How to Cut Down On Smoking

Cutting down on smoking is a good first step in the process of quitting smoking. It can help you establish new routines to replace your smoking times and better ways to deal with daily life without cigarettes. It can even save money, too.

Things You'll Need

• Patience
• Willpower

Instructions

1. Cutting down on smoking is easy once you come up with a plan. How much you cut back is up to you, but come up with a set number of cigarettes you want to aim for in a given day versus how many cigarettes you currently smoke in a day. Allow for a couple of slip-ups those first couple of weeks to ease the transition.

2. For the first two weeks, allow a number between the number of cigarettes you currently smoke and the number of cigarettes you want to smoke. Set that many cigarettes aside, and only smoke those in a given day. This is a good time to start deep cleaning or focusing on a hobby. Make a rule to only smoke outside of your home or car and stick to it. If you make it inconvenient to smoke, you WILL smoke less. Keep yourself busy and before long you will find your cigarette cravings decrease.

3. The next two weeks, smoke only your target amount of cigarettes per day, still setting aside how many cigarettes your goal is. Pick up a good book to keep yourself occupied, or come up with new activities to enjoy smoke free. Before long, you will find it easier and easier to cut back on your smoking.

4. If your goal is to quit smoking, every week or two decrease the amount of cigarettes you smoke per day. Quitting smoking is a difficult and long process, and cutting down on your smoking first can make you more successful in your quest to quit.

Tips & Warnings

• Set goals and reward yourself for reaching your goals.

• Drink water throughout the day, if you are not removing the taste of cigarettes it becomes a little unpleasant and you crave cigarettes less.

• Smoking is an unhealthy addiction, and can lead to serious side effects. Cutting down does not necessarily decrease the odds of illness.