Overcoming addiction starts with an acknowledgment that you have a problem and strategizing on how to find it a permanent redress. However, most counselors only advocate for long periods of recovery in detox facilities and rehabilitation centers, especially for drug addictions, which can interfere with your career. However, a significant number of the 2.6 million people estimated to be struggling with one addiction or another in the country are only glued to these addictions because they can’t find a suitable redress that doesn’t affect their career.
But are you out of options when it comes to overcoming an addiction without falling off tracks with your career? The answer is no, but such strategies require a lot of commitment and self-discipline. Here are seven addiction overcoming techniques that will set you on a path towards recovery while you work.
1. Healthy Habits
In most cases, addition refers to a compounded effect of one or several bad habits that you can’t seem to quit. This may be the need to smoke, drink, watch porn or even do hard drugs. You can escape any of these addictions by taking on healthy habits to replace them. Start by identifying the triggers for your addiction. These often include:
• Parties and other social gatherings
• The company you keep in the name of peers
• stress
Then aim at either avoiding them or rewiring your mind to shift attention to other distractive habits. For instance, instead of hitting the club every time you feel stressed or overwhelmed, join a gym or fitness club in your neighborhood and use the exercise to de-stress. Alternatively, join a book club or library and read your stress and addiction away.
The objective, in either case, is to keep you distracted and, therefore, any healthy habits that keep you busy and thoughts about your addiction and destructive thoughts at bay are welcome. You can also work with a counselor in identifying the healthy habits that best suits you.
2. Evening, Weekend and Holiday Detox Programs
In extreme drug and alcohol abuse cases, you need more than just habit adjustments. Consider checking in at a local detox facility. Have a sit down with a doctor and inquire whether they offer evening and weekend detox programs or if they can make an exception for your case. Alternatively, discuss with your employer on the possibility of redeeming your annual vacation leave early and book yourself into a detox facility for the entirety of this period.
3. Start A Project
Channel the energy and time spent engaging in these addictive behaviors to constructive use. Start a home project that eats into your leisure time and keeps you away from these triggers. Evaluate all your interests and work on one that you feel most passionate about. Write a book, work on improving your home garden, or start a facelift project for your backyard.
Remember that between 40 and 60 percent of all recovering addicts relapse soon after rehabilitation or half-way through the recovery process due to demotivation. To avoid being part of these negative statistics, work on a project that outlives the recovery period. Most importantly, work on a financially rewarding project as the compensation they accord might inspire you to stay on course long after overcoming your addiction.
4. Part-Time Counseling and Community Support Groups
If your addictive behaviors stem from psychological problems like lack of self- control, low self-esteem or stress consider taking up part-time counseling sessions. Such can take place after work or during the lunch break. If possible engage an independent counselor, but you can also talk it out with your organization’s counselor or performance couch without fear of career repercussions as they are bound to the doctor-patient confidentiality.
This way, you get to keep your job and start on a path towards recovery. In an organization without a counselor and in case you can’t afford one, join a community support group in your neighborhood. They are equally effective when well moderated.
5. Join Workgroups
Most people attribute some addictive behaviors to the amount of idle time they have at hand. Can you relate to this? Find a way to trim this idle time within the workplace.
Most organizations have employee groups that host recreation activities regularly. You can use these work events to avoid social gatherings and time out with contagious friends that trigger your addiction or relapse. If you don’t have an existing workers program, help establish one.
6. Account to Family or Friend
The leading cause of demotivation way through the recovery process and the huge cases of relapse is lack of accountability. Who will hold you accountable for your decision to wipe out toxicity in your life? If you aren’t self-disciplined enough, you will often find yourself cheating half-way through the recovery process or after counseling and detox programs.
To avoid this, open up to a family member about your struggles with addiction and let them hold your hand on your journey to recovery. With their support, you can get through the journey and even avoid relapse as they hold your hand throughout the process preventing a relapse.
7. Distract Yourself With Career Goals
Setting up career goals can also help you overcome your addictions while keeping track of your job. Create a sense of purpose and direction for your future at a given profession and come up with a plan on how to steer it towards accomplishing such a goal.
For instance, if you run a department within an organization, use your idle time to review your departmental goals and chart ways forward. Alternatively, enroll in a masters program or a professional course that boosts your marketability and productivity at your current position.
Bottom Line
The secret to overcoming an addiction of any nature lies in replacing it with an appropriate distraction. To speed up the process, most people end up in secluded rehabilitation centers. Nonetheless, you can still overcome any addiction without necessarily putting your career on hold by booking yourself at a rehabilitation center. This starts by avoiding addiction triggers and rewiring your brain by shifting its attention to healthy habits. Numerous individuals have done it and with a determination and self-discipline, you too can.