Masturbation is a relatively common activity. It can help to reduce stress, burn calories, and promote relaxation. At the same time, masturbation can also become unhealthy if it starts to interfere with your relationships, work or school life, or home responsibilities. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to control your urge to masturbate so you can focus more important things in your life.

Identify your triggers to arousal and avoid them. Triggers to masturbation can be the thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and situations, that result in arousal or the urge to masturbate. Triggers vary in each person, but can include looking at attractive people, body parts, clothing, animals, or inanimate objects. Or, in some people this can include sounds, smells, or other sensory or thought stimulation. If you work to cope with or reduce these triggers, you may be less likely to act on your impulse (by reducing the trigger) to masturbate.
Make a list (either mental or on paper/the computer) of all of the things that trigger you to engage in masturbation. This list might include things like: looking at pornography, thinking about sex or fantasizing, looking at sex-related items, increased stress or anxiety, or difficulty sleeping.

Limit your exposure to pornographic material. There are some triggers that you can control yourself, such as looking at objects, pictures, or videos that make you feel aroused. Removing these items can drastically decrease your unintentional arousal, leading to a decrease in your impulse to masturbate.
Pornographic materials may include: DVDs, magazines, pictures, posters, sculptures, and romance novels.
Avoid driving by or entering triggering places such as: strip-clubs, brothels, or streets where prostitutes frequently hang out.

Stash sex-objects. Not only will pornographic materials naturally lead to arousal, but any object that reminds you of sexual intercourse or masturbation may lead to arousal and masturbation.
Remove or hide sex-objects that are triggering for you. These might include: condoms, lubrication (jelly or lotions), vibrators, dildos, sexy outfits, and anything else that you might have that could lead to thoughts of masturbation


Limit your internet use.[1] Some individuals have difficulty with watching pornography on the internet.[2] This can be very arousing for some and can lead to difficulty abstaining from masturbation.
You can put parental controls on your computer or television through your internet/cable service which limits your ability to enter pornographic sites. Discuss this with your internet or cable provider. You don’t have to admit your issue to them because many people with children use these services to restrict their children from going to certain sites or television channels.

Do something else. Try to be as busy as possible during the day and night. Keep your mind focused on activities that do not stimulate your sexual fantasies. This will vary in each person.
Some examples of positive or distracting activities you can try are: playing video games, watching a movie (non-sexual), going for a walk, going window shopping, playing with a pet, reading a book, playing an instrument, creating art (painting, coloring, sculpting), and writing in a journal.