This has gotten me my longest streak to date (65 days). I call it The Stoplight Method. It was inspired by the design of a traffic light and was created to keep track of the current state of your urges. Green: You have no urges period. You have no temptation to relapse. You can easily scroll past and ignore graphic imagery seen accidentally on social media. Anything inappropriate isn't even on your mind, and you can easily dismiss the thoughts that do flash in your mind temporarily. You can be in areas you are prone to relapsing in , but this time ONLY for the sake of relaxation, not relapsing. EX: Laying in bed, alone in the bedroom, alone in the bathroom, sitting at your desk, sitting on your couch, home alone. Yellow: Little to absolutely no urges. You may have seen graphic imagery unprompted on social media, but you continued to scroll past. Thoughts of viewing things on your own cross your mind, but you can quickly and easily dismiss them. A distraction is helpful in this situation. Changing your surroundings can help as well. This can mean changing your sitting position that you would have typically been in during relapse, or leaving the room entirely for a short time. Orange: Urges are apparent but not overwhelming. You may have seen graphic imagery and are outwardly looking for more material. It is possible to catch yourself and leave this state, however it's slightly difficult. Be self aware, remain calm. You absolutely CANNOT be in any of your relapse prone areas and must change surroundings. Time away from technology or the device is a necessity. Take some time doing activities that make you forget your urges entirely (if you don't know any yet, make a list). Red: You are experiencing an overwhelming amount of urges. You have seen graphic imagery and you are outwardly looking for more. You not only are considering relapsing, but you have prepared yourself to do so. Do not panic. Be aware of your state. Be aware of what you need to do next to stop this. Remember that it is not impossible to shift back to Green. The average person will use this as an opportunity to relapse, thinking they "may as well" , since they have already taken the first steps. Redirect your mindset to your self improvement, not your downfall. You have taken the first steps to self improvement, so what you should be doing since you "may as well" is THAT instead. Close your tab as quickly as possible. Shake your head a few times, or your entire body if needed. Release the tension you previously felt. Now turn off your device and leave all relapse prone areas for your given amount of time. Do an activity you believe will help you most in this moment. This video helps me remove urges: - - - - - Please don't feel discouraged or believe you'll relapse if you are not in the green. Your state absolutely will fluctuate throughout the day. No one's physical and mental state of mind remains the same at all times. As long as you choose to make wise decisions based upon that physical and mental state, you will absolutely succeed. You may not believe in yourself, but I will always believe in you. I will never lose hope in your ability to try again and succeed. IN MY PERSONAL OPINION: Don't track your days on a daily basis. Let a tracker do it for you. I mark each day I succeed on my calendar at the END of the week. Not DAILY. Staying clean for the day and repeating that the next is what matters most. Tracking on a daily basis may become tedious and demotivating because of how seemingly far away your goal appears to be. Don't forget about the NOFAP pdf if you need some more guidance! I often reread pages 34-39: https://www.nofap.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Getting-Started-with-NoFap.pdf ♡ Sorry for the long post but that's all I have to say!! If this method isn't as original as I thought it was, I apologize!! I hope it's still helpful regardless. Please tell me how your experience goes if you decide to try. It would make me so happy to see progress reports under this thread.
