I’ve been trying to stay sober lately but life’s been making it difficult. Just curious or anyone has tried those apps and if they work well, could use all the help I can.
It’s been a few years for me, but I didn’t have great experiences with the free options at least when I tried them. Most of the ones I saw ended up being a calendar for progress tracking and/or daily words of encouragement which wasn’t helpful for me personally, but everyone’s journey is different. Some had a social component to connect you with other people trying to make a change in their life or an actual counseling professional, kind of like a traditional 12-step sponsor, but they usually paywalled those features.
If it’s free, give it a shot. You have nothing to lose except for a little bit of time.
I’ve had some success in the past using a combination of dose/frequency charts and the “don’t break the chain” approach to building habits popularised by our favourite comedian Jerry Seinfeld.
Don’t break the chain just means you mark an X in every day of a calendar and consecutive days form a “chain” of Xes and this becomes a visual reminder of your progress and builds a little dopamine reward loop around sticking with “the thing” and not breaking the chain.
Dose/frequency charts were initially a practicality for tapering / managing a slow withdrawal, but the chart line going down also seemed to have a similar intrinsic motivating influence on my mind and my resolve.
Both of these strats are basically “gamification” tools and they’re integrated into (or form the whole function of) most quitting apps, but you don’t necessarily need to use an app to use habit forming techniques to break a bad habit.
Find whatever is super convenient and fits into your lifestyle (app or otherwise, check for FOSS apps first) or build simple systems like above, which can work on paper or in a spreadsheet or in a dedicated app that you are comfortable using.
It’s actually a bit obnoxious how effective stuff like this can be even with really brutal addictions and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend trying an app if I wasn’t also worried about apps and privacy in general.
What’s the deal with drinking alcohol!
It makes me feel like shit, but I can’t stop! What’s the dee-eeall?
“Jerry, I borrowed your calendar because I needed it to schedule my orthodontist appointment.”
“Kramer! That’s my sobriety calendar!”
“When did you quit drinking Jerry?”
“I don’t remember, because you took my calendar!”
Best of luck, comrade; tis truly a noble goal.
The only app that works for me is weed pen. This is day four of alcohol-free April. I drink too much myself so I’m doing a sober month each quarter. For me it’s all or nothing, and this model is better (for me) than drinking all the time.
