I’m 6 days in after relapsing I’ve finally only just started to feel normal again I genuinely thought I’d completely lost all control. I beat myself up so much about relapsing but I’ve realised that it’s not the lifestyle I want once again. I also realised that my main trigger was bordem because I’m not doing much most of the time so I was wondering if anyone has things/exercises/hobbies anything to take my mind of things ?
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Let’s see… here’s some things I’ve done/do to keep busy; body and mind.
Guitar
Drums
Piano/keyboard
PHP/MySQL/Javascript
Videos/YouTube
Gardening
Organization/declutter living space
Volunteering
Model cars/planes
Puzzles
Writing short stories
Hiking/camping
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You could also read here a lot. Hopefully read enough where the idea of relapsing Gets totally repulsive to you. If you find the smoking thread there’s lots posted there on things to do also. I don’t know the name of the thread. Good luck to you and congratulations on all your days sober
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If you are fit and able or wanting to be more fit and more able you could do the plank challenge there’s a thread for that. Or just do a plank for 15 seconds and increase it as you’re able to. That only takes a very short time let’s say less than five minutes if you’re super strong
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Knitting keeps or hands busy
Diamond art,
Walking
Painting
You got this, you are strong
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This might sound a little different but I grabbed all my loose change and started looking up errors per year to see if I had any old pennies that were worth anything. We ended up finding a coin that had a missing letter due to a bad batch of stamping. It wasn’t worth more than a few dollars because it was in such bad shape but a few dollars on a penny…heck, I will take that! Tomorrow I am going to pick up some yarn at my local community thrift store and try crocheting. All proceeds from my purchase at the thrift goes to their teen center so I may feel inclined to shop a bit. I also exercise and want to pick up an instrument eventually. ODAAT!
It all depends what you’re interested in. I like to do alot of woodworking or remodeling my house (my wife hates coming home to seeing a wall removed though). Another thing I’ve set my sights on is not just competing in the open heats for spartan races, but going after age group and overall and being competitive in doing so.
What I did when I first got sober.
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Eliot, if I might propose to you that the problem is not that you are bored, the problem is that you are an alcoholic. What are you willing to do about that?
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If you’re crafty, try woodworking. There’s nothing like seeing something you made come to life. Especially because that thing will be representative of your struggle. A small open top box for coins is a good place to start!
Ask Yourself this thing:
1.0 What Activity makes you loose track of time? ( other than stimulants)
2.0 What kind of rewards you might get after doing the same consistently after 6 months everyday?
3.0 If you have tried this activity before and failed, how can you do it more interestingly or differently this time?
If you have got your answer and if you have truly find THE THING you can do it rest of your life and do it better every day.
Just after one year you will be transformed into a different person
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Two words: Celebrate recovery.
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@NEWLIFE22S, thank you for this inspiring post. I’m keeping this one as one of the best tips for boredom.
I like this.
It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t still look for things to keep busy….but it’s true, boredom didn’t make you drink, you did. Just like the rest of us. 
As for things to do……what about a puzzle? I have a bunch of puzzles I really want to get out but it would mean abandoning one I couldn’t finish. LOL
I am working on building that list myself. For so long drugs/alcohol consumed my life so I never got to do the things I actually liked.
•Guitar
•Listening to podcasts
•Video Games- I bought a lot of those after getting clean.
•Working takes up a lot of my time.
•I attend All Recovery meetings 1-2 times per day, they are not a 12 step and focus on both mental illness and addiction so that’s more my style.
•I am doing this 10 week class for mental health and addiction recovery three days a week for three hours per day.
•I go to my local recovery center to chill and do meetings or activities.
•Watching TV
•Listening to music
•Art
•Taking care of my pets
•Cleaning, which sounds boring but for me is a good distraction.
•I want to start volunteering, just need to figure out where and a good time slot for me to do that.
•I started school again.
Sooo, best bit of advice is just fill your days with as many positive things as you can. Staying busy has been super important for me, and mix in some recovery activities to keep you focused and supported. 
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Best of luck and enjoy your precious time my friend
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I’m learning a language on Duo Lingo, studying physics and I play a real-time-stratedgy game when I have a good hour to burn. I also loooove getting lost on my motorcycle.
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Ok, geek alert! Here’s my boredom relieving hobby:
I am an avid birder. That means I go bird watching pretty much every day. As a hobby these are the reasons that I recommend it.
It gets you out in nature.
You become intimately connected with your surroundings.
It is relaxing.
It clears your mind.
Your senses of sight and hearing expand. You become aware that there is an entire community of birds and other creatures all around you.
It is great exercise but you don’t feel like you’re exercising at all.
You are constantly learning new things
It provides a healthy form of intermittent reinforcement. You never know what you will see and it is truly exciting when you stumble upon something fabulous like the 2 Great-horned Owls that I saw yesterday.
And finally, because you are in the now mentally and you are reacting to what is going on around you, time passes very quickly. Like yesterday I went out at about 2:30 PM and I was only going to be out for an hour or two. I finally got home at 6:15. Was I bored at all during that time not at all.
- One last addition. Birder’s are a marvelous community…… very supportive, kind, and grounded people as a whole. For those interested in going on a bird watching walk in the US the local Audubon society chapters lead free bird walks and they are incredibly helpful to beginners.
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