Stop Smoking Tips Hub

Focusing on why you want to stop smoking can help motivate and keep you on track. Some common reasons are to save some money, improve your health, start a family or to have more time with friends and family. What are your reasons to stop smoking?

Recognising your triggers
Ever noticed how certain things trigger your smoking? There may be specific situations which make you crave a cigarette. Once you have worked out what your triggers are, you can use strategies to avoid or overcome them.

Smoking and drinking
Some people crave alcohol when they are smoking, and crave cigarettes when they are drinking. Why is this? What can you do about it?

Slip ups
Slip-ups are a common part of quitting for most people. Treat it as a sign that you need to revise your stop smoking strategy. Try not to waste your energy on self-blame.

Research suggests most people who stop smoking find the best success by using a combination of:

• stop smoking medication, such as nicotine patches and gum, to help manage physical cravings, and
• a stop smoking counselling service such as Quitline (13 7848), to help manage emotional or habitual triggers to smoke. You don't have to be ready to quit to call Quitline. Quitline counsellors can help you work out which quitting method might be best for you, or simply answer general questions you may have about quitting. It's free to call on 13 7848 Monday to Friday, 8am - 8pm. You can also request a callback.

Chatting with your GP is also a good idea. They can help you work out which stop smoking method to try and give you a script for cheaper stop smoking medication.

Use our Build Your Quit Plan tool

Take a step by step approach to building your stop smoking plan. Walk through each of the stages to get a full picture of what it takes to quit, learn why you smoke in the first place, and then develop a method that is specific to you and your lifestyle. Click here to go to tool.

An important part of stopping smoking is about changing the habits that lead you to smoking. Watch one of our Quitline counsellors talk about ways to break your smoking habits.

Feeling stressed or anxious is a normal response to challenging circumstances. There are healthy ways to ease anxiety without reaching for a cigarette.

Relaxation exercises 
Quitline counsellors share their tips on healthy ways to ease stress and anxiety without reaching for a cigarette.

Mindfulness/distraction
Practical tips on how to distract yourself and create new routines to stop smoking, from people who've done it!

Managing stress
We all get stressed and have different ways of dealing with it. If you smoke, it's tempting to have a cigarette when things are tough. Try these strategies next time you're stressed out and craving a smoke.