Smokers frequently find that certain behaviors and situations trigger the desire to smoke. One method to help you to start tapering off of a smoking habit is to alter your behavior and avoid situations that trigger the smoking desire.

The following are some ideas that former smokers have used to help them to kick the smoking habit. Try as many as will fit into your lifestyle situation.

The real secret to making this work is to avoid any and all situations that trigger a desire for a cigarette. This does mean changing the way that you deal with smoking situations by avoiding some situations and altering the way that you react to others.

• Spend more time in places where you cannot smoke, such as theaters, department stores and libraries. If your area has smoke-free restaurants, try frequenting those. If restaurants have non-smoking areas, try sitting there as ling as you are as far as is possible from the smoking areas of the restaurant.
• Drink lots of liquids, such as citrus juice or diet soft drinks. Pass up coffee and alcohol, because these tend to trigger the desire for cigarettes.
• Carry a worry stone, beads, a favorite coin, button or marble. Fondling these types of objects tends to focus your mind away from the desire for smoking.
• Place a straw or toothpick in your mouth. Sometimes just having something in your mouth satisfies the need for a cigarettes.
• Chew on sugarless gum, mints, celery or carrot sticks.
• Play a musical instrument or find an interesting hobby. Anything that requires that you mind focus on something helps the mind to forget about the smoking desire.
• Hang around with non-smokers and engage in more activities with these friends. While you do not need to abandon your smoking friends, it is hard to quit smoking when those around you are smoking. You could also asking your smoking friends to not smoke when you are around. While you are likely to get some ribbing for this, you can respond by telling them that you are trying to save their lives as well as yours.
• Reach for the phone and call someone instead of smoking a cigarette. Stand or walk around while talking on phone.
• Hide all ashtrays, matches, etc.
• Tell everyone that you are quitting. Bet a friend $50 that you can quit.
• Before you quit, try wrapping your cigarettes with a sheet of paper like a gift. Every time you want a cigarette, unwrap the pack and write down what you are doing, how you feel and how important this cigarette is to you. Do this for two weeks and you will have cut down as well as developed new insights into your smoking.
• To kill the craving for cigarettes, you must quit suddenly. Try smoking an excess number for a day or two before you quit so the taste is spoiled. Or quit when you have a cold or the flu and have lost your taste for cigarettes.
• Plan a memorable date for stopping — your vacation, New Year’s Day, your birthday.
• Change your brand of cigarettes weekly so you are always smoking a brand lower in tar and nicotine content than the previous week.
• Calculate the monthly and annual cost of purchasing cigarettes. This can be shocking for several people. Enjoy watching your savings grow as you stop purchasing cigarettes.
• Write out your game plan for getting through tough moments and family crises. Learn to cope with life’s difficult situations, rather than reaching for a crutch in the form of nicotine.
• Write down all of the benefits of quitting.
• If you are religious, ask for Divine aid.
• Don’t sit in your usual smoking chair. Change your environment.