I smoked a pack a day for 18 years. In the past 10 years I smoked maybe 2-3 packs.
The key hacks to this change for me were:
0) decided I will not put a hard barrier (“quit”) but rather reduce (“stop”). This reduces the guilt during the inevitable setbacks.
1) find and break the frequent routines that involve smoking (first coffee + cig => replace with tea. It tastes terrible with cigarette; colleagues asking for a smoke => work from home, etc)
2) very consciously ask myself for every cigarette what is triggering it. Why do I think I need it. If there is no reason - then abstain from smoking, but if there is a good reason - focus on the reason. It’s ok to have a cigarette if there is a good enough reason but I need to think hard about this reason and try to eliminate it.
3) even for relapses, arrange them such that they do not ever turn into micro routines. Smoking in a rarely visited club or place is ok. At home - not okay.
4) make experiment with alternating 2 weeks of non smoking with 2 weeks of smoking, noting my well being. The difference is obvious and very visible.
As a result, now I sometimes socially smoke at parties, with smoker friends - but each time after careful consideration of whether the inevitable headache in the morning is worth the “fun” - and again, very carefully checking that the situation didn’t have a potential to turn into a micro-routine.
I never quit and if I want, I can always smoke again. But I consciously don’t want to.
These hacks are obviously specific to my wiring and may not work for everyone, but just thought to write it in case this helps someone. Good luck!
The key hacks to this change for me were:
0) decided I will not put a hard barrier (“quit”) but rather reduce (“stop”). This reduces the guilt during the inevitable setbacks.
1) find and break the frequent routines that involve smoking (first coffee + cig => replace with tea. It tastes terrible with cigarette; colleagues asking for a smoke => work from home, etc)
2) very consciously ask myself for every cigarette what is triggering it. Why do I think I need it. If there is no reason - then abstain from smoking, but if there is a good reason - focus on the reason. It’s ok to have a cigarette if there is a good enough reason but I need to think hard about this reason and try to eliminate it.
3) even for relapses, arrange them such that they do not ever turn into micro routines. Smoking in a rarely visited club or place is ok. At home - not okay.
4) make experiment with alternating 2 weeks of non smoking with 2 weeks of smoking, noting my well being. The difference is obvious and very visible.
As a result, now I sometimes socially smoke at parties, with smoker friends - but each time after careful consideration of whether the inevitable headache in the morning is worth the “fun” - and again, very carefully checking that the situation didn’t have a potential to turn into a micro-routine.
I never quit and if I want, I can always smoke again. But I consciously don’t want to.
These hacks are obviously specific to my wiring and may not work for everyone, but just thought to write it in case this helps someone. Good luck!