A theme many of our residents have been discussing over the past few months is the positive effect structure has had on their recovery. At AToN, our residents have a daily schedule, which is filled with recovery based activities.
Many have reported that they would love to create a daily schedule for themselves after discharge to mimic this structure that was instilled with them while they were residents at AToN. Here are some tips to help with structure:
1) Be realistic about how much you can complete in a day. Don’t fill your daily structure too heavily, but also don’t leave large gaps of unproductive time available. Balance is key here!
2) Fill your day with recovery based activities (IOP, therapy, community meetings), but also include time for exercise, stress management and sober socialization.
3) Take the time to plan your structure in advance, you can plan your day the night before, or you can plan each week in advance.
4) ADHERE TO YOUR STRUCTURE! We are so good at talking ourselves out of that recovery meeting, run, or sober outing. Remember, you will feel better when you adhere to your structured plan. You will find that once you take the first steps to go to that meeting, or go on that run, that you will likely end up being glad you did it in the first place.
5) Remember that your AToN Family is here to support you in your recovery – come to Aftercare on Saturdays and keep in touch with us!
AToN Center 888-535-1516
