Managing Life and Responsibilities Post-Rehabilitation

Life after rehab is a whole new journey. This is why if you want to remain grounded and successful in your sobriety journey, it’s a must that you dedicate time to understanding post-rehab changes. You can take on anything so long as you have a thoughtful and strategic approach. The following are solid tips to ensure a successful transition:

To remain sober, you need to be in control. To be in control, you have to know what to expect on every given day. The easiest way to do this is to have a daily routine. Having a daily routine involves the following:

• Knowing your wake-up time
• Knowing your sleeping time
• Specific meal time
• Time for exercise
• Dedicated study hours
• Leisure activities

Having a routine will allow you to have a stable life. You will get to effectively avoid idle time that can lead to triggers.

Self-care will help you to easily manage your life and responsibilities after rehab.  Self-care is not complicated at all. It simply involves ensuring that your physical, emotional, and mental wellness is in a good spot. You could do this by having the following practice:

• regular movement or exercise
• journalling
• reading
• mindfulness practice
• having hobbies that give you joy

Being successful at any endeavor requires the need to set realistic goals. So much so that failing to set one will be a form of self-sabotage. Realistic goals are essential because they are doable. They do not cause any pressure or lead to any form of overwhelm. A life post-rehab can still be tricky and the last thing that you’d want to experience is to feel overwhelmed and pressured. Setting realistic goals is the ultimate form of kindness to oneself. You have a realistic goal if it is broken down into doable steps and can be effectively measured at any given time. 

Each and every person on Earth is only given 24 hours per day. Those who succeed can do more not because they have more time but because they know how to manage their time. Use the following tools to be fully in control of your time:

• Planners
• Calendars
• Scheduling apps

Your management of time is effective if you can successfully allocate time for work, self-care, relationships, and leisure activities. 

No man is an island. To be successful in your journey to sobriety and fully adjust to life post-rehab, you will need to maintain a support group. Your support group will include the following:

• Your family
• Your friends
• Your sponsors
• Your support group members

You will be able to maintain a solid support group if you will have regular interaction with them. Your support group will keep you grounded, inspired, and accountable. They will help you every step of the way. 

Stress is a constant aspect of life. It will not magically go away once you’re done with rehab. You will have to deal with it, whether you like it or not. This is why you need to learn how to manage it. As you’ve been to rehab, you were already taught techniques and strategies that you can use to cope with stress. You simply need to apply them now. You can also consider doing the following:

• Meditation
• Deep breathing
• Yoga
• Art

A big part of stress management is recognizing your triggers. Once you’ve recognized them, it will be very easy for you to prompt your brain to ready coping mechanisms instead of escaping through substance use.

You will need to be open and clear with your communication. Be open and honest with your loved ones about your recovery journey. Be comfortable with asking and answering questions. You need to be effective in communicating your needs. You need to be able to make them understand what you are going through to allow them to effectively support you.

You should strengthen your NO muscle. You should feel free to say “no” when you don’t want to do anything. You should be able to comfortably set your limit and your boundaries without hurting yourself and others in the process. Always feel free to decline commitments or any kind of activity that can compromise your sobriety or wellness. A solid NO will save you from a lifetime of regrets.

You have come a long way. This is something that you should always keep in mind every single day. This is why you should never miss celebrating your wins, may they be big or small. Taking note of your capacity to succeed will keep you inspired and motivated. Having a solid consistent reminder of what you can do will keep you ever energized to continue making good decisions.

Should things get overwhelming or if you feel like things are about to get overwhelming, never forget that you can always seek professional help. Experts will always be around to help you and back you up should you ever need major assistance. It’s best to reach out to experts if you no longer know what to do and you don’t want to do anything that can make any given situation more problematic. 

You Can Do It

Life is challenging for all. You will not have special treatment just because you have gone to rehab. People will be more supportive of you but you can’t expect the world to be any different from the time before you entered rehab. This is why you should always be grounded, in tune, and intentional in all your activities. You survived rehab. Now, it’s time to survive life after rehab. You can do it!