E315: The “I’ll Deal With It Later” Trap

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

Gillian Tietz, MS, CPRC

Mental Health, Education, Science, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.9 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2026

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

There’s a very specific thought pattern that keeps people stuck with drinking for years. It sounds like: “I know I should probably stop… but it’s not that bad”, “I’ll deal with it later”, “It’ll click eventually.” And the tricky part is… those thoughts feel reasonable. There will always be a big enough stressor or a drinking event to justify delaying quitting. You’re still functioning. Nothing has completely fallen apart. You can still point to parts of your life that are going fine. So it doesn’t feel urgent. This is one of the hardest places to be because when things are obviously bad, the decision gets made for you. There’s a clear reason to change. But when things are just “okay”… your brain keeps you stuck in this middle ground where you’re uncomfortable enough to think about quitting, but not uncomfortable enough to actually do it. And that’s where people can stay for a really long time. Going back and forth. Thinking about it. Questioning it. Telling themselves they’ll deal with it later. This isn’t you taking your time or being thoughtful. This is a pattern. And the longer you stay in it, the more it reinforces itself. Work with me: Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching Weekly email: You’ll hear from me every week-ish https://www.soberpowered.com/email Support the show: If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors Sources are posted on my website Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	There's a very specific pattern that keeps people stuck drinking for years, and it sounds like
0:07.5	it's not that bad. I'll deal with it later. It'll click eventually. And the tricky part is,
0:15.1	those thoughts feel so reasonable. There will always be a big enough stressor or a drinking event to justify delaying
0:25.1	quitting. You're still functioning of nothing has fallen apart. You can still point to the parts of
0:31.9	your life that are going fine so it doesn't feel urgent. This is one of the hardest places to be because when things are
0:40.4	obviously bad, the decision is made for you. There's a clear reason to change. The door is closed.
0:48.8	But when things are just okay, your brain keeps you stuck in this middle ground where you're uncomfortable enough
0:56.9	to think about quitting a lot, but not uncomfortable enough to actually follow through with it.
1:02.6	And that's where people stay stuck for a really long time. They go back and forth, they take
1:07.7	breaks here and there, they pay for things, and then they go back to drinking,
1:12.9	they think about it, they question it, they tell themselves that they'll deal with it later.
1:18.7	But this isn't you taking your time or being thoughtful, it's a pattern. And the longer
1:25.0	you stay in it, the more the pattern reinforces itself. So in this episode,
1:30.2	I want to focus on why the time to quit is right now. When you quit drinking, you expect clarity
1:38.7	and calm. And then you realize that your nervous system is basically like, cool, so we're feeling everything now?
1:46.5	Stress can be more intense, and that sober sleep that everyone talks about can feel like it's actively avoiding you.
1:53.8	That's why Tenasi has been part of my routine for years.
1:57.2	And now their most popular product, the soft gels, just got an upgrade. They added
2:02.5	omega-3s to their CBD plus CBDA formula so that you're supporting your brain, mood, and
2:09.7	inflammation all in one capsule. Tenassi is different because their formula was developed
2:14.8	through university research and has actually been awarded
2:18.5	a patent, which means the science behind it is truly one of a kind.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Gillian Tietz, MS, CPRC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Gillian Tietz, MS, CPRC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.