Our community's strategies for taking control of gambling!

[BrittV (facilitator)]

Our community is full of life experience.

Connected through shared experience of problems relating to gambling, we have members at all stages of their journey – from those feeling strong after years of not gambling to those beginning to recognise an issue, and everywhere in between. As we all know from being here, advice from others who understand where you are now is invaluable.

That’s why we thought it could be an awesome idea to pull together a list of strategies that we as a community recommend for those in their early days.
Over the years we have seen quite a few lists circulate in our threads. Let’s work together to collate them as a resource we can share with those who join our community and publish as a blog for visitors to our site. As always, the list will remain anonymous.

What do you recommend others do for managing urges? Protecting finances? Seeking support? Moving forward?

We will keep this thread open for two weeks until March 13th, after which our team will collate the list for sharing here and in the blog.

Contribute your strategies today!

[pamela]

What worked for me ..was when I got an urge,I counted backwards from 300..it sounds really simple and probably a bit unlikely..but it really worked..It's surprising

[BrittV (facilitator)]

A perfect start! Thank you pamela :)

[Mona58]

The early days I was practically jumping around like two bob watch! I'd opened another bank account and only put limited amount in it ... I'd try new recipes .. buy ingredients l had never brought before... I'd brought lots of plants and spend lots of time in the garden. Keeping busy was one of the key factors to overcoming those first few months urges. It doesn't sound like much and really takes a lot of effort to get motivated till it becomes second nature. Maintaining the garden and taking time in the kitchen are now routine.

Mona

[FamilyFirst]

Having someone manage ALL my money has been my saving grace. There have been lots of times I've wanted to gamble but with super strict access to money it was not an option.

I read and read and read in my first 8-9 months gamble free. I think I read something like 40 books or more. Once I got bored of that I got back into gardening regularly and have since taken up home brewing. So definitely taking up new or old hobbies is a must.

I robbed my family of time spent gambling so I've been paying them back by spending much more valuable time with them

Cheers, Lee

[BrittV (facilitator)]

Really great and helpful @Mona58 and Lee, thanks very much.

Just over a week left to add tips and strategies here!

[BrittV (facilitator)]

Some powerful tips from @Jc from the My Last Day One thread

• self forgiveness
• a day at a time
• not peruse the betting websites just to ‘look at odds’ as that triggers me
• cut back on sports as that, unfortunately is a trigger for me.
• read more

[BrittV (facilitator)]

Thank you everyone for your amazing contributions here! really great list going.
In summary, so far we have

• Counting backwards from 300 to move past an urge
• Open a new bank account with limits on it
• Spend money on new hobbies to use your time, like cooking
• Buy yourself nice things like plants
• Garden
• Keep busy
• Have someone manage your money to restrict your access to money
• Read lots
• Spend time with your family
• Forgive yourself
• Consider everything one day at a time
• Minimise your triggers online - do not look at betting odds that trigger you
• Cut back on sports if sports betting triggers you

Today is the last day to be part of this project!
Is there anything missing from this list that has helped you? We would love to hear from anyone, at any stage of their journey, who has found something helpful :)

[BrittV (facilitator)]

Thank you so much everyone for your contributions! Really helpful, insightful tips.

These have now been sent for development of the blog resource. I'll let you know once it's posted.

However I'm going to leave this thread open ongoing, for anyone to continue adding tips that work for you, for others to see moving forward :)

[JAPAZ]

I find writing incredibly useful and liberating. Not even necessarily about gambling. Just writing about life. Something personal or philosophical or meaningful.