How to Quit Porn: The Ultimate Guide to Breaking Free

Quitting porn might seem like an insurmountable goal. If you’re here, you likely realize it’s become an issue, so it’s already become a bad habit. You might be starting out, or you might have relapsed several times already. Thankfully, there are a tremendous number of resources and tactics available here, so you don’t have to rely on sheer willpower alone So how do you quit porn for good?

Step 1: Identify Your Motivation

First, you need to identify why you want to quit. If you don’t have a strong reason, you’re going to easily fall to temptation. Once you identify your motivation, you need to place reminders of that motivation in places where you tend to give in (like your bedroom, or by your computer).

More on staying motivated.

You may want to install a streak counter on your phone as well. Doing so will be yet another reminder of how well you’re doing, and you’ll feel incentivized to keep it going, especially as that number gets higher and higher.

Step 2: Block Temptations

How do you quit porn? By blocking temptations! That won’t fix the problem by itself, but it will make the battle so much easier. If you were, for example, to cut off access to the internet entirely, you can imagine how giving into porn would be much harder. If you are able to do that, that’s the best solution. But if you really do need the internet for your job or another key reason, implementing a blocker is the next best thing. There are many blockers out there aimed at blocking porn specifically (I personally use SafeSurfer, and highly recommend it!).

A blocker isn’t a full-proof solution, but it will make things tremendously easier. It will block almost everything, but some things will make it through the cracks. It’s important to make sure you do 2 things with your blocker:

1. Set the password and pin to something you will never remember. You will need the password to modify your settings, but you don’t want to have it right at your fingertips to disable the blocker. Instead, write the password on a piece of paper or text document on a flash drive, then put it somewhere extremely inconvenient. That way you can access it when you need it, but it’s far enough away that you won’t use it when tempted.
2. At some point, you might accidentally find something that the filter missed (or worse, you may be actively looking for a loophole). No blocker is perfect. Take immediate advantage of SafeSurfer’s ability to add individual websites to the block list. Block it at the earliest opportunity and move on. As soon as you know there’s a way around it, you will be tempted to give in.

You also want to block other kinds of temptations. If watching certain kinds of shows and movies or certain posts on social media trigger the urge to look at porn, you need to avoid them entirely. Cut out social media if need be, or work on training social media algorithms to stop showing you certain kinds of content.

More on blockers

Step 3: Establish Accountability

How do you quit porn? By establishing accountability! There is accountability software out there like Covenant Eyes, but software might not be necessarily needed. The important part is that you have someone you can talk to who will help you along the way. You can talk to them when you feel tempted, and let them know when you fail. The benefit of software is that it adds an extra layer of accountability. Software like Covenant Eyes will hold you accountable by sending reports to an accountability partner when you look at porn. If this sounds terrifying (and it should), that’s one extra incentive in place to help you resist!

Step 4: Filling the Void

How do you quit porn? By replacing it! We turn to porn as a way of satisfying some need. It could be stress, boredom, or loneliness. It’s not just about having a high libido. When you turn to porn to reduce stress, your brain will make that connection and urge you to look at porn whenever you feel stressed.

What you must do next is figure out why you turn to porn. What need are you trying to fill? Once you discover the reason behind your urges, you can then work on finding a healthy avenue. If you turn to porn because you are bored, taking up a new hobby or joining an organization that takes up your free time will be a tremendous help. If you’re stressed, finding another form of stress relief will reduce the urges. Each time you handle your urge in a healthy way, your brain starts to rewire itself to no longer turn to porn. Each small victory is one more step in breaking free and finally quitting porn for good.

Step 5: Self-Improvement

We are not compartmentalized. If you are able to practice self-denial in one aspect of your life, that will transfer over to quitting porn. The recommendation here isn’t to read a bunch of generic self-help books. Most of them are a waste of time. Instead, start to work on self-denial in other aspects of your life. The most popular (for good reason) is intermittent fasting. If you take time to research fasting and do it in a healthy way, your ability to deny food will improve your general willpower and discipline, which means you’ll be better able to resist temptations and break free from porn.

More on building self-discipline.

Step 6: Build Consistent Habits

If you’ve been following these steps, this means you’ve built quite an arsenal. But the important part is sticking to them. You can’t implement each one of these for a day or two and then abandon it. Consistency is key. You need to do your best to stick to these as reliably as possible. Don’t worry, things get easier each day. Maintaining these habits means rewiring your brain. Day by day you are eliminating your desire for porn and building healthy habits. One day, you’ll be able to disable your blocker (or at least lighten the restrictions) because you’ll be better at resisting temptations when they do arise. You’ll always need to be on your guard, but eventually you’ll only feel temptations on rare occasions.

Get Started Now!

Reading about implementing habits doesn’t accomplish anything if you don’t start implementing them. Take the first step today. If you enter your email below, you’ll receive daily advice, encouragement, and tools that go far more in-depth with keeping you on your path to breaking free from porn for good.