Sobriety is Boring
But it doesn’t have to be.
Why Sobriety is Boring
When I quit drinking, I was shocked by how boring sobriety was. Every night was brutally, mind-numbingly dull.
I had started drinking heavily in my early twenties, and for the next decade I spent nearly every evening getting drunk. I went entire years without even one full day sober.
During that decade, I went through several jobs and spent a few years in law school. However, even as my career changed, the structure of my day stayed the same.
I would wake up and go to work or school completely sober. (I often told myself that I didn’t have a real drinking problem since my habit never seemed to interfere with my career.) At the end of the work day, I’d head home, almost always stopping to pick up a six-pack or more of beer on the way.
Then, I’d get back to my apartment, and I’d immediately start drinking.
For the first hour or two of drinking I was sometimes able to get a few productive tasks done: cooking dinner or doing some homework. But, as I got more drunk throughout the night, all of my productivity went out the window.
By around eight o’clock, I’d normally be too drunk to do anything but sit on the couch, watching television, playing video games…
