Expert shares 'time boxing' technique to try after Dry January
The annual Dry January challenge may have officially come to an end for another year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to end your abstinence from alcohol.
Statistics published in a government-backed NHS health survey state that almost a quarter of adults in England do not drink booze.
Many people choose not to guzzle gin, whisky, and beer for health and fitness reasons, while some decline drinks due to faith and religion.
Others choose to temporarily give up alcohol for the first 31 days of the year due to their habitual overindulgence amid the Christmas period.
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However, come 1 February, many of these Dry January competitors turn back to bad habits.
If you successfully completed the program and have enjoyed not waking up every Sunday morning with a raging hangover, then you may want to continue going without.
While some people find becoming teetotal easy, others have a little bit more of a difficult ride post-Dry January.
Catherine Gray, author of Little Addictions: Freedom from our tiny but mighty compulsions, has said that there are some ‘hacks’ that can help you continue your dry spell.
Writing for The Sun, the 45-year-old specifically detailed how the ‘time boxing’ habit may help you achieve your straight edge dreams, or just help you continue cutting back on your liquor.
What is time boxing?
Time boxing is a schedule management technique, which allocates a maximum unit of time to an activity.
Instead of working until the task is complete, you work until your set time runs out.
“This strategy can even help you break tasks into more manageable parts, so you feel less pressure while staying productive. When the time is up, you stop, review, and either move on to a new task or extend your time box if necessary,” wrote Calm, the sleep app.
Various studies involving addiction and time boxing have been completed, including a rat-based experiment conducted by University of California experts.
Researchers discovered that extended drug access can lead to a profound increase in seeking behaviour.
However, when access was boxed into an hour’s time frame, usage remained consistent and didn’t spiral out of control.
How can ‘time boxing’ aid your sobriety journey
Behavioural expert and author, Nir Eyal, told Gray that by using the time boxing technique to shorten down your alcohol access windows, you can continue curbing your drinking habits.
“Time-boxing uses a well-researched technique psychologists call ‘setting an implementation intention’, which is a fancy way of saying: ‘Deciding what you’re going to do and when you’re going to do it,'” he explained.
Gray, who is adamant that the habit should ‘prevent drinking from spiralling out of control’ recommends restricting your booze to certain times.
This may include making a pact with your partner or housemate to put down the wine bottle at a defined time, or to only drink alcohol on certain nights.
If you want to completely stop drinking alcohol, then you could make an effort to shorten these blocks each week, and put them less frequently in your diary.
Eventually, you should be able to completely stop scheduling drinking time, and focus your attention on other hobbies instead.
Benenden Health, a not-for-profit mutual society in the UK providing private medical cover, advises replacing booze binges with evening classes, baking, and exercise.
Other activities you could pick up instead include: going to the library, drinking something other than alcohol, and visiting a new place.
If you're worried that you're drinking too much, there's support available. Find out about your options. Drinkline, a free, confidential helpline for people who are concerned about their drinking, or someone else's. Call 0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am–8pm, weekends 11am–4pm).
Ella Scott