What Is the Best Quit Smoking Timeline?

There are many quit smoking programs to choose from, and each one of them has their own recommended timeline.

Some timelines examples:
• Prescription drugs like Chantix recommend 12 weeks or 24 weeks timeline for heavy smokers to quit
• Smoking patches recommend 4 to 12 weeks or more
• Electronic cigarettes or ecigs as they are known, don’t have any recommended timeline
• Hypnosis practitioners say you can quit instantly upon hypnosis treatment
• Smoking cessation rehab centers usually recommend 30 days

There are numerous other quit smoking timelines as well, as recommended by doctors, nicotine product manufacturers and other smoking cessation groups.

What are all these timelines based on? Physical reasons? Emotional? Mental? Chemical? Clinical studies based on trial and error? Why do they vary so much between them, with one method claiming instantaneous results to others requiring 24 or more weeks? Hmmmm. Doesn’t sound like these timelines are too scientific, does it?

Habits timelines

There are definitive studies on habits timelines and habits formation. Studies show it takes most of us 21 – continuous – days to learn a new habit. There aren’t any clear studies on the timeline to “unlearn” a habit however. Using the 21 days figure to learn a new habit, wouldn’t it make sense that since smoking is a habit, the best timeline would be 21 days? Well yes, and no.

Intertwined with the habit mechanism of our mind is our self-image: who we believe we really are.

That self-image has to change from being a smoker to the new self-image of being a non-smoker. The habit change and the self-image change both work together to help you quit smoking for good. The best timeline that I have found, will deconstruct the smoking habit for 21 days, and create a new, smoke-free habit for 21 days.

Why cold turkey – and it’s short timeline – doesn’t work

This is why the “cold turkey” timeline ( resolving to never smoke again) doesn’t work. It is very painful to everything that makes us human, such as our adoption of automatic behaviors – our habits. It tries to abruptly rip us away from behavior we have told our mind and body over thousands of repetitions that we enjoyed.

Eventually, our mind and body will go back to the habit. Cold turkey has spectacular low success rates, because the timeline is too short, and does not address the smoking habit.

Best quit smoking timeline features

If you are considering what quit smoking timeline is best for you, consider if it includes 21 days to release the smoking habit, and 21 days to transition your self-image to non-smoker. A lot of research points to this as the best approach, so you won’t have fierce withdrawal symptoms and cravings to return to smoking again. 電子煙