Time is my trigger

[joe-wrinkle]

OK, so I have not yet set a quit date(need to get an appt. w/my doc and get some medication).
I have cut myself back pretty successfully by timing myself. I try to go at least 2 hrs between smokes- not always so successfully! My biggest problem is work. I work outdoors, and I have a lot of downtime, which is an absolute KILLER! So I often find myself watching the clock in my truck, and I start to get anxious/jittery around 1.5 hrs. Sometimes I make it, sometimes, not so much. At home it is easier, as there is ALWAYS stuff to be done. 3 kids will fill your dance card pretty full! So any and all advice is welcome.

[jeff28]

Joe,
If I had to give you a piece of advice it's this: don't even bother with the cutting back method. It just leaves you in a permanent state of nicotine withdrawal. I tried the same thing about a year ago and I failed miserably. No one ever quits that way. Better advice: My wife said "when it's your time to quit you'll know it and you'll quit." She was right. I kept smoking but nearly every time I lit up I asked myself why I was smoking. I asked myself if I really enjoyed cigarettes or if I was really just an addict. Turned out I was an addict. You are too. Everyone on this site is. I also kept telling myself that my time was coming soon. I quit Aug. 25th, 67 days ago and haven't had so much as one puff since. I knew deep down when I threw that last cigarette out that I didn't want to be a smoker anymore and that I wanted to be free of the addictin. And to be real honest with you, it hasn't been extremely difficult. Yes, at times it's challenging relearning how to live without cigarettes, but I've never seriously second guessed the decision.

Start by becoming a conscious smoker. When you have time to kill, does smoking actually help you kill time?? Or are you just killing yourself? If smoking actually helped kill boredom smokers would be the most delightfully entertained people in the world. Yeah right.

Start thinking, get with your doctor and set a quit date. Until then spare yourself the nicotine withdrawal.

Best of luck,

[melissa5]

Read the book the easy way to stop smoking by allen carr!!!!!

[jeff28]

Jeanie,
I'm glad to hear you've set a quit date. I wish you the best of luck. I haven't been on this site in a while but thought I would check in. It's now been 149 days for me and my cravings are so rare and so weak now that I rarely need to jump back in here for support. BUT, I do enjoy supporting others. So, my advice is to become a "thoughtful" smoker. Continue to think before you smoke and think about exactly why you're smoking and how much impact smoking actually has on you. What you'll find is that smoking doesn't calm you down, it doesn't make you think more clearly, it doesn't make you feel better (not really; you just think you do), and it doesn't make you more cool or more sociable. It's just a dumb old habit based on a thought process that's flawed. Rethink it.

And please remember this: the only way to quit smoking is to quit smoking. I know that seems redundant but it's the smoking of the cigarette that reinforces the desire to smoke the next one. Only by denying the desire does the desire ever go away. Start refusing to smoke and soon you'll stop having to refuse at all.

Again, best of luck to you.

[jessica37]

I quit two days ago and am struggling with it. One thing I have found that helps me at work is to play a silly computer game when I get a craving. I play until I realize I am not craving a cigarette anymore. Usually about 5-7 minutes- okay sometimes 15-20! lol About the same amount of time I would have spent smoking. I know you are in your truck, so maybe you could try getting a game on your phone and give that a try. Or bring a crossword puzzle or something of the like with you to distract you while you are having a craving. I definitely think it will help if you find something else to do during that downtime. Good luck!

[donna52]

I hear ya joe, I feel like Im bored to tears lol. Try playing video games on your cell phone or text message your friends and family...its just a thought but hey..it might work! u can text me if u want 🙂 Good luck