Just like marking a date on the calendar, a sobriety counter gives a clear visual of how long you have been sober. For some, seeing the number helps them realize how far they have come, while others use it as a milestone marker for little steps along the way.
It is no secret that finding a path towards sobriety can be difficult. There will be days that are more challenging than others, even when you are surrounded by a strong community that supports you. It is important to remember that addiction is not a choice or a mark of who you are, it is a disease that affects millions of people a year.
Alcohol use disorder and substance use disorder have a range of symptoms that can cause co-occurring disorders alongside it. A sobriety calculator is one step towards recognizing where you want to be in your recovery and how you can create smaller milestones to reach a level of sobriety you are comfortable with and is the best for your personal health.
Many sober apps out there give additional resources that are beyond the basic capability of a sober clock. By pairing services with your own created sober clocks, you can feel confident to start the day off on the right foot.
In this guide, find out more about sobriety trackers and how you can track your sober journey with assurance at every step.
Download a Sobriety Tracker That Works For You
Learning how to get sober is not a straightforward process, but it can start by downloading the right sobriety tracker for you. Each sobriety tracker available online has a different design and purpose to it. While some apps provide a basic tracker, other apps give space for notes, pledges, or the ability to share your clocks with friends.
How you want to interact with a sober clock is entirely up to you. Some apps like Nomo will give a timestamp for each time you open the app to view your clocks. The timestamp keeps track of your activity in order to prompt you to view the clock if need be. Other sobriety trackers like Sobriety Counter give you milestone achievements through badges that can be collected over time.
If you are looking for small rewards as you reach new sober dates, then consider downloading an app that gives notifications for achievements. Beyond apps that provide clocks, there are a variety of apps that offer further services to assist with recovery.
Loosid provides a unique feature of SAMTM that serves as guidance for starting and navigating sober living. The app tracks moods and triggers that affect your sobriety, as well as teaches how to build a foundation of habits to stay sober.
Sober apps that include sobriety trackers include,
- Loosid
- Sober Grid
- Nomo
- Sober Time
- I am Sober
- Sobriety Counter
- Sober Tool
Try out a few apps to find which one you like best to keep track of your recovery journey. It may take a few downloads to find the right sobriety clock for you, but once you find a great fit, you can continue to track your progress all within one app.
Track Your Progress
The main purpose of a sobriety counter is to track your progress. Statistics show that it can take around three to four weeks to develop a new habit. That means just starting out using a clock may feel like a difficult task at first, but by seeing a visual of the progress you have made you can find confidence in the steps you are taking to get sober.
Sometimes it may take a small reminder of how far you have come. Some sobriety counters include ways to write down the reasons why you became sober. From the app you can look at past notes, uploaded pictures, or a list of reasons to keep yourself on track.
It may be hard to remember in the moment when you are experiencing a trigger or craving, but a notification to your phone to remind you to view your sobriety clock can be what continually breaks the cycle when you need it to.
Know When To Count
Using a sobriety counter can be helpful when it provides a sense of achievement, but there are circumstances where counting may hinder you. If a relapse happens and you find yourself in fear of humiliation or are basing your worth on the sobriety clock, then it may not be the best decision to be tracking sober days.
However, sobriety clocks can be a useful tool when you approach it as a shared encouragement and a personal motivation. If you are having trouble with how you interact with a sobriety counter, talk to your healthcare provider, counselor, or sponsor to see if it is the right approach for your recovery journey.
Make New Milestones
Making new milestones is a huge achievement when creating new positive habits. A sobriety counter gives you the space to create new milestones for yourself for sobriety, and other goals you want to achieve.
New milestones can also help with avoiding instant gratification needs or wanting to make exceptions for special occasions. By knowing what your goals specifically are, you can keep to them more often.
Most sober apps will show a progress bar to showcase your milestones, as well as how many hours, days, weeks, and months you have been sober. With a quick check, you can see how far you have made it in the week. Each milestone achieved reinforces more motivation to stick to your long term goals.
Not only can sober apps track milestones, but they also can see how much money you have saved by not drinking. It may be startling at first to see how much you have spent on alcohol over time, particularly if you were buying drinks every day before.
Seeing a picture of what you might have spent puts addiction into perspective and how money can be channeled towards a life outside of addiction that you want to be living. If you are having trouble just starting out on your sober journey, consider contacting your healthcare professional or a local treatment center to find the right resources to get you on your feet.
Customize Your Experience
The fun part about downloading a sobriety counter is the ability to customize your experience. Some apps have a set background, but there are a few on the market that gives you the ability to change the background, the color, or the style of the clock.
While apps created are generally made with calmer colors, you may find you respond to certain colors better. With the right background color and style of the clock, you can feel calm when checking your sobriety date and any other milestones you have set for yourself along the way.
Customizing your experience can also help with visualizing your sober experience better. By viewing your achievements or chatting about them with other members on the app, you can feel assured even on the worst of days when battling uncertainty with addiction.
Keep Track of Other Addictions or Habits
A sobriety counter does not just have to be specifically for alcohol. Sobriety counters can include other addictions or habits that you are looking to break. By seeing your habits all in one place, you can see what milestones you want to change along the way, or what new goals you want to set for yourself.
Apps like Nomo give you an unlimited amount of clocks that you can name. Other apps like I am Sober include category-specific clocks that can be searched easily while navigating the app. Write down what addictions or habits you are looking to change your patterns around and create more clocks easily within an app.
Look Back On Your Notes
With most aspects of living being organized on your phone, a sober app helps you log and look back on notes when you need to. Keep in mind, not all sober apps give the space for notes, or the ability to search within your notes. Make sure the app you download includes note-taking ability to keep a closer record of your sober journey.
Notes are a way to navigate your emotions, understand your addictions, and give a private space for you to learn more about yourself. Some apps offer daily check-ins for you to log how you are feeling or what you felt you struggled with during the day. By having an accurate record of triggers or potential relapses, you can learn your patterns more in order to change your habits for the long term.
If digital notes are not your favorite way of logging your feelings, consider finding a paper journal or notebook to write in. Whether you want to share your experiences online with other like-minded individuals or want to reflect on your progress on your own time, keeping a log can help you find clarity in recovery.
Share Progress with Friends and Family
A sobriety counter is one way you can share your progress with friends, family, sponsors, or health providers. Your community wants to know how you are doing, which makes a sobriety app the perfect place for you to bring them along in your journey towards sobriety.
Many of the apps available have sharing capability for sobriety clocks, journal notes, and achievements. Sharing a milestone opens up a further conversation about addiction to break the stigma that surrounds the disease.
What is something you have wanted to share with others about sobriety? What goal do you want to discuss with family members who may be going through a similar experience? Sharing your progress can help others around you understand what you are going through, as well as find understanding in their own journey if they are struggling with addiction too.
By finding the time to open up to others, it can open up a door towards healing relationships and friendships that may have suffered damage over the years due to addiction. If you are having trouble knowing how to approach family members or friends, consider contacting a local treatment center for family counseling.
Create New Habits
Downloading a sober app is one way to create new habits that lead to sober living. A sober app serves as a guide to tracking sober days, as well as community support by connecting you to other like-minded individuals online who are in different stages of sobriety.
Whether you have been sober for a couple of days or a couple of years, creating new habits is possible. Loosid is one of the few apps that gives tangible advice in daily sober tips to help you continue your journey in recovery. With tips to guide you and a community to support you, you can schedule more time doing what you love.
Build Your Sober Community
Counting the days of sobriety is not complete without a sober community to celebrate with. If you are looking for a strong-knit community that is able to support your journey, consider downloading a sober app that includes vibrant online messaging boards.
Messaging boards cover a variety of topics that surround sobriety. From what meditation exercises work for refocusing your mind to difficult discussions of addiction, there are endless categories to engage with that can help assist in your daily habits and goals.
Some apps include notifications about local events or online seminars to meet other individuals in your area. Having a community that understands what you are going through can help with the tough days and celebrate the good days with you too.
Track Sobriety Wherever You Go
Tracking sobriety is just one step in the road to recovery, but luckily you can take sobriety counters with you wherever you go. Sobriety counters help show how to get sober and how much you have achieved since committing to a life of sobriety.
Be proud of how far you have come and discover how learning more about addiction and your habits can lead to a lifetime of recovery and positive habits. To learn more about addiction, download Loosid App and find new ways to develop new patterns and discover new skills for managing symptoms and building community.
