What you need is an action plan to help you stop smoking in a week.



Follow the steps below and you'll be well on your way to improving your health.

Remember that nicotine is addictive, so you may experience withdrawal symptoms for the first day or two. This is quite normal, so don't panic if it happens to you.

Pick a time when you're likely to be reasonably unstressed. A lot of people use smoking to help them unwind, so it's just plain daft to try to quit when you know you're likely to be stressed out already.

Start by noticing whether you crave a cigarette or whether it's just a habit that you light up each coffee break, for instance.

For the first day, that's all you need to do. What you're doing is looking for clues as to when you decide to smoke.

You'll soon spot a pattern emerging. This may be the first time that you've realized just how much of a habit smoking is - you unconsciously reach for the pack, take out a cigarette and light up.

On day two, keep noticing when you want to smoke. This time, as well as noticing, ask yourself consciously whether or not you want to smoke this particular cigarette. It doesn't matter at this stage whether the answer is "Yes, I want this cigarette" or "No, I can do without a cigarette at this time". Follow your instinct and don't beat yourself up for wanting to smoke. You've likely been smoking for quite a few years now, so don't expect all your old urges and habits to simply disappear overnight.

It's day three and you're probably smoking less. One less per day or more than that, it doesn't matter. Keep going with the instructions from day 2 but today every time you answer "Yes", pause. Don't light up for at least five minutes. Distract yourself - drink some water, chew some gum, play minesweeper on your computer, anything to take your mind off the cigarette craving. If you still want the cigarette after your five minute break, go ahead.

By day 4 it's time to skip smoking at least some cigarettes altogether. You may already have done this in the previous days, if so "well done" and keep going!

Days 5, 6 and 7. Keep cutting down. By day 7, you should be almost a non-smoker anyway. Resist the ever decreasing urge to smoke on each occasion that it crops up.

Day 8. Well done! If you've followed the steps above, you should now be a non-smoker. Reward yourself - treat yourself to something with the money you've saved on all the cigarettes you've cut down on in the past week.