I've found alcohol moderation to be hard at times, so I thought I'd put together some simple strategies and thoughts I've found helpful.

The 15 Minute Rule

Whenever you finish a drink, take a glance at the time. Don't pour another drink until 15 minutes from that time. It'll keep you less drunk and focus you on other things that are going on. You'll probably also end up spacing more than 15 minutes here and there.

Is booze your fun source?

If you find yourself wanting a drink and you're not sure why, ask yourself if it's because you're bored. I've found myself in situations where I'm kind of bored so I think about having another drink as entertainment. If you're in this situation, give yourself at least fifteen minutes and try entertaining yourself some other way.

Is your consumption on autopilot?

I've found myself consuming too much in the past due to not really thinking a whole lot about alcohol at all and letting my subconscious steer the situation.

The way around this is to re-program your mind so that your default is mindfulness rather than constantly having a drink in your hand. Using the fifteen minute rule is a great way to train this into you.

Are you hungry?

It's easy to want a drink when you're hungry. Your stomach is empty, and a drink will help. Consider if you actually want to have a drink or if you could have some water or food instead.

Nobody's Perfect

This is a hard habit to change. If you're making progress over the long term, you're doing it right. It's important to keep at it when you mess up. Nobody's perfect.

I made an app to help out

I made an app to help with alcohol moderation. You input how much you drink and at what time, and the app tracks how many drinks are in your system. Over time, you get a sense of what numbers you want to see.

There are cues to help with the tricks I describe here too. There's a little indicator that tells you when your last drink was, and it turns from black to green once fifteen minutes has passed.

If you get too many drinks in your system, the app will turn yellow and then red in order to suggest that you might need to slow down.

Check it out here: https://drinktracker.app