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Week 3
, you may have noticed that you sometimes find yourself smoking without even being aware of lighting up. Over time most smokers build up many habits (even rituals) around smoking. After years of practice, these habits become automatic, and the situations associated with them become triggers for smoking.
Get Your Finger on Your Triggers
It's a good idea to make a list of your smoking triggers. One way to do this is to notice what’s going on when you have urges to smoke. As you identify your triggers, you can make effective plans to manage them. Common triggers include:
Emotions
especially negative ones like anger or irritation, depression, sadness or loneliness, anxiety or nervousness, guilt or embarrassment, and boredom.
Places
like being in your car, working at your desk, or sitting in a favorite spot at home.
Times
when you first wake up, when you finish eating a meal, or during breaks.
Events
like celebrating or spending time with friends, drinking coffee or alcohol, talking on the phone, or while you’re working.
Taming Your Triggers
There are three general approaches. Be creative as you find solutions that will work for you.
Avoid Unnecessary Exposure
There is no need to place yourself in a position where you are likely to have urges and will have to use willpower or take other actions to keep from smoking. If possible, stay away from triggers, especially at the beginning of your efforts to quit.
Change Locations
This kind of action will start to form a new habit and will eventually break the link between the trigger and the automatic urge to smoke.
Do Something Different... Anything!
Take a shower, listen to music, read a favorite book, go for a walk, or when in doubt, use your NRT product when it comes to responding to triggers.
, your survey suggests a stronger level of nicotine dependence. Do not worry about using more NRT product if you need to (not to exceed one per hour).
, your survey suggests a slight level of nicotine dependence. However, do not worry about using more NRT product if you need to (not to exceed one per hour).
, your survey suggests a stronger level of nicotine dependence. Do not worry about using more NRT product if you need to (not to exceed one per hour).
It’s time to put your previous quitting experience to work. The best way to overcome a habit like smoking is to anticipate problems and plan what you will do to handle them. Use the ideas below to make plans to handle each of the barriers below that could be potential barriers to being smoke-free:
Over time most smokers build up many habits (even rituals) around smoking. After years of practice, these habits become automatic, and the situations associated with them become triggers for smoking.
, you said you’re confident that you will be successful at quitting smoking, and that losing motivation will not be a problem for you. That’s great! Confidence and motivation are closely related. They can be helpful feelings to have. But you don't always have to be confident (or motivated) to stay smoke-free.
, you think that stress may be a problem for you during your efforts to quit smoking. Learning new skills to manage stress will be especially important.
You also mentioned that smoking neither relaxes nor gives you pleasure. But you wouldn't be imagining things if you noticed that smoking may make you feel better during stress or emotional upset.
, you said that you don’t think being angry, stressed, irritated, sad, or worried will trigger you to smoke. That’s great. However, learning new skills to manage stress will continue to be important as you continue your smoke-free journey.
You say that you tend to smoke when experiencing unpleasant emotions because smoking relaxes you. But you wouldn't be imagining things if you noticed that smoking may make you feel better during stress or emotional upset.
, you said that you don’t think being angry, stressed, irritated, sad, or worried will trigger you to smoke. That’s great. However, learning new skills to manage stress will continue to be important as you continue your smoke-free journey.
You also mentioned that smoking neither relaxes nor gives you pleasure. But you wouldn't be imagining things if you noticed that smoking may make you feel better during stress or emotional upset.
, you didn't report having medical conditions affected by smoking . However, you said that living a longer, healthier life is a not a very important reason for quitting. Begin asking yourself why? Further, consider reading articles about the health consequences of smoking and the benefits of quitting.
, you did report having some medical conditions affected by smoking . Additionally, you said that living a longer, healthier life is a very important reason for quitting. That's great!
, you did report having some medical conditions affected by smoking . Further, you said that living a longer, healthier life is a not a very important reason for quitting. Begin asking yourself why? Consider reading articles about the health consequences of smoking and the benefits of quitting.
, you said that being a better role model for your kids and others is not an important reason to be smoke-free . The dangers of secondhand smoke have been well established. And parents' behavior is still the greatest influence on the behavior of their children. By setting an example of not smoking, you are letting them know how important you think it is to not be a smoker. If your kids make it to age 21 without smoking, chances are very good that they will remain smoke-free for life.
You mentioned, , that gaining weight was a concern for you upon quitting smoking. There are several things you can do to prevent or minimize weight gain after you quit smoking.
You do not feel that this will be a problem for you, . That’s great! But you can safeguard your success by making an easy-to-follow plan for returning to smoke-free status if you do smoke again.