7 Years 149 days - Double Double Header7 Years 149 days - Double Double Header
I'm Quitting Alcohol
Comedian David Boyle talks through a sleepless double-header parenting day, his extreme sleep setup, and his ongoing battle with dense history books while staying sober. The episode offers a raw, humorous glimpse into everyday life in long-term recovery.
6:57•11 Oct 2026
Double Headers, No Sleep, and Dense Books: Sobriety with David Boyle
Episode Overview
- Daily sobriety can involve ordinary chaos like kids’ sport and double-header days, even without alcohol.
- Sleep tools such as masks, nose sprays and earplugs may still be challenged by household noise and partners who drink.
- Dense, challenging reading can feel exhausting yet nourishing, offering a long-term mental project in recovery.
- Combining intense exercise with complex ideas may be overwhelming, showing the limits of multitasking when mentally tired.
- Consistent creative output, like a daily podcast, can become a steady anchor, even with worn-out equipment and low energy.
“"It nourishes me and it fulfils me but fucking my plan is to get through all 12 volumes and then start again."”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This short, punchy episode of *I'm Quitting Alcohol* catches comedian David Boyle mid-double-header parenting day, running on almost no sleep and still keeping his daily sober check-in going.
You’ll hear Boyle talk about taking his kids to back-to-back football matches, describing it as "a long fucking day" on top of being "on the doubles with no sleep." The humour is rough around the edges, but that's exactly what makes it feel so real for anyone dealing with life’s everyday chaos without alcohol. Sleep, or the lack of it, is a big theme here.
Boyle walks through his elaborate bedtime setup – manta eye mask, xylitol nose spray, nostril-expanding band, and industrial-strength earplugs – all of which still lose the battle against his wife’s post-drinks snoring. "I'm just so fucking cooked sometimes," he admits, after abandoning the bedroom for the spare room and ending up awake at 5 a.m. From there, the episode shifts to something unexpectedly nerdy: his ongoing struggle with Arnold Toynbee’s multi-volume history work.
Boyle jokes that the book is so dense it feels like "a mix of fucking scientific language and ye olde English," but he keeps at it because "it nourishes me and it fulfils me," even planning to read all twelve volumes twice. You’ll also get a glimpse of his commitment to this daily show, praising his battered Zoom H6 recorder that has "just keeps on fucking churning out the potties" despite years of drops and dust.
If you like your sobriety content short, brutally honest, occasionally sweary and grounded in everyday life, this episode might be exactly what you need today. How do *you* keep going on the days you're cooked but still show up?
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