20 Tips To Help You Quit Smoking

Let me apologise in advance for putting across the obvious like a golden nugget of information, but..... it's been a nerve-racking couple of months. I am especially referring to the smoking segment of the population, people who'd been reliant on lighting up a cigarette, as a strategy for dealing with life's unending complications. For so long, they'd been accustomed to a unique conversion cycle, one that availed the aid of tobacco, to remodel stress into ashy, dense smoke. And then, the lockdown happened.

Suddenly, cigarettes weren't as essential. At least in the eyes of the general public, as well as the nation's government. But for smokers, the injustice was overwhelmingly harsh. Those used to the weight of a pack in their back pocket during all hours of the day, were now scrounging around the legally shut streets, frantically dialling numbers, and testing the waters of technology, to get their hands on a new stash of smokes. Okay, maybe the flaring drama was just in my case. But, if you're here, you probably know what I mean. 

Even if in hindsight, your separation from cigarettes strikes as a lot more graceful, there's no denying how terrible those initial few days felt. Because even when you would almost reach the brink of successfully distracting yourself from the craving for a smoke, the most infuriating words would come drifting past........"why don't you try quitting?", and snap! goes the rage-o-meter. 

We didn't want to be another such annoying voice. So we saved this one, till your access to cigarettes was a bit more fluid. Now, that you've kind of reunited with your choice of coping mechanism, here comes the inevitable. SO....um.....why don't you try quitting? Wait, wait, put down the knife, please. Hear me out, okay? 

Besides the stale reasons of lengthening your life expectancy, reducing the risk of cancer, saving yourself from a random heart attack yada yada, smoking, is expensive. And inconvenient, as you might have realised. How many times have you had to dig your nails into your thigh during an absolute snoozefest of a meeting, desperately waiting to rush out of the doors with arms flailing in freedom, just to light up a smoke? Another reason, unhealthy physical dependency. I mean, if you've reached a point in your smoking trajectory where your body refuses to get on with the basic functions, unless your throat and lungs have been greeted by the first influx of cigarette smoke of the day, what will you do when, god forbid, you don't have a stick? Just hold on for dear life? Also, stress is certain, the availability of a cigarette, on the other hand, isn't. So really, your brain could use some healthy coping strategies, ones that don't bring the possibility of cancer and a perpetual state of breathlessness, as a byproduct. 

Sounds scarily familiar? Don't worry, you're on the right track. Just keep scrolling for 20 genuinely useful tips to quit smoking, or at the very least, reduce your everyday tally, by a considerable margin. 

Image Courtesy: Pexels

1. First off, if you want to quit, you want to QUIT. No "just two drags", "give me one puff" or "ok fine just pass it to me this one time". No "I'll do it tomorrow"s, and absolutely no "I deserve this". Stopping implies a full stop, no exceptions. 

2. You might have heard the entire logic behind quitting cold turkey, versus tapering off. While it might work for some very willful people, my experience says otherwise. The thing is, 2 days of smoking just 3, are quick to turn into a 3rd day of smoking a couple more, and woosh, there goes your intention to quit. So contrary to armchair psychology, and sometimes even actual psychology, the people I've seen successfully quit, and truly stay off, were the ones who threw out all their packs and smoking paraphernalia, and resolved to not touch one again. 

3. Prepare in advance for the withdrawal phase. I'm not going to lie, or even mince words. It's going to be difficult. Depending on the extent of your addiction, you'll want to snap at everybody, you'll want to cry, and you may even want to pull out your hair strands, one at a time, from frustration. You may experience insomnia, quick spikes of anger, and of course, all the stress you'd been suppressing. But just like in the case of any other drug addiction, you'll have to brave through the withdrawal of nicotine. 

4. Falling back on psychology for a minute, identify cues and triggers. Every craving has a cue that sets it off, and this isn't just too much non-fiction self-help reading, it's experience talking. One of the biggest cues, is the place you've linked with smoking. This could be your bedroom, so switch up the setup. It could also be your balcony, so go out with a snack to occupy your hands and mouth. Another common cue, is the sight of a lighter, or worse yet, a smoker friend. Avoid those for as long as you can. Just communicate first. With the friends that is. If you're talking to a lighter, that's a different can of worms I refuse to open. 

5. Most smokers I personally know, including yours truly, tend to have an after-meal smoking ritual. Find a different ritual. It could be reading 10 pages of a book, if you're into that. Or maybe a quick sketch. Journalling, a 15-minute meditation, a 10-minute phone call with your best friend. Replace your smoking routines with newer, healthier rituals. Go full Pavlov on your brain. 

6. Change your drinks. There are some drinks like alcohol, tea and coffee, that are more commonly associated with a cigarette in the form of a taste-enhancer. Guess who doesn't drink coffee anymore? You! Guess who's also quit smoking? You, my friend, you. 

7. I'm sorry, but...exercise. Seriously, a mention of the same thing before I quit, and I would've chased the person with a pitchfork. But trust me, it works. Your brain needs those endorphins, and that natural rush of dopamine. As you might have noticed, very few smoke because they're feeling happy. On the contrary, negative emotions like sudden stress, anxiety, or sadness, are linked with reaching for a cigarette. So get your brain naturally happy, and you won't feel the need to smoke to relieve those emotions as frequently. 

8. Keep a bottle of water on you at all times. Studies have shown that the best way to avoid cravings, is to occupy your hands and mouth. So every time you feel the urge to light one, take a long, satisfying gulp of water. 

9. Stick with the non-smokers in your circle. If you have a friend with a rigid anti-smoking stance, you just found your new companion through this quitting journey. Listen to them, tell them when you're craving one so they can list the reasons you shouldn't. 

10. That being said, don't over-rant. Yes, that's a thing. Sometimes when we complain incessantly about a problem, we magnify the significance of that problem in our own heads in the process. If all you talk about is how much you crave a cigarette, that's all you're thinking about, so now your craving is leading to more craving. You see why this might be a problem? 

Image Courtesy: Pexels 

11. Find alternative rewards. One common pattern I've noticed in a lot of regular smokers, is that the promise of a cigarette, is how they motivate themselves to get through a task. So now that you don't have a cigarette waiting on the other side, find a new, equally-satisfying reward. It could be a 20-minute sitcom episode, or maybe a quick round of an online video game. It could also be a phone call with your partner. You just need to find a reward that works for you, and motivates you. 

12. Make a list of reasons you want to quit, and store it in your phone for emergency craving situations. I'd advice against taping it on your mirror, or anywhere prominent, because while it will remind you of those reasons, it will also remind you of how great smoking felt. Scratch that, it will remind you of smoking, period. So stash that list in your phone, and quickly read it when you absolutely can't contain a carving. 

13. Find ways to unwind. Another reason smokers smoke as much as they do, is that it helps them relax when stress is soaring high. So, find other ways to take a break. Maybe slapping on a quick face pack, lighting a scented candle, or meditating. Inculcate relaxing and self-soothing activities in your everyday routine. 

14. Develop a negative perspective on smoking. Now, you might think this is obvious but it actually isn't. Most smokers who try to quit, are unable to do so because they think of quitting as being deprived of something they love. So naturally, willpower doesn't work. You need a perspective change. Think about the times you'd start coughing when you laughed too hard, think about the yellow tinge on your nails, and think about the black phlegm you'd cough up while cleaning your tongue. Look at smoking as the disgusting, crippling, and seriously health injuring habit that it actually is, and not a friend you're being kept away from. 

15. As much as you don't want to hear it, quitting smoking is a huge lifestyle change, that depends on other lifestyle changes. Such as your diet and exercise patterns. Now, the logic is simple. When you do things that are healthy, you begin to identify yourself as someone who does healthy things. Now, smoking, will cause a clear cognitive dissonance when everything else you do is healthy for your body and mind. Simply put, you want to stop identifying as a person who has an unhealthy habit, and is okay with it. 

16. Join a community of people trying to quit. Yes, like Alcoholics Anonymous. People dealing with the same predicament will understand your plight more than others who've never walked that path. But careful there, you want to find people who're a bit more adept than you at handling cravings. On the other hand, if you meet someone who desperately wants a smoke, you both can end up enabling each other, thereby undoing all your progress. 

17. Keep busy. Especially during the initial period of withdrawal, pack your schedule to a point where you don't even have the time to entertain a craving. It's also a great time to focus on things you've been meaning to do for a while but always ended up putting off. Take on a new assignment at work, or join that new online course. But keep your brain occupied with more interesting things than the thought of a cigarette. 

19. Give nicotine replacement strategies a shot. Such as a patch, or a gum. No vaping or e-cigarettes. Not only can it be unhealthy on similar levels as a cigarette, but it also looks so uncool *gag* 

19. Don't be afraid to get professional help. I don't mean you need to go to rehab, but however benign nicotine addiction might strike you as, at the end of the day, you ARE addicted to a drug. A drug your body and brain were heavily reliant on. Therapy can help in easing a lot of the inner turmoil and angst that comes with the territory of quitting a drug. 

20. All of this said and done, don't give up. Recovery from anything, whether it's a 5-year smoking habit or self-sabotage tendencies, is usually not a linear path. You may go astray, you may end up giving in to your urge. But get up, and start again. But also, don't use this as an excuse to indulge a bad habit. Just because you can start the process of quitting again, doesn't mean you should give up on the one you've already started. 

 Don't let a cigarette, take your breath away.