I am closing in on the first month smoke free, and have been thinking a lot about how I deal with the urges that pop up, some days more often than others. As I have said, this quit is different, and no urge has been as strong as in the past quits, but they still come up frequently, and each one requires a different response. I go through my responses until one works.
1. Shake my head to shake the thought of smoking out.
2. Grab a piece of gum (will not work if already chewing a piece).
3. Deep breathes.
4. Slap side of head (avoid if hammer is in hand).
5. Laugh at urge.
6. Question urge "WHY NOW?"
7. Time urge.
8. Get up and walk fast.
9. Explain to whoever is in the room that you just had an urge.
10. eat a piece of Fried chicken.
11. Get angry at the stupid urge.
12 Calmly remove urge from your brain, and gently carry out to the trash.
Greg
