Quitting smoking is one of the most challenging tasks there is. You’re either morally conscious that it is killing you and don’t care, or you keep trying to quit but fall back on your weakness yet once again. Here are few ways to help you out, ways that ex-smokers from all over the internet have said to have facilitated them:

Set a Quit Date: Set a date by which you would completely quit smoking. Either reduce smoking till this date or end it completely on that day. This would give you some mental preparation to cope with this change in your life and also time to clear out everything that relates to smoking (ashtrays, empty cartons, etc.)

Tell people you are quitting: If people know you are, they will support you as much as you can. They would remind you why, help you get through the time and even scold you if you wished to smoke again. At times, even the sheer guilt of letting someone down would make you feel disgusted about having the cigarette in your hand.

Join a support group for quitters: Being around people who are going through what you are would be of great help to you. You would be able to relate, share and even be inspired by your fellow group members.

Tip: Do not try to quit smoking while under stress or in depression, pick a happy phase in your life for it. It will make you feel more optimistic and also not make you want to fall back on smoking again.

Make a list of things to do when having an urge to smoke: Walking, cleaning, doing yoga, chewing gum – there are a lot of things one can do to remove the urge of smoking. You can even chew other things which would make you repress the urge, or have a cup of herbal tea.

Select alternative methods to cope with quitting: Be it the use of nicotine patches, acupuncture, medical help (consult your doctor) for insulin, or so on. You can even shift to e-cigarettes first as it is seen that those who use e-cigarettes are more successful in quitting.

Stay away from those who tempt you to smoke with them: There are always negative people around who will try to lure you into smoking again. For example, your smoking buddy with whom you usually have that peaceful smoke may not want to lose their friend. Do not listen to them, cut them off from your life temporarily too until you’ve been able to quit!

Make a list of consequences of smoking: Put up lists about what smoking does to one’s body like lung cancer, throat cancer, reduces fertility, affects you when pregnant, etc. Put these lists in common places which you see them every day.