Why daily routines are super important to quitting alcohol (Macklemore knows)

Like many people who were cruising through early sobriety in the leadup to the COVID-19 pandemic, the associated lockdowns hit me like a brick wall.

I had my schedule down to a T.

Every evening — the time I would usually be reaching for an after-work drink (or 5) — I would either be at my kids’ sports or at the gym.

I knew that to stay on track, I needed to keep my restless, ADHD mind and body in motion or I’d get myself into trouble.

So you can guess what happened when sports and the gym were suddenly pulled out from under me.

Routine removal

This happened twice, actually.

The first time, I’d gone a couple of solid months without a drink. I actually had a bunch of tallboy cans of beer in my cupboard (a gift) the whole time!

Believe me, no can of beer was safe in my house before this blessed period of abstinence.

But alas, the removal of my carefully thought-out routines and the stress and anxiety of our lives being completely turned upside-down by a global pandemic was the perfect excuse to say “ah, f*ck this.”

The second time, I actually managed to quit booze again during the pandemic.

The gym was open again, but only for limited, set hours that you had a book a spot for. Every day, I would diligently set my alarm for 5:15 a.m. and be in the gym by 6.

That I had to get up so early just to be able to use the gym completely removed any desire I had to drink at night.

Then, you guessed it, another complete lockdown removed my gym and kids’ sports routine again and, along with them, another alcohol-free period.

With nothing to do but sit around at home, alcohol became the easy option again.

This once-in-a-lifetime, black swan event really illustrated just how important activities and routines are to maintaining sobriety.

Without access to the gym, activities, and to writing here, I honestly don’t know where I’d be.

Pandemic relapses

I’ve touched on how the pandemic made casual alcoholism a big problem at the time — one that hit a lot of celebrities too.

Last week, musician Macklemore talked in some depth about how the removal of his pre-pandemic routines led directly to a relapse.

The musician is a leading voice among celebs in the new sobriety movement, and he’s been very open about his struggles in the past and has written numerous songs about them.

He told The Kelly Clarkson Show:

“It was an intense time. The life that I knew, just like all of our lives, was stripped away.

“I’m used to a certain schedule of touring, of being gone, of being home, of recovery and being able to go to a physical 12-step meeting.

“That stopped during COVID. Eventually, I’m on Instagram while being on Zoom and I’m just not really paying attention to the meetings.

“Eventually — and this is what happens when I don’t prioritize my recovery — if I don’t put that first, then I will lose everything that I’m putting in front of it. That’s what happens.”

For the first time, put yourself first

He touches on another important point here.

We typically drink to make ourselves feel better (only to feel worse after the initial high wears off), but we also drink to make others happy.

But at some point, you realize that in order to succeed you need to start putting yourself first.

For me, that meant being honest and clear about how important the night gym was to me and how crucial it was to staying on the rails. My wife understood that and has always been very supportive.

I also have to be more selfish about how I spend my time and who I spend it with.

I wrote about this recently in my article “The trauma of being an introverted child”.

One of the reasons I drank was that I’ve always been an extremely introverted person, and I knew alcohol made me more outgoing and fun.

Sometimes, if you aren’t comfortable with a situation, you just have to say no.

For me, that means passing on some social gatherings that don’t serve me and my sobriety in any positive way.

So, if you’re thinking about making a change, I’d strongly suggest you take some time to figure out some routines that would be helpful to you and build a schedule around them.

Always having something to do and somewhere to be can be a powerful way to quit alcohol.

Macklemore knows.

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