1h Protocol to Reduce Your Drinking
What will help you drink less? Find out in one hour.
Some evenings feel bigger than you. In one hour, you see why they run away, and leave with a plan built from your own answers.
First chapter free. No account needed to start.4.6 out of 5 · 8 learner reviewsVersion
Learners
What learners say
I appreciated the thoughtful tone and the focus on making manageable changes.
A clear introduction that gave me plenty to reflect on.
The approach felt practical and encouraging without making everything sound easy.
An approachable guide, although some of the advice felt familiar.
I liked how calmly and respectfully the topic was handled.
The overall message felt grounded and easy to relate to.
A helpful starting point, with a few ideas I would have liked to explore further.
I appreciated the clear language and the realistic approach to changing habits.
How a 1h Protocol works
This is the hour where it changes. You stop guessing, see why it happens to you, and build your plan from your own answers: a few clear moves, and fourteen days to prove them.
- 1
Free chapter
Start from your last week
You count last week in your own country's drinks, then describe your evenings in your own words. Evenings like these:
- •Home at seven, a glass poured by ten past.
- •Two drinks planned at nine, four by eleven.
- •Friday drinks after work, still keeping up at ten.
- 2
Free chapter
Find your drinking pattern
Your answers point to one of four patterns, or the Tune-up. Each has its own starting point, and you get one thing to do next time.
- •The Evening ResetA routine starts the drink. You start by changing your first move.
- •The Relief DrinkThe drink eases hard days. You start by easing them another way.
- •The Social PullCompany sets the pace. You start by deciding your first drink.
- •The Second DrinkOne becomes several. You start by deciding your number and your ending.
- •The Tune-upNo single obstacle. You start by counting one ordinary week.
- 3
Paid chapters
Understand why, then plan
Six chapters explain why your evenings run away, then walk one evening with you, plan to morning, at your own times.
- 01Why the evening runs awaySee how the cue, the job and the slide carried your last evening past your plan.
- 02One evening, plan to morningSet your number for the evening, a new first move at home and a wind-down.
- 03Your patternPick changes for your pattern, like drink-free days, a hard-day plan or a time to leave.
- 04The first drinkWrite and rehearse your first-drink line, then plan the occasions you can already see coming.
- 05Your goalSet your goal and its numbers for two weeks, next to your country's guidance.
- 06Your first two weeksSee your plan, save your moment card and calendar reminders, and practice on a sample week.
- 4
Yours for life
Leave with your plan
A short plan for your evenings: what to do, when, and what to do in the moment it gets hard. Built from what the evidence supports, fitted to your own evenings, with fourteen days to prove it.
- ✓Your goal for two weeks, counted in your own country's drinks
- ✓The two habits to start with, set at your own times
- ✓The rest kept for later, so nothing piles up
- ✓Why each habit matters, with the evidence behind it
- ✓Your first-drink line, and plans for the occasions you can see coming
- ✓Fourteen days to prove it, with a sheet and four one-tap check-ins by email
Key sources
A selection of the research, official guidance and expert voices this program draws on.
- World Health Organization: Alcohol, fact sheet (2024)
- NHS: Tips on cutting down on alcohol (2026)
- NIAAA: Rethinking Drinking
- Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction: Canada's guidance on alcohol and health (2023)
- Holmes et al.: How alcohol is spread across types of drinking occasion in Great Britain (2024)
- Aplin et al.: Habit and intention in adults' drinking at home (2021)
- Vafaie and Kober: Cues, craving and use, a meta-analysis (2022)
- Jones et al.: Daily plans and drinking, a two-week study of 100 drinkers (2018)
- Kersbergen et al.: Smaller servings and how much people drink, two trials (2018)
- Kaner et al.: Personalised digital programs for drinking less, a Cochrane review (2017)
- Cooke et al.: If-then plans and drinking, a meta-analysis (2023)
- Witkiewitz and Masyn: What happens after a first slip (2008)
- Sarah Wakeman on The Mel Robbins Podcast (2024)
- Keith Humphreys on Huberman Lab (2026)
- Katie Witkiewitz on The Alcohol 'Problem' Podcast (2024)
- Judson Brewer: A simple way to break a bad habit, TED (2015)
This is a wellness program about everyday drinking habits, not health care. It doesn't diagnose or treat anything, including dependence, withdrawal, mood problems or liver disease. It's for adults 18 and over.
Questions
About the program, and about drinking itself.
Yours for life
Your drinking plan
$19.99this program, one time
No subscription · Lifetime access · Lifetime updates
or start with the first chapter, freeAdvice on drinking less is free everywhere. Why pay for this?
Free advice tells everyone the same things. A 1h Protocol works out which of it applies to you, from your own answers. You leave knowing the two habits to start with, and why.
Do I have to stop completely?
No. You choose: drink less, take a break or stop. You can change your goal again at each review.
I'm busy. How much time does it take?
About an hour, once, to build your plan. After that, it works around your own evenings. Marking each day's drinks on your sheet takes about a minute.
When should I see a doctor first?
If your body may have got used to alcohol, stopping or cutting down quickly can make you unwell, sometimes seriously. If your answers suggest that, the program asks you to talk to a doctor first. Until then, your plan starts with habits that change when and how you drink. It's a wellness program for adults 18 and over, and it doesn't treat dependence.
What do I pay, and what do I keep?
One payment, with no subscription and nothing to buy inside. You keep the program, your plan and every future update. The first chapter is free, so you see your pattern before you pay.
About drinking
What counts as one drink?
A glass isn't always one drink: its size and its strength decide. The strength is on the label of the bottle or can. To check a glass you pour, fill it with water to your usual level and measure the water.
How do I count drinks where I live?
Units and standard drinks aren't the same size in every country. A UK unit holds 8 grams of alcohol, and a US standard drink holds 14. The program counts in grams and shows your own country's drinks beside them.
Does alcohol help you sleep?
A drink before bed can make you drowsy. In sleep studies, though, dream sleep came later and was shorter from about two drinks. Falling asleep faster only showed up at about five. So the nightcap costs dream sleep long before it helps you drop off.
Why is it hard to stop after one drink?
After a drink or two, the next one is easier to want and harder to refuse. Lab studies with social drinkers show both. So the decision that holds is the one made before the first drink, while the brake is still fully on.
How can I drink less at social events?
Decide two things before you arrive: your first drink, and one sentence for when a drink is pushed. The sentence needs no reason. Then have a drink in your hand within the first minute, and set your leaving time before you go.
What are alcohol-free days for?
The UK's Chief Medical Officers suggest several drink-free days a week, and France's and Spain's guidance say at least two. People cutting down often drink more on the days they do drink, so the program keeps a number for those days too.