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Going Gradual

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Another popular method for quitting is the gradual route, which actually works rather decently if you have the will power to stick to the plan and not cheat. Cutting back gradually, also known as the taper method, is pretty easy: You start with a set number of cigarettes per day, and your word your way down. If you smoke a pack a day, then you start with 18 cigarettes the next week, 16 the next, and so on. It's great, in many respects, because it offers an easy way to ease the withdrawal symptoms, and if you stick to the plan, you probably won't even want to smoke anymore by the time you get down to two cigarettes a day.

I'll admit to trying this method on several occasions, but I've found that it is way too easy to cheat. If you cut down 2 cigarettes a week, and you start at 20 cigarettes a day, it'll take nearly three months to quit, and it's very difficult to stick to a schedule over a three-month period. That's 90 days, each of which offers you a means to slipping -- smoking one more than planned just the once leads to "just a second time," which leads you back to square one. Plus, the entire time you're on the taper method, your brain is basically pleading with you to smoke more. It's certainly less painful than the cold turkey method, but it takes nearly just as much will power to master it.

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