Tip 1: Plan Your Quit
Quitting smoking is tough. Create a plan that works for you to help you get smoke free.
It helps to set a date. Choose a date that makes sense for you personally. Perhaps a date that is memorable or has personal significance. There’s no better time to quit than today, but choosing a time when you’re not experiencing a lot of stress at work or your personal life will increase your chances of success.
Think about whether you want to quit smoking completely or gradually and find then find the right strategy that works best for you. Having a back up plan is a good idea, for example start with nicotine gums or patches, and consider using an e-cigarette or vape in case of a craving emergency!
Tip 2: Remember Your Reasons For Quitting Smoking
Write down all the reasons you decided to stop smoking and put it somewhere you’ll see it. It might be health, cost or family reasons. There will be times when you really feel like giving up and having a cigarette, so it helps to have a visible reminder of why you are doing this. Keep at it!
Tip 3: Quit With a Mate
Research shows that you’re more likely to succeed in quitting if you do so with a friend or family member. Grab a mate who also wants to quit. That way, you can keep each other motivated, be accountable to someone other than yourself and you’ll know that you’re not in this alone. Do you have a friend or family member who you’d love to help quit smoking too? Refer them now and they’ll receive $10 off their consultation fee. Better still, for each person you refer, you’ll go into our monthly random prize draw to win $595 (the amount the average smoker saves by quitting smoking for one month!).
Tip 4: Use multiple strategies
There’s no reason why you should only use one quitting strategy so why not try multiple strategies at a time? For example, if using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) like gums or patches on it’s own hasn’t worked, using an e-cigarette when you have severe cravings may stop you turning back to cigarettes. The long term safety of e-cigarettes are unknown, so using them only occasionally is preferable. There is no doubt though that they’re a significantly safer alternative to smoking, so if it’s a choice between a cigarette and an e-cig/vape, opt for the vape when you have severe cravings.
Tip 3: Use The Money You Save on Cigarettes on Something Fun
The average smoker spends between $30-$50 a day on cigarettes. Calculate how much you could save! (Link to smoking calculator)
It helps to actually see how much money you’re saving. Set up a special savings account and name it ‘QuitCash’ or start a ‘quitting jar’, to store the saved cash. Decide how you’ll spend the money you save when you reach various targets. It will only be a month before you’ve likely saved over $1000, more than enough to do something fun with!
Tip 6: Save activities ready for when you have the urge to smoke
Whenever you feel the urge to smoke, resist it by having an activity to replace it. Cravings usually last 5-10 minutes so prepare a list of things to wait to do in this time to distract yourself from the craving. For example, use this time to catch up with friends or family on a call, do the chores that you’ve been putting off or even catch up on your social media.
Tip 7: Work out the Stress
Keeping active is a great way of dealing with the stress of quitting. Swim, run or walk, or take up a new sport or activity. Your lung capacity will improve by as much as 15% with the first 12 months of quitting so you’ll be capable of doing more exercise than when you were smoking.
Tip 8: Ask Your Loved Ones For Help
Tell your friends and family that you’re trying to quit. They know what an incredible thing you are doing and will support you along the way! When you are struggling to keep it going, ask them for encouragement and to keep you accountable!
Tip 9: Think Positive
There are going to be times that you’ll want to pack it in and have another cigarette. When this happens, remind yourself of all the positives that come with being smoke-free. You’ll have saved a small fortune, have better sense of taste and smell, healthier looking skin, a better lung capacity, whiter teeth and an ever decreasing cancer risk.
Tip 10: Try Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)
When you stop smoking, nicotine withdrawal may make you feel irritable, anxious or cranky. Replacing the nicotine, without the 7,000+ other chemicals in cigarettes, can help with these symptoms. Nicotine gums, patches and sprays can all be bought over the counter, or if these are no help, a prescription for nicotine via an e-cigarette/vape can be written by an Authorised Prescriber. All Quit Clinics doctors are Authorised Prescribers of Nicotine.
Tip 11: Read Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking
Multiple patients of Quit Clinics have recommended this book, which has been particularly successful in the UK. Allen Carr is an English comedian who is an ex-smoker, and explores the mentality behind smoking. It’s available to be purchased online, or can be downloaded from Audible. Give it a go!
Tip 12: Remind yourself what’s actually in a cigarette
It helps to remind yourself when you’re considering ‘just having one’, that it really isn’t just a cigarette, but thousands of chemicals. Print out this list, and put it somewhere visible, like on the fridge to remind you that it’s not just not just one cigarette, it’s over 7,000 chemicals!
Got another tip to help someone quit? Leave a comment below!
