredom.

The singer has discovered the same thing I did just 17 days into my quit alcohol journey, which I captured in this post from just over a year ago.

Here’s what I wrote:

“For a lot of people, myself included, drinking was a way to kill boredom or, as an ADHD person, slow my brain down and ‘relax’ during my waking hours.

“This is all a scam, of course. While you might consider yourself to be ‘relaxing’, you are in fact pouring gasoline on the embers of any anxiety or dissatisfaction you may have crackling under the surface.

“You’re just delaying those feelings, knowing they’re going to hit even harder when you sober up.”

I needed something else to do as an alternative to “relaxing”.

This will look different for every individual, but my solution centered on two activities:

Going to the gym at night, when booze was calling out to me the loudest
Writing here, which filled idle time and allowed me to process my thoughts and feelings about the whole thing

It may be that some folks could sit down on the couch and binge-watch TV shows all night as an alternative, but my ADHD brain just doesn’t work like that.

Sitting still makes me uncomfortable.

In fact, nothing makes me crave alcohol more than sitting still and the associated boredom.

And if you’ve had trouble with alcohol too, I’d venture to guess that it may not be the most effective solution for you either.

So if you’re thinking about quitting or have failed before, perhaps you just need to give a little more thought to what happens after you quit.

I’m sure there are so many things you put off while you were hooked on alcohol: starting a business, making more money, doing art, getting back in shape … whatever.

Now’s your chance to catch up.

Don’t mistake the opportunity as just another reason to drink.

Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed this post or found it useful, please give it some claps so others can find it! How did you fill your newfound hours after quitting? Let me know in the comments!

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