When quitting smoking you are also giving up social and psychological habits that have become very important to you. As you already know…..this is not easy to do! A lot of smokers worry about how they’ll feel when they’re trying to withdraw from using cigarettes. To be successful, it is often suggested that you build a pre-defined infrastructure of support systems & coping methods that you can draw upon during your stop smoking efforts. For example, taking some time to better understand some of the “triggers” that precipitate your desire to “light up” may help you to avoid these situations as you begin to abstain from tobacco use:

• People – With whom are you most likely to want to smoke?
• Places – Where are you most likely to want to smoke?
• Things – With what, e.g. alcohol, coffee, on the phone, are you most likely to want to smoke?
• Times – When are you most likely to want to smoke, e.g., after meals, when you first get up?

Important: Times when you may be most tempted to smoke may include times when you feel certain ways, e.g. stressed, angry, bored, lonely, sad.

Additionally, it may also help you to anticipate what “feelings” you may experience as you begin, and what you may possibly do to overcome them. Here are some common complaints from other people who quit, and what they did to feel better. Of course, no two people are exactly alike. Some people have some of these complaints; others don’t have any.

As for specific examples..

• Finishing a meal. Get up from the table immediately and start a pleasurable activity. Try a walk or a new hobby.
• Drinking coffee. Change the way you have coffee: the place, the coffee mug, everything that you did when you were smoking. Wait until you are at work to have your morning coffee.
• Talking on the telephone. Use a phone in a different room when you are at home. At the office, there may be little you can do to change location. Have small objects nearby to handle while you are on the phone.
• Between tasks. Instead of smoking a cigarette before moving on to your next project, try taking a short walk or reading a section of the newspaper or a chapter of a novel you’re enjoying.
• After an argument, disappointment, or negative event. If you are still feeling angry or upset, let off the steam by walking briskly around the building.
• In the car. Since smoking has been banned in so many workplaces, cars are becoming a popular place to smoke. Remove the ashtray from your car, or fill it with potpourri or tiny strips of paper on which you’ve written the reasons you don’t want to smoke anymore. Instead of smoking while you drive, play your favorite music on the stereo and sing along.

I managed to deal with all the triggers, and so can you!

If you need more information on a trigger that isn’t here, and you aren’t sure how to cope, you can always search quitspeed, or drop us a line and we’ll get back to you.