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Addiction tends to create a lifestyle of chaos and disorganization. There is generally a lack of organization and structure to an addict's daily activities. Sometimes by the time that they get to recovery, they have lost the positive organizing structure of their lives. There is no work routine. There is no routine for taking care of personal or family responsibilities. They frequently have eating/sleeping routines that are out of mainstream. An addict's life can become chaotic and haphazard.
One of the benefits of inpatient treatment is the structure that it provides to the addict in early recovery. The order and structure of the program itself, with its regimented wakeup time, limited time for breakfast service, daily morning meetings, and expected consistent daily attendance of sessions. The newly recovering person is called upon to sleep at night, and be awake and engaged during the day when treatment personnel are available and presenting recovery materials and services. There are also rules about when the person can leave the treatment center and where they can go. After leaving inpatient treatment, the person in early recovery is called upon to create the ongoing structure in their daily lives.
Having your time closely scheduled helps to reduce the obsessive thoughts about drinking/using. It is also difficult to become bored while tight scheduled in highly engaging activities. Boredom is correlated with thoughts about drinking/using. While in active addiction, the addict's life becomes prioritized by drug seeking, the actual use of the drug, and then getting over the use of the drug. Suddenly faced with the absence of these behaviors, the newly recovering person can struggle to try to figure out how to replace those old lifestyle behaviors with new, recovery enhancing behavior.
A new lifestyle must be developed that encourages and nurtures recovery. That often means a complete restructuring of a person's time, activities, and attention. It involves a massive change in routine.
One way to effect a major lifestyle change is to develop a daily schedule, complete with day planner, appointment book, or an equivalent electronic device. A recovering person should schedule in each counseling appointment, weekly or daily conference or phone call with sponsor, all 12 step meetings, work schedule, doctor's appointments, any planned personal or family events or activities like parent/teacher conferences, date night, or family game night. Daily physical exercise, morning meditations, and evening "down time" should also be scheduled in.
Having a tightly scheduled day in early recovery is very helpful in preventing relapse. It helps to eliminate excessive free time, which can lead to cravings, and thoughts about drinking/using. It also helps eliminate boredom, depression, and anxiety by maintaining a level of busy-ness and reducing opportunities to ruminate or worry. By not dwelling on the things that may be bothering you emotionally, depression and anxiety are reduced. A tight schedule also helps cut down on the negative emotional thoughts about self, others, and the world that feeds depression and anxiety.
Keeping a daily schedule also helps with prioritizing tasks and activities that recovering people are called upon to participate in. Sometimes people in recovery feel as if they are pulled in too many directions and are scheduled too tightly. In this case, a schedule that is too densely scheduled, serves to increase rather than decrease their stress. A schedule that is too densely committed, may serve as an indicator of the need to learn and practice assertiveness. It is important to learn to set and maintain appropriate boundaries in early recovery. Learning to say "no" to a request for your time, can be difficult, but with practice, can build or reinforce positive self esteem and self-confidence. Knowing that you are engaged in too many activities can also help you to improve your ability to prioritize. Without this ability, it is easy to become frustrated and overwhelmed, thereby increasing your stress.
Increased stress, whether from too much or too little structure can increase the probability of relapse if it is not appropriately managed. Balance is a skill not easily acquired in early recovery. Yet, people in early recovery must learn to effectively manage all the daily living tasks and recovery tasks that they have to do, one day at a time,
