Quit Smoking With A Calculator In About One Month

Have you tried to stop smoking cold-turkey, only to light up a day or even an hour later? Many health practitioners will tell you that making a clean break from cigarettes is THE way to quit. But when cold-turkey doesn't let you quit, then what? You have to find a way to quit smoking that allows you to quit, your own way.

In all the methods you have tried to quit smoking, did you try reducing smoking gradually, over time? Reducing smoking in this way allows you to acclimate your body to less nicotine. In addition you will take control of your addiction by smoking "on purpose."

Use the following steps to create a gradual stop smoking schedule for yourself:

1. Estimate the number of cigarettes you typically smoke per day.
2. Determine how quickly you want to stop. Put another way, how many cigarettes will you reduce each day? An ideal quantity to use is 2 per day. This number will be called the Daily Reduction Number.
3. Divide your number from step 1 by your Daily Reduction Number from step 2. For example, if you smoke 40 cigarettes daily, divided by 2, you get the number 20. This is how many days you will need to totally quit smoking.
4. Take some paper and on the left-hand side write out the number of days you just determined you need in step 3 above. For example, if your number of days was 15, write Day 15. Now below that write Day 14, Day 13, Day 12, etc. all the way down to Day 1.
5. Starting from the bottom of the list (Day 1) write in the Daily Reduction Number from step 2 above ("2" in our example). On Day 2, add the Daily Reduction Number to the number on Day 1. In our example, you would write 4 on Day 2. On Day 3 you add the Daily Reduction Number to your number on Day 2. Continue this process until you add up to the top of your list. You are only that many days away from quitting smoking!

After taking the steps above you are now ready to begin cutting back, gradually. Carry your "reduction plan" with you wherever you go. You may want to attach it to your pack of cigarettes.

Begin the plan by smoking the quantity of cigarettes on the first date of your plan. Whenever you smoke a cigarette, put a check next to the current day. When the number of marks equals the number of cigarettes allotted for that day, you are finished smoking until the following day. Pace your smoking accordingly!

Here’s a tip that will greatly improve your chances of success by keeping you honest. As with most anything worthwhile it takes some effort (but very little). At the beginning of day, group together all the cigarettes you will be smoking that day. By visually keeping track of the number of cigarettes you will be smoking that day, you can better understand how to space out your cigarettes. By the way, if you reach the end of the day with cigarettes left over, don't add them to the next day’s allotment. Just pat yourself on the back for smoking less than your allotment.

Use this formula to calculate your personalized quit plan:

(Average Number of Cigarettes Smoked Daily) ____ / ____ (Daily Reduction Number) = ____ days
(for example 40 cigarettes / 2 cigarettes less per day = 20 days)

The plan I have outlined above is but one alternative of the smoking reduction method. Adjust the plan to suit your own situation, if this exact process doesn't quite work.

Gradually reducing your cigarette smoking can be a great way to stop a smoking addiction. By weaning yourself from nicotine's addictive effects, and taking control of your habit, you make stopping much more achievable. Start cutting back today!