When everyday problems and stress tie you up in knots and threaten to derail your carefully constructed life of newly achieved sobriety after addiction, it may help to spend a little time sorting things out. Focus on certain tasks can reduce the pressure you feel and make your life seem less overwhelming.
Focus On One Thing At A Time
When you hear about people multi-tasking, sometimes it is mentioned as a positive trait. Think about it, though. When you try to do two things at once, what happens? Your attention is divided, which means you aren’t doing quality work on either task, and it takes longer to get both done.
Instead, focus on a single project, issue, task, or activity at a given time. Don’t allow the phone, email, or other interruptions to distract you from your task. If you absolutely must answer the phone, get through the conversation quickly and then return to your task. You can always tell the caller you’ll call them back at a specific time – either your time allocated for making/returning phone calls or during your “free time.”
By focusing on one thing at a time, you’ll enjoy the added benefit of crossing things off your To-Do list. This gives you a sense of accomplishment and adds to your overall positive state of mind.
Focus On Positive Aspects Of Your Life
Recovery has its ups and downs, and you need to be prepared for them. When things look bleak, focus on what’s good in your life, the positive things, you have accomplished. You made the tough decision to enter treatment or accepted an intervention and went into treatment; you made it through detox and treatment and are in recovery. This is an extraordinary accomplishment! Don’t think for a minute that it isn’t. You’ve successfully overcome probably the most difficult hurdle in your life so far. Mark this as a big positive.
You have your health back and/or are working hard to restore a healthy balance to your life through physical exercise, challenging mental stimulation, and constructive recreational activities. These are all positive aspects of your life.
Count the new friends you have made in treatment and support groups – or the new acquaintances you’ve found through joining new recreational, sports, educational, or hobby groups. These are strong positive influences on your life.
Look at a physical reminder of what’s really important in your life. This could be a photo of your spouse or significant other, your children, parents, or siblings.
Take time out to look through a scrapbook or vacation photos of a place that you really enjoyed.
Focus On Long-Term Goals
You have a second chance at a good life. In recovery, you need to make plans for the future and strive every day to make some movement toward achieving those plans. It doesn’t matter if that long-term goal is to go back to school or university, complete a degree, learn a new skill or hobby, take up a sport, learn how to speak a foreign language, travel, or whatever. The important point is to set aside time to first list or, later, revise your goals, as needed, and then to actually take steps to make the dream a reality.
Having a focus on long-term goals also helps you to feel less tied to any short-term problems or issues that are occurring today. Think of it another way. If you only look down, you cannot see where you are going. If you donot take a step forward, you will never get where you want to go. Having a goal and a plan of action means there is always something good on your horizon.
Please, visit Brooks Healing Center for more tips and ideas that can help you after addiction recovery.