It's the end of the day and you're finally winding down. For many of us, a drink is part of that. Maybe it's a beer after work with friends, or a bottle of wine you picked up on the way home and opened while you're cooking dinner. Then maybe there's another after dinner, while you settle in front of the TV, something to unwind before you head off to bed. Often the plan might just be the one or two, but some nights that turns into three or four or more, without you really noticing, or ever quite deciding to. It's just the way the evening tends to go.
Every now and then, though, a thought pops up, rarely while you're unwinding, more likely the next day: maybe I could dial the drinks back a bit, even just for a while. Whether or not that sounds like you, if your drinking's crept up a bit over time, it's worth a thought. It doesn't have to mean giving it up altogether, though plenty of people do around this time of year, at least for a while. Either way, if you drink fairly regularly, it's worth asking yourself whether cutting back a bit might do you some good.
July gets a lot of people thinking about it, and plenty go alcohol-free for the whole month. For others the month isn't really the point. It's more that drinking quietly affects a few parts of your life, your sleep, how you feel the next day, your money, the way a night out goes, and you often don't notice how much until you ease off for a bit. You don't have to give it up completely for that. Even a small change can be enough to start noticing the difference.
The interesting part of easing off is what you start to notice. It's hard to see a habit clearly while you're still in the middle of it, but change it even a little and you get a feel for what the drink was doing, instead of what you'd always assumed.
It's different for everyone. Some people sleep better within a week or two and wake up feeling properly rested. Others notice no real difference at all. Research suggests alcohol affects how well you sleep even when you fall asleep easily, so for a lot of people the change is real, though there's no result you're meant to get.
The morning after is the other one people talk about. A few drinks the night before, even just a couple, can leave you flat or foggy the next day, and plenty of people find the fog lifts once they cut back. Some find their mood settles a bit too. None of it's a given, and everyone's different. You're really just finding out whether it makes any difference for you.
It can be easy to miss what you actually spend on alcohol. For a lot of people it gets bundled in with the regular grocery shop, so how often it's bought, and what it costs, gets a bit lost in the total. For others it just goes out in dribs and drabs, a couple of times a week, never much at once, so it doesn't really register. Either way, it's worth adding up a whole month and seeing what it comes to, because the total can be more than you'd expect. If you're putting money aside for something, or there's other stuff you'd rather spend it on, that's worth knowing. Whatever you decide to do, you're then making the call with the full picture in front of you.
For a lot of people the social side can be the trickiest bit, because so much of how we catch up in Australia is built around a drink. If you're cutting back, it's easy to think you'll never manage it while everyone else is having a few. In practice it's usually less of a drama than you'd expect. You can keep count of what you're having, or go for one of the no-alcohol or mid-strength options, which are everywhere now and a lot better than they used to be. Most of the time nobody's really watching what's in your glass anyway, and you can still have a good night.
A lot of people get stuck on the idea that it's all or nothing, when really there's loads of room in between carrying on as you are and packing it in completely. It might be a couple fewer than usual, or a few alcohol-free nights during the week, or just stopping a bit earlier than you normally would, or having a water for every second drink. Some people make a change and stick with it. Others give it a go for a while and drift back to how they were, and that's fine too.
If you do give easing off a go for a bit, what happens at the end is up to you. You'll have a much better feel for what the drink gives you and what it costs you, and you can work out what you want to do from there.
For most people this is just a reminder to think about your own drinking, and whether you might want to change anything. But if you feel like alcohol's becoming more of a problem, and it's starting to cause issues with your sleep, your work, your health, or your relationships, then that's worth having a chat about with someone. Dialling it back a bit might not be the best option for you, and you might be better off looking at other ways to make a change.
Your GP's a good place to start, or an Employee Assistance Program if your workplace offers one, which you can use privately and in your own time. There are free helplines too, if you'd rather talk to someone away from work. This is general information rather than medical advice, so if something's worrying you, a proper chat with someone qualified is the way to go. There's no harm in asking, and these things are usually easier to deal with sooner rather than later.
Our drinking habits are just that, habits like any other, and they're worth a look every now and then. Have a bit less for a while and see how you go. Whether you change anything or not, you'll come out of it understanding your own drinking a bit better than you did before, and that's no bad thing.