Recovery skills
How to Handle Cravings at Work
Cravings don't wait for a convenient moment. They turn up mid-meeting, mid-deadline, in the middle of an ordinary Tuesday — and at work you can't always step away or fall apart. The reassuring news: a craving is a wave, not a command, and there's plenty you can do to ride it out discreetly.
How do you handle a craving at work? Remember it will pass (usually within 20–30 minutes), buy time and change your state — step away for water or air, breathe slowly, move, or message a support — and afterwards, look at what triggered it so you can plan around it next time. You don't have to act on it.
First: it will pass
A craving feels permanent and urgent, but it isn't. Most peak and fade within twenty to thirty minutes whether or not you act. Simply knowing that — this is a wave, and waves break — takes a surprising amount of its power away. This is the idea behind urge surfing.
Buy time and change your state
You rarely need to win the craving — you need to outlast it. Step away for a glass of water, go to the bathroom, take a short walk to "grab something", or get a minute of fresh air. Slow your breathing (a longer out-breath calms the nervous system). Movement burns off the restless energy. Even a small change of scene resets the moment.
Use a quiet lifeline
A discreet text to a supportive person — "craving, at work, riding it out" — breaks the isolation that makes cravings stronger, without anyone around you knowing a thing. Naming it to one person shrinks it.
Look at the trigger afterwards
Once it's passed, get curious. Was it stress, a particular person, the time of day, hunger or tiredness (HALT)? Work cravings often cluster around predictable triggers and cues — once you spot yours, you can plan around them, which is how cravings get weaker over time rather than stronger.
Frequently asked questions
How long do cravings last?
Most cravings peak and fade within about 20–30 minutes whether or not you act on them. They feel permanent in the moment, but they're waves that break — outlasting one is very doable.
How do I deal with a craving when I can't leave work?
Buy time and change your state discreetly: water, the bathroom, a minute of air, slow breathing, or a quiet text to a support. You don't have to defeat the craving, just outlast it — it will pass.
Why do I get cravings at work?
Often because work clusters predictable triggers — stress, certain people, times of day, being hungry or tired (HALT). Spotting your specific triggers lets you plan around them, which makes cravings weaker over time.
Cravings catching you mid-day?
There are discreet tools that get you through them — and ways to make them weaker over time. A confidential chat with Gary can build you a plan.
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