Helpful Stop Smoking Tip - More Than One

Making the decision to stop smoking is quite possibly the best thing you could do if you are already in the unfortunate position of being a smoker. It will not come easy however, and you will need all the help you can get in order to succeed. The following stop smoking tips may be useful to you, and they may help you get on the road to dropping the habit for good…

• Draw up a list of why you want to quit smoking. All your good intentions will have a greater chance of succeeding if you have a clear set of goals in mind, and drawing up a list will help you stay on track.

• Decide on a quit date and stick to it. This may be the single hardest stop smoking tip to follow but it is a tremendously important first step. While some people may be tempted to cut down their cigarette consumption gradually, numerous researches have shown that most people simply tend to smoke more of each single cigarette, keeping their nicotine levels at the same level as if they have not reduced their consumption.

• Inform friends and family of your decision to quit. This will automatically give you a support network that may be able to help you in your most trying times. In addition, friends and family members that continue to smoke will hopefully avoid smoking around you, thereby reducing the chances of you being tempted enough to start smoking all over again.

• Throw away everything related to smoking. This goes for ashtrays, lighters, and cigarettes obviously.

• Be prepared for withdrawal smoking symptoms. The most common symptoms associated with nicotine withdrawal are nausea, headaches, tension, stress, irritability, cravings for food as well as cigarettes, and a general feeling of illness. You will probably experience one or more of these symptoms and you will simply have to ride them out. The good news is that most of them will ease up after 12 to 24 hours of quitting, and they should disappear completely after 2 to 4 weeks.

• Steer clear of places and situations that will tempt you to smoke. Most people associate smoking with drinking alcohol, so if you are such a person, it may be a good idea to stay away from drinking during the first few weeks of your quit date. You may also want to avoid drinking tea or coffee if you normally drink such beverages while smoking.

• Focus on one day at a time. You should consider every single day that you manage to keep off cigarettes as a success. Every time you are tempted to smoke, look at how far you have gone and convince yourself that smoking again will put all of those days to waste.

• Don’t be too hard on yourself if you relapse. No one is perfect and smoking is one of the hardest habits to break. Use a relapse as an opportunity to examine the reasons for smoking again, and figure out a way to deal with such situations better in the future.