How to change to habit

[Persius]

I am early in my quit (cold turkey) and I'm a teacher going back to work soon.  I'm wondering how I can change my routine/habits that o have firmly set in place to dip before, during, and after work. Like many of you I had a dip in most of the day.

 

Driving new routes? Chewing lots of gum? Anything will help, thanks. 

 

Brad 

[Sand]

@Persiusyou don’t need dip to go about your daily life.  Dip has already controlled an abundance of actions in your life, why let it continue?  Fuck that plant.  Do what you want.  You’re in control.  Get some fake dip, seeds, gum or all of the above for the oral fixation.  

[Lipi]

The only thing you need to change in your routine is thinking that dip was a magic substance that cured anxiety, boredom, hunger, and stress. All it did was scratch the itch that nicotine dependance caused. It cured the withdrawal that it also caused. If you want off the hamster wheel, stop being a passive observer in some movie about your life,  and decide to take control/stop being a bitch.  

That said,  you might as well avoid the store where you bought your little can, and get some fake dip. 

 

[IndianaMike]

Once you discover that nicotine has no power over you, then you will begin to figure out quit.  Should take you a couple days if you do your job.  
 

You must read the speeches written and see how we all found success after being in your shoes.  Also read the failure stories and how they chose not to make wise decisions or take sound advice pertaining to learning quit.

At day 3 of being quit you should just worry about today and not worry about when you start back up at work.  You do the work here and it all takes care of itself.

[Brick]

2 hours ago, Persius said:

I am early in my quit (cold turkey) and I'm a teacher going back to work soon.  I'm wondering how I can change my routine/habits that o have firmly set in place to dip before, during, and after work. Like many of you I had a dip in most of the day.

 

Driving new routes? Chewing lots of gum? Anything will help, thanks. 

 

Brad 

Early in my quit altoids and fake dip helped me a lot. Try not to concentrate on withdrawal symptoms and embrace the freedom that comes with waking up and not digging for a can. It's a mental game and not one for the weak minded. No need to drive a new route or flip your life upside down. Deal with it head-on. 

[Zeus]

Here are a few things that helped me:

Embrace the suck - We don't use terms like cravings around here, but there are definitely some withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting. A common one for me was the anxiety I would feel when I knew I had a big, tough, unpleasant, etc. task ahead of me. I would start to panic and my heart rate would increase and all I could focus on was how on earth I was going to be able to focus on the task on hand rather than thinking about the anxiety or panic I was experiencing. The starting point was "embrace the suck." Any growth requires some kind of pain. Withdrawal symptoms are growing pains. They are good for you. Seek them out and meet them head on rather than avoiding them. 

Time your withdrawal symptoms - Whenever I would have an 'anxiety' attack because my brain was expecting a nicotine hit and not getting one, I would set a timer for 3 minutes, and then get started on the tough task at hand. In the vast majority of instances, my anxiety attack would be gone within 3 minutes. It seems the most important thing is to get started doing something and soon the withdrawal symptoms are gone. Focusing on them keeps them around longer.

Do some hard physical activity - If the timer method doesn't work, do some push-ups, lift some weights, run some wind-sprints. Doing something that's quick but physically strenuous helps override the brain's fixation on that missing nicotine hit. Again, embrace the suck, do the work, and your mind will switch focus from that missing nicotine hit to the task at hand.

Drink water - Drinking water is underestimated but works. Withdrawal symptoms like anxiety create secondary stress on your body, which cause toxins such as cortisol to build up, which dis-affect other functions of the body and cause more physical symptoms which create secondary withdrawal symptoms, etc. Drinking water is a transition activity like the timer method and strenuous activity, and is also important in flushing all those built up toxins out of your system.

Fake dip, sunflower seeds, gum, altoids, atomic fireballs - Just personal preference here. The primary purpose of these 'crutches' is to serve as a distraction while your brain transitions from focusing on the missing nicotine hit to the task at hand, and to reduce stress. For me, fake dip was most effective in reducing anxiety and stress, which took the edge off quitting...flattening the withdrawal symptom curve, but making it longer.