How to stop betting on NFL Sundays

Football season is built to pull you back. Games all day, bets on every drive, ads between every play. If Sundays are where it goes wrong, plan the day before it starts, not during it.

Saturday night

• Lock the book you use most. The self exclusion page for every sportsbook takes a few minutes. Do it tonight, not at 12:55 on Sunday.
• Block the sites in your browser. Here is the 60 second iPhone version, and the Android one.
• Take the stake out of reach. Move the money you would have bet into savings, then close the bank app.

Before kickoff

The window right before the early games is the loudest. Pick what you will do in it: a walk, a call, a shower, the gym. Decide now and tell one person.

During the games

• Watch with someone who knows you are not betting.
• Turn off push notifications from every betting and score app. Scores can come from a source that does not sell you a parlay.
• When the urge hits, give it 30 seconds before you touch your phone. It peaks and passes.

Monday morning

Count the Sunday. A day without a bet is a day, whatever the score was.