I have not smoked in three years and I miss it every day. I guess it is true when they claim that smoking is as addictive as herione, although I've never tried heroine. I do know that I still think about it often. Fortunately, I was able to work off a few other ideas to give it up and stay away from it.
Since I am a clean freak, the odour and dirt of it was never appealing to me. So I repainted the rooms of my house in which I smoked, steamed cleaned the upholstery and drapes and smashed every ashtray in the house. I also took every winter coat and suit to the cleaners. I really felt like my house and person were fully cleansed of any smoke scent. I also had the car detailed. Given the money that all this cost, I was pretty interested in keeping this up.
Next, I thought about when I smoked and when I didn't. I always lit up first thing in the morning with my coffee. I tried to switch to tea and hot chocolate, but I still felt the urge to smoke. I changed to diet soda in the morning and, although I hated the soda, I found it easier to avoid the craving. I would immediately start making breakfast so my mind was not on a cigarette, too. Since I still needed something else to keep busy, I started ironing my shirts in the morning instead of before bed. I found that this small change was just enough to get me through to my shower painlessly. Once I had brushed my teeth, I had made it home-free since I never smoked again until my drive home from work.
I like to smoke while I was driving home, but I never smoked while chewing gum. So I'd stop on my way to the car and pick up a package of gum. I just kept chewing a few pieces, spitting it out and replacing it until I got home or to my destination. Again, home-free.
My evening routine was a bit more complicated. I usually smoked three or four while surfing the internet before starting supper. I tried changing to TV but I still wanted to smoke. Finally, I started taking the dogs for their walk as soon as I got home instead of after dinner. That helped.
Once dinner was done and cleaned up, I only had about three hours until bed. Normally, during that three hours, I would smoke between 6 and 9 cigarettes, especially if I indulged in a glass or two of wine or talked on the phone. I decided to make a list of things that needed doing around the house. So one night, I painted the guest bedroom, the next night I cleaned out the garage, the next night I power washed the siding, and so on. Not only did I avoid the cravings, I was able to get some things done! I would also take baths in the evening and read magazines because I had never done that before and I did find that no new habit formed necessitated lighting up.
I'm not sayings its easy because it isn't. But I am a person who has very little willpower and came through my "quitting" experience relatively unscathed. i think if you can self-assess why and when you smoke and change those things as much as possible, it does become easier! Good luck!
