The Top Reasons Why People Smoke

An important step to quitting smoking is to know the reasons why you smoke in the first place. This is often an overlooked step in quitting smoking but will help you come up with a quit smoking plan. It will be alot easier to quit smoking if you know ahead of time what triggers your cigarette cravings and how to avoid them, or at least how to distract yourself from them. By taking the time to focus on your goals for quitting before you actually begin to quit, you will have a much higher success rate than someone who quits for reasons that doesn’t pertain to them.

There are a wide range of reasons why people smoke. It can be as simple as lighting up a cigarette to help relieve stress or when you are depessed or for just a quick pick me up. Smoking sometimes gives the illusion that these little situations will go away. In reality , it only gives you brief moments where you can see what is going on in your life. For example, say you have a very stressful job and can’t help but to think of your next smoking break. What does this smoking break accomplish? Nothing, except it takes you away from the stress of your job for a few minutes. In this example then it seems if you cut down on the level of stress at work, you will be able to cut down on the number of cigarettes you smoke.

Other reasons that many people smoke is due to being under the impression that they will not be able to smoke. This comes back to the old idea that you are never hungry at night except for the night before a medical test when you are not allowed to eat after 8p.m. Suddenly that very night you are positively starving and think that your doctor is punishing you badly for some reason. The same thing happens to smokers. If you are going somewhere and you think you will not be able to smoke, the urge to smoke may be much stronger. This often has nothing to do with actually needing or even wanting to smoke. It is nothing more than a mental game that we play with ourselves.

Many smokers find that they are only interested in smoking if they are bored. Having nothing to do leads to idle hands, which can easily create problems. Learning how to keep yourself busy is not easy, but trying to avoid boredom can often go a very long way in the battle to stop smoking. Taking the time to create a schedule for yourself that you can keep, without leaving too much down time is important. If you pack your schedule with too much, you will create stress, which could cause you to smoke even more, if you have too much free time you could become bored which can also lead to smoking more. A properly balanced schedule will ensure that you are productive without stressing.

Sleep is something you need to take into consideration. People tend to smoke when they have low energy and need a quick pick up during the mid-day. Avoid staying up late whenever possible. If you are experiencing a sleep shortage, try going to bed early at least one night a week. You may be surprised how much difference it makes. Sleep is often overlooked as an important step in being healthy and in breaking your smoking habit. It is this simple step that can help you by cutting your smoking cravings by as much as half.

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