Quitting smoking “cold turkey” can be a daunting idea for many people.  They dread the thought of dealing with physical, mental and emotional cravings while at the same time trying to overcome the mindless habit that smoking has become during so many of their activities.

However, there is an easier way to give up smoking that works well for many people; gradually cutting down the frequency of smoking before quitting altogether.

There are many ways to do this, and all of them can be equally effective:

- Keep track.

Sometimes just being aware of how much you are smoking each day can help you to smoke less.  Because smoking is often a “mindless habit,” you may not realize that you are smoking more than you think.  There are a couple of ways to use this method.  If you tend to smoke in only one place, like at home for example, try emptying all of your ashtrays each morning before you smoke your first cigarette.  At the end of the day, count how many butts have accumulated in the ashtrays and write the figure in a notebook.  Each day as you smoke, keep in mind that you’ll have to count every single butt and write it down later; that alone may help you to smoke less.

Another technique is to tape a small piece of paper to your cigarette pack and make a mark every time you smoke a cigarette.  If you finish one pack and open another, simply move the paper to the new pack and continue making a mark every time you light up.  At the end of each day, tally up your marks and write the total in a notebook.

The goal with this method is to gradually reduce the amount of cigarettes you smoke each day until you are down to just a few, then quit completely. Read the rest of this entry