I Stopped Drinking Alone for 4 Months

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2019-09-08

I Stopped Drinking Alone for 4 Months

From March 2019 to July 2019, I experimentally stopped drinking alcohol alone. A key question was: "Do I become more productive and healthy?"

The answer is actually "NO" in terms of both; I didn't observe any significant differences, but it was an interesting opportunity to make a small change in my life.

Rule

The rule is simple: Do not drink alcohol alone anywhere, and anytime.

I was not trying to stay away from any drinking activities. Drinking with somebody else like friends and colleagues is fine, but I just shouldn't be alone.

I regularly ‐ a couple of days per week ‐ enjoy drinking alone at a bar or home. It makes me more comfortable and relaxed, and sometimes the bars become a good place for reading books, writing articles or code, and even for working in some special cases.

Stopping the habit was not easy. I needed to completely change my mind and way of spending my time over the weekends.

First Week: Weird Dining Experiences

Sadly, I have been traveling alone quite often lately. It means that I missed a lot of chances to enjoy local drinks at the following destinations:

https://twitter.com/takuti/status/1167966268449681408

I was in Seattle, WA, USA during the first week of this experiment, and I went to a local seafood restaurant. Their menu had a good selection of local craft beers and wines, but I just ordered sparkling water instead of them. As a result, while the food was surprisingly good, I felt something weird, which might be relevant to the feeling of dissatisfaction.

At first, I was confused by the feeling. However, I gradually adapted to the new habit day by day, and I became completely fine after a couple of weeks. Notice that, if it's continued, we might need to consider the possibility of alcoholic.

What Happened?

As I mentioned above, the "not drinking alone" habit has introduced no significant differences in my productivity and health. I'd say I was equally productive by looking back on the past year, and I continuously worked out regularly and kept healthy eating habits anyway.

Meanwhile, there are two things changed:

Became a foodie.
Had more coffee.

First, when I eat out, I started spending more time to search for a good restaurant nearby so that I can fully enjoy their food itself.

Before: Any restaurants were fine for me, as long as they have good beers.
After: Because I eat the dishes without drinking, it should be exceptionally tasty and/or healthy to make me satisfied.

Moreover, "bar & beer" has completely been replaced with "cafe & coffee" in my daily life.

Before: Spend a weekend morning at a cafe with a cup of coffee, and start bar hopping afterward.
After: Cafe hopping on a whole day; on a weekend day, I went to three cafes on average and spent about three hours at each.

I still didn't know if these are good changes or not, but, since I believe nothing will be changed anymore, I finally decided to terminate the experiment at the end of July.

Bottom Line

My conclusion is that, in order to effectively take a break or refresh my focus, I see more value for drinking alone than strictly staying away from that.

The 4-month experimental habit told me the fact, and hence I realized how the balance between cafe & bar is important for my personal life. It should be noted that I found many good restaurants and cafes I didn't know thanks to the days without drinking :)

Author: Takuya Kitazawa

Takuya Kitazawa is a freelance software developer based in British Columbia, Canada. As a technologist specializing in AI and data-driven solutions, he has worked globally at Big Tech and start-up companies for a decade. At the intersection of tech and society, he is passionate about promoting the ethical use of information technologies through his mentoring, business consultation, and public engagement activities. See CV for more information, or contact at [email protected].

Now Gift a cup of coffee

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