Pressure & Performance Series — Part 5 of 8
Part 1: The Hidden Pain of Overworking and Self-Neglect
Part 2: Work Habits That Lead to Burnout and the Bottle
Part 3: How Long Working Hours Hurt Sobriety (and Productivity)
Part 4: Managing High Stress Without Alcohol
Part 5: The "Whatever It Takes" Approach ← you’re here
Part 6: The Social Pressure Trap: Drinking to Fit In at Work Events
Part 7: Financial Pressure: A Dangerous Excuse to Drink
Part 8: Work-Life Balance: Rebuilding Enjoyment Outside of Work
When alcohol has been our way of decompressing, we often look for one thing to replace it. We try exercise, meditation, a bath or an alcohol-free drink and expect it to create the same immediate change. If it doesn't, we decide it isn't working.
But the thing is, one activity doesn't need to replace everything we thought alcohol did.
Work out what we're decompressing from
A hard day can leave us feeling different things. We might be mentally overloaded, physically restless, angry, lonely or simply tired of being needed by everyone.
We won't always need the same thing. A walk could help when we're restless but feel like another demand when we're exhausted. Quiet may help after meetings but feel worse when we've been alone all day.
So before choosing what to do, we can ask what kind of pressure we're carrying.
Make it easy to do something else
By the end of the day, we probably won't want to organise something complicated.
Keep food available. Leave walking shoes where we'll see them. Put the phone in another room. Have something we enjoy watching or listening to ready.
We're just making it easier to do something helpful before we fall straight into the old routine.
Use more than one thing if that's what it takes
Some evenings, ten minutes outside could be enough. Other times, we may need food, a shower, an hour without work and an early night.
We could call someone, drive somewhere different, clean the kitchen or do nothing for a while.
It doesn't need to look impressive. If it gets us through the pressure without drinking and doesn't cause another problem tomorrow, it has done its job.
Don't turn decompression into another rule
We can become just as rigid about a new routine as we were about work. Then missing the gym or not meditating feels like the evening is ruined, and alcohol starts looking like the backup plan.
The routine is there to help us, not test us. We can change it when the day changes.
Alcohol was never a clean off switch
It changed the feeling quickly, but the day often came back at three in the morning with a racing mind. Then we carried poor sleep into the next workday and needed to switch off again.
Decompressing without alcohol may be slower, but at least we don't wake up carrying another problem into the next day.
— Brent
→ Next in this series: The Social Pressure Trap: Drinking to Fit In at Work Events