Everything so far, on one page. This is the document you'll come back to when motivation is low, because motivation is unreliable and written commitments made in a clear moment aren't.
It contains: what this is for, in your words. Your goal, stated specifically. Your top three trigger patterns. Your primary measure. What you'll do when you slip. And who, if anyone, knows.
That last one is worth a moment. Accountability helps — the abstinence-journal research found that social support was one of the two things that made abstinence attainable, alongside cognitive-behavioural strategies. But who you tell matters enormously. A person who'll be disappointed in you is not accountability; it's a reason to hide the next slip. Someone who'll ask "how's it going" without a verdict attached is worth ten people who'll be let down.
If there's no one, that's workable — the app can hold this. But be honest that anonymous accountability is weaker, and consider whether that's a gap worth closing at some point.
Takeaways
- One page, written calm, for the version of you who isn't.
- Accountability that performs disappointment is a reason to hide the next slip.
- Anonymous accountability is weaker than a person. Worth knowing, not worth stalling on.
In the app, this lesson ends with a practice
Your plan, assembled from what you've written.
Sources and how strong they are (2)
- AnecdotalA qualitative analysis of 104 rebooting abstinence journals found abstinence felt impossible at first and became attainable with cognitive-behavioural strategies plus social support. Self-report only; third variables not ruled out.Fernandez, Kuss & Griffiths 2021, Archives of Sexual Behavior
- Mixed evidenceA randomised trial of 12-session ACT (n=28 adult men, all but one from the same religious community) found a 93% reduction in viewing against 21% in a waitlist group; 54% complete cessation at post-treatment, 35% at three-month follow-up, with 74% still showing at least a 70% reduction. Small, narrow sample.Crosby & Twohig 2016, Behavior Therapy 47(3):355-366, doi:10.1016/j.beth.2016.02.001, PMID 27157029
The app adds Panic.
One tap for the moment an urge hits, offline, and an evening check-in that turns lessons like this one into a plan for your own triggers. Free.
Coming to iOS and Android.