You asked for help, and you went to the best drug rehab in Florida for you. Now you’ve come home and you’re ready to set up your life so to succeed at sober living. It’s going to take a lot of work. Unfortunately that doesn’t stop being true, even after long term rehab. Life after rehab takes a lot of tearing down of old life habits and structures, and the rebuilding of healthy rituals and boundaries.
One of the most important things you can do to create a sober life is to create a consistent schedule that you adhere to. It can be flexible of course, a well manicured schedule should be able to roll with the different challenges of life without completely stressing you out. But you should create some structure and you should record that schedule somewhere tangible, that you can reference.
Keep a Schedule
First thing’s first, figure out when you want to wake up in the morning and when you want to go to bed in the evening. Sketch out the beginning and end of your day so you know what your waking hours are, and when you’re going to bed so you can get plenty of sleep. Sleep is one of the most important ways to stay healthy of mind and body. Once you figure out bedtime and wake up time, mark it on your calendar. In order to be successful at almost anything, almost everyone needs a schedule. Sure, there are folks out there with photographic memory but most of us forget meetings, and special events.
We get distracted, or stressed out and we occasionally miss things or we know our mom’s birthday is coming up but can’t seem to remember when it is. It’s okay. There’s a pretty simple solution here. Get a book and write that stuff down! Here’s the hard part, though: Be consistent! Don’t only do it once. Or twice. Or do it for a month or three and then stop because you went on vacation, or got sick. You must commit to it for it to work for you. You can do it. I swear. And the most successful people do.
Imagine the stress relief of having your mom’s birthday in your calendar so there’s plenty of time to get a present. Imagine the anxiety relief of knowing when your work meetings are, of not forgetting your kid’s recital because it’s right there in the planner, 7pm, McGill Middle School, August 23rd. You know when it is, and you know where it is. Imagine the confidence you can gain by feeling structured and not flaky.
Take a deep breath and either create a google or outlook calendar that you can link to your smartphone, go old school and buy yourself a planner, or if you don’t have the money for smartphones and planners, create one of your own. Go to the dollar store and get a notebook. You can create a calendar and any lists you want. Be creative. Draw pictures if they help. Try Bullet Journaling.
Practical Application
After you decide how you’re going to go about keeping a schedule, and either downloaded the app you want to use or purchased a notebook or planner, fill it out with all of the general information that’s important to your life. I suggest sitting down and putting any must remember dates in your calendar schedule in one go. Birthdays, annual or monthly meetings, weekly dates that aren’t going to change.
It will be a big project, but trust me it’s worth it.
Then the best time to use your planner or schedule is right before or after journaling. You can write down any new appointment or event you may have learned about that day, and review your responsibilities for the next day. I also suggest regularly attending to your contact list either on your phone or in your planner to be sure it’s up to date. All of this, while it may seem like another chore, will save you so much stress later. It gives you a sense of control over your life because you know where your responsibilities lie and where you can (and you should) schedule time for yourself. You won’t forget important dates like your daughter’s birthday. These sorts of situations make us sick. Forgetting something that means so much to us can send us spiraling into the arms of addiction again.
If you or someone you know are struggling with addiction and are seeking the best drug rehab in Florida, please call us immediately at (833) 596-3502. Our dedicated staff are passionate about helping to guide people to a life of sobriety and find hope through addiction recovery. Call us today so we can walk you through what we offer in our treatment programs in Florida and help you on your path to sober living.
