Hobbies and Activities for Recovering Addicts: How to Fill Leisure Time

Sober Support Systems & Relapse Prevention

Many people find it difficult to fill their time after becoming sober. People who are addicted to drugs or alcohol often spend a significant amount of their time getting, using, or recovering from using the drug.¹ Once they are no longer using drugs or alcohol, boredom might set in if they don’t have things to fill their time. Research indicates that apathy is a common predictor of relapse for individuals with substance use disorders.²

One of the ways to help prevent relapse and avoid boredom is to surround yourself with a strong social support network. While you were in rehab, you likely had a support network of people who were recovering from drug or alcohol addiction, too. Once you are back home, you may no longer have the same support network. And studies show that social interactions can either have a positive or negative impact on your risk of relapse. While some social interactions can help you maintain abstinence and combat feelings of loneliness, other social interactions can be detrimental to your recovery, especially those involving drug or alcohol consumption.²

If you don’t have a supportive and encouraging home environment or social network, mutual-help groups, where you will find individuals dealing with similar issues, can help provide the emotional and social support you need in your recovery journey since they have “been there” and “done that.”³ Mutual-help groups are an excellent adjunct to professional treatment, as they help extend and complement the benefits of rehab.⁴

Some common mutual-help groups include:”

• 12-Step groups. Common 12-Step groups include Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which in 2021, had an estimated 2 million members worldwide, and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). These groups provide a fellowship of people focused on helping individuals achieve abstinence through peer support.³ Group members follow 12 Steps to help them in their recovery from addiction. These groups emphasize helping others and sharing personal recovery stories with group members.
• SMART Recovery. SMART Recovery is a secular mutual-help program for individuals who struggle with substance misuse or addiction. In these programs, substance misuse is viewed as a maladaptive behavior that can be modified using cognitive-behavioral approaches. SMART Recovery provides the tools and evidence-based techniques to help a person recover from drug or alcohol misuse. It is up to the person to use those tools.⁵
• Women for Sobriety (WFS). The WFS is a secular mutual-help group that was specifically designed for women. It was created as an alternative to 12-Step programs, and includes Thirteen Statements designed to improve emotional and spiritual growth. Daily meditation is encouraged.³

Participation in mutual-help groups significantly increases the likelihood of maintaining sobriety. Research shows that beginning 12-Step participation while in treatment is associated with better outcomes. Additionally, consistent, early, and frequent attendance and/or involvement is associated with better outcomes and active engagement. Reading 12-Step literature or getting a sponsor, for instance, are better indicators of engagement than merely attending meetings. This more active engagement may help with relapse prevention.⁶

Mutual-help groups are an excellent way to enhance your recovery process after or while receiving professional treatment. These groups also help fill your spare time and can help prevent loneliness. Additionally, they provide you with a support network of individuals who share similar experiences and goals.

The Importance of Giving Back

Mutual-help groups emphasize helping others. Service is the foundation of AA 12-Step groups. After reaching a year of recovery, you might consider becoming a sponsor in a 12-Step group since paying it forward is such a vital part of recovery. A large research study on individuals with alcohol use disorders in AA found that individuals recovering from alcohol addiction, who helped others during treatment, were more likely to be sober in the following year.⁷

Another study indicated that about 94% of individuals with an alcohol addiction, who helped others in recovery at any point during the 15-month study, continued to help others after the study. Additionally, self-reports of depressive symptoms in helpers decreased significantly once they began helping others.⁷

Helping others provides a therapeutic benefit. When you help others, it helps you feel good about yourself. When you help someone with the same condition that you have, it can be even more beneficial. One study found that the benefits of assisting others double when a person helps someone else with the same problem.⁸

Acting as a sponsor in a mutual-help group or volunteering in other ways can fill your schedule and provide structure to your routine. Scheduling regular meetings and volunteering sessions ensures that you have less free time to slip back into drug or alcohol use.

Discovering New Hobbies

Now that you are sober, you should use the time you used to spend getting, consuming, and recovering from substance use with hobbies and other things you enjoy. Participating in healthy and fun activities can help to prevent relapse.

Using your time wisely also helps you avoid boredom, anger, stress, and other negative emotions. It allows you to avoid trouble by staying busy and engaging in things that make you happy.

So, how do you find hobbies and activities you enjoy? The first step is to assess your strengths and preferences. What are you good at? What do you like? You may want to rate your skills on a scale from 0 to 3, with 0 being “Not at all like me” and 3 being “Very much like me.” A few strengths you may consider include:⁹

• Connecting with others.
• Art, music, or other creative outlet.
• Politics or taking action to make a difference.
• Sports or other physical activities.

Identifying some of your strengths as well as what you enjoy doing can help you find the best hobbies or activities for you. For example, if you have a good sense of humor and like to laugh, you might consider taking improvisation lessons. You can make some new friends, learn something new, and have fun doing it.

Some other ideas for activities and hobbies include:⁹

• Learning to play an instrument, take photos, cook, dance, or other new skill.
• Joining a sports league or team.
• Painting or drawing.
• Swimming, running, surfing, rock climbing, or participating in another sport that gets you outside.
• Writing stories or journaling.
• Joining a book club.
• Gardening.

The hobbies you enjoy that involve exercise can be incredibly beneficial in addiction recovery. It helps you take care of your body, which is often lacking during active addiction.

Exercise & Eat Well

Substance use can harm both the body and the mind. Research indicates that people who misuse alcohol or drugs may be malnourished. Addiction impacts food intake and nutrient absorption, alters the metabolism, and some substances—like opioids—can reduce gastrointestinal motility. All of this also increases the risk of infections and GI issues in the long term.¹⁰

Proper nutrition is essential for your well-being. The foods that you put in your body affect how you feel—both mentally and physically. Therefore, it is essential to pay attention to diet as you are recovering from substance misuse or addiction. Try to notice how eating healthy foods makes you feel. You will probably see that you feel much better when your diet consists of mostly whole, natural foods and you limit your consumption of sugar, caffeine, heavily salted, or fatty foods.¹¹

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a guide called “My Plate” that provides a customizable nutritional plan based on your age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity level.

The USDA also has a list of recipes, menus, and cookbooks based on the My Plate guidelines. These resources make it easier to learn how to plan and cook healthy meals. Learning to cook will not only help you improve your nutrition, but it may also be an activity that you genuinely enjoy.

You might also consider talking to your primary care physician to determine if a referral to a nutritionist would be helpful. If you have specific health issues, such as diabetes, then your doctor might recommend a customized meal plan from a nutritionist.

In addition to nutrition, exercise is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle during recovery. In fact, research suggests that any physical activity—defined as any any bodily movement that requires energy expenditure—can impact drug and alcohol use through various psychological mechanisms, including an acute reduction in cravings and urges.¹² Other studies show that individuals who engage in aerobic exercise are less likely to use illicit substances.¹³

Many treatment programs incorporate or encourage physical activity and exercise as part of a wholistic approach to the treatment of addiction. In treatment and beyond, physical activity can help reduce stress and negative feelings, which can also help prevent relapse.

Not everyone enjoys the same types of exercise, so it’s important to find an activity that you look forward to—such as walking with a friend, training for a race with others, or participating in team sports—all of which can be a great way to improve health and well-being while being social with others who value healthy lifestyles.

Creating Structure

Structure is an integral part of recovery. While you were in rehab, you probably had a highly structured day. Now that you are out of rehab, it is essential to create a daily routine and stick with it every day. Using your time wisely can promote accountability and help you fulfill your responsibilities, which will help you avoid returning to substance use or putting yourself in triggering situations.⁹

It can be helpful to set goals to help keep you busy and give you something to work toward each day. Your goals should be clear and rewarding. They shouldn’t be too easy or too hard. Ordinary, everyday goals keep you moving forward and help prevent you from falling back into substance use. Good goals may include:⁹

• Finding a job, educational or vocational program, or a class to take.
• Spending time with family, friends, or co-workers in a substance-free environment.
• Participating in hobbies and recreational activities.
• Fulfilling any legal obligations.

Break each goal into manageable steps and set a timeline for when you want to achieve that goal. If, for instance, you wanted to take a course, steps may include: researching programs, assessing the costs, and signing up for the course within 3 months.⁹ This helps keep you on track.

Need help setting goals? A therapist can assist you in setting realistic goals and creating plans that can help you achieve those goals.

Filling your days with fun and healthy activities will make your life more fulfilling and rewarding. It will also help you stay on the road to recovery.