buddleia
Well-known member
I have addictive tendencies as well (e.g. tv, internet, but not necessarily buying a ton of makeup). I kicked my addiction to Ask MetaFilter | Community Weblog (don't laugh!) by saying to myself, starting today I'm not going to go to askmetafilter for 21 days. And I didn't. That was several weeks ago and I have not gone back. In the first week, I definitely started to notice when the urge would come, but then I remembered my "rule." And then the urge would pass. And that urge wouldn't arise again. Then maybe the next day another urge would arise in a different context. Again, I remembered my rule. The urge passed, and it didn't happen again. This happened for about a week (only!!!) and by the end of 3 weeks all the urges to go to askmetafilter were gone.
My current addiction has been to makeup sales on specktra and other places (not ebay!) and the other day I said, "no more makeup sales!" Of course it didn't work because the rule is so vague. The next day I was looking at sales again - I justified it to myself that there was a sale on another site starting in a week, and another ending a few days after - I'll be shopping then, so why not keep looking? It is so easy to justify ANY behaviour! So my rule is, fine, don't look at specktra sales and other places until the sale on the other site happens. And it's working! After those sales are over, I'll start another round of a 21-day moratorium on looking at makeup sales and makeup websites.
So that's my suggestion. Just don't buy makeup for 21 days at least. Notice the urges that come up - do you have the urge to go to Sephora: Beauty, Skin Care, Makeup, Hair, & Fragrance while at work and hit "checkout?" Do you have the urge to walk down the cosmetics aisle when you're buying something from the drugstore? Are there times when you feel like, "Hm, I think I'll go to Ulta today to check out sales" and then you go? Notice the urge. Do something else to distract you. Walk away. The urge will pass. If you let it. It is going to feel weird in the beginning, but that's exactly what it's like. You can't "just stop" - it's a process.
And think about why you want to stop buying makeup - is it because you think it's wasteful? You don't need anymore? You never use what you have? You're in debt? Come up with some really, honest reasons why you want to stop. The truth is, there's fun and enjoyment in buying makeup, just like I had with going to askmetafilter, but I was also spending SO much time on it, staying up late, not focusing on my job at work and that's really not what I wanted. Your desire for other things (e.g. more money in your wallet for other things, less time spent on buying makeup when you could be spending time with your friends or whatever) has to be greater than your desire to buy makeup. What do you value? What's most important to you?
So if you start your 21 days tomorrow, the end of that period is October 5. Think you can go 21 days without buying makeup?
My current addiction has been to makeup sales on specktra and other places (not ebay!) and the other day I said, "no more makeup sales!" Of course it didn't work because the rule is so vague. The next day I was looking at sales again - I justified it to myself that there was a sale on another site starting in a week, and another ending a few days after - I'll be shopping then, so why not keep looking? It is so easy to justify ANY behaviour! So my rule is, fine, don't look at specktra sales and other places until the sale on the other site happens. And it's working! After those sales are over, I'll start another round of a 21-day moratorium on looking at makeup sales and makeup websites.
So that's my suggestion. Just don't buy makeup for 21 days at least. Notice the urges that come up - do you have the urge to go to Sephora: Beauty, Skin Care, Makeup, Hair, & Fragrance while at work and hit "checkout?" Do you have the urge to walk down the cosmetics aisle when you're buying something from the drugstore? Are there times when you feel like, "Hm, I think I'll go to Ulta today to check out sales" and then you go? Notice the urge. Do something else to distract you. Walk away. The urge will pass. If you let it. It is going to feel weird in the beginning, but that's exactly what it's like. You can't "just stop" - it's a process.
And think about why you want to stop buying makeup - is it because you think it's wasteful? You don't need anymore? You never use what you have? You're in debt? Come up with some really, honest reasons why you want to stop. The truth is, there's fun and enjoyment in buying makeup, just like I had with going to askmetafilter, but I was also spending SO much time on it, staying up late, not focusing on my job at work and that's really not what I wanted. Your desire for other things (e.g. more money in your wallet for other things, less time spent on buying makeup when you could be spending time with your friends or whatever) has to be greater than your desire to buy makeup. What do you value? What's most important to you?
So if you start your 21 days tomorrow, the end of that period is October 5. Think you can go 21 days without buying makeup?
