During Dry January, Ask Yourself These Questions

If you partied all the way through December, Dry January can be a refreshing change. You get to enjoy staying in, sleeping better, and saving money, especially if you can rope your friends in so they aren’t always inviting you to drink-y nights out.

But Dry January isn’t a solution in itself; it’s a way of asking yourself a question. And that question is: how much has drinking been affecting my life? 

As you take a break from drinking, ask yourself these questions:

• Am I sleeping better? Besides late night partying, alcohol itself interferes with sleep.

• Am I eating better? Alcohol is full of empty calories, and the circumstances around drinking often encourage snacking.

• Am I saving money? Time to find out how much of a dent drinking makes in your spending.

• Am I having fewer hangovers? The number should be zero. Is that a lot less than usual?

• Am I enjoying myself more? Your evenings with an after-work beer will be different than your evenings without one. This is kind of a nebulous question, but: are you happier?

If you’re a light drinker, you may not notice much difference at all. But if you feel amazing when you’re not drinking, then perhaps you’ve been drinking too much. When the month is over, consider how much you actually want to drink, now that you know drinking’s impact on the different areas of your life.