Cravings aren’t all the same. They show up at different times and for different reasons, like stress, routine, boredom and social situations.
Answer a few simple questions and we’ll show you practical tips tailored to your triggers, your habits, and your motivation.
Small changes can make a big difference. Let’s start with what works for you.
Answer a few quick questions to get your tips
Fighting cravings is a key part of quitting smoking
Distract yourself
Text or talk with a friend who is supportive.
Find a deck of cards and shuffle them or play some solitaire.
Write a to do list of what you need to do today. Start checking them off!
Help a friend, family member or co-worker.
Immerse yourself in a book, magazine or website you enjoy.
Play a quick mobile game to distract your mind and ride out cravings until they pass.
Stop what you're doing and do something else.
Keep your hands or mouth busy
Gently pucker your lips to help ease the urge without lighting up.
Keep your hands busy with a fidget toy to distract from cravings and stay focused.
Blow bubbles to slow your breathing and distract your mind until the craving passes.
This method can help distract your mind and keep your hands busy.
Take up a new craft that keeps your hands busy such as knitting, painting, puzzle cubes or colouring in.
Shelling and eating them keeps your hands busy.
Crunch on a healthy fruit or vegetable. After quitting, you'll soon find food and drink taste much better. Visit LiveLighter for healthy snack ideas.
Keep your hands and mouth busy, and a cold drink adds extra stimulation to distract you from cravings.
Chewing is a good distraction if you're trying to block out cravings.
Move your body
Hang out with your pet or go for a walk. By quitting smoking, you're protecting their health too.
Do a few stretches to keep blood flowing and to avoid sleepiness.
Walk around the block with a co-worker instead of having a smoking break.
Go for a walk, run, or anything that gets you moving.
Calm your mind
Many people smoke with coffee, tea, or soda. Try decaf, herbal tea, or sparkling water to break this habit and make cravings easier to manage.
Hold an ice cube on your wrist to distract yourself when a craving hits.
Sip water to keep your hands and mouth busy and help ease nicotine withdrawal symptoms.
Try listening to calming music. If you don't know where to start, try searching for a calming playlist online.
Take a bath or try massage to relax your body and ease cravings when they hit.
Notice the craving without reacting. Let it rise and fall like a wave until it passes.
Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, breathe out for 4 seconds, then hold again for 4 seconds. Research shows it can improve mood and help manage stress.
Change your environment or routine
Change the time/place/activity linked to smoking.
Floss and brush your teeth. Think about how much nicer your breath will smell without tobacco.
Remove ashtrays, lighters and tobacco smells to reduce triggers and make cravings easier to manage.
Stay away from places where people smoke and go somewhere fun where it is not allowed.
Stay motivated
Ask your loved ones to record messages of support to keep on your phone.
Create a new bank account for all your savings and enjoy watching them pile up.
Write your reasons to get healthy on sticky notes and put them where you'll see them every day.
Writing down how you're feeling, keeping track of your improving health and remembering why you quit is very helpful.
Celebrate short smoke-free periods
Plan rewards for major milestones (like 1 week or 1 month smoke-free).
Pick a smoke free spot for fun or relaxation to avoid cravings.
Ready for the next step? Create your quit plan.
Give yourself the best chance of success with a clear plan.
Our free Quit Planner helps you build a personalised quitting strategy based on your habits, triggers and motivation.
Create your plan in under 5 minutes and download it to keep you on track.
Give yourself the best chance
To give yourself the best chance of successfully quitting smoking, it’s important to know your ‘why’, understand your triggers, find your ‘how’, and have a great support system.
You can also plan your quitting journey using our free quit planner. Take your first steps towards quitting smoking today!
Know your why
There are so many excellent reasons to give up smoking. Your health will start to improve almost immediately, and you will reduce your risk of developing illnesses like cancer, lung and heart disease.
You will no longer have to worry about harming your loved ones with secondhand smoke, and they will rest easy knowing you’re reducing your own risk of becoming seriously ill.
Not to mention you will save a lot of money.
Quitting can be challenging, but having meaningful reasons for quitting is the first step to help yourself succeed.
What are your reasons to quit?
.svg)
.svg)
Understand your triggers
Even if you have been quit for a while, a craving can feel like it’s come out of nowhere. Your challenge is to find the specific cause or “trigger” that makes you feel you need a smoke. Those triggers can be emotional, social or physical. Knowing your triggers will help you avoid them or find ways to handle them. If you need some help to figure out and manage your triggers, chatting to a Quitline counsellor is a great source of support.
Social triggers
Social triggers include people and places. For example, you might always smoke with particular friends or when you’re around alcohol.
- Stick with people who don't smoke.
- Take something along to keep your hands busy (e.g. fidget ring, necklace).
- Plan an event that doesn’t involve alcohol, like going to the cinema, an escape room, the beach or playing laser tag.
- Let your friends know that you’re trying to quit. They can support you by not offering you cigarettes, and not smoking around you.
- Find a mate to quit with you.
- Having a friend who doesn't smoke with you as support.
- Try holding your drink in your other hand.
- Socialise in venues that do not have smoking areas.
Emotional triggers
Our emotions (especially negative ones) can trigger cravings to smoke. This is because your body wants to experience the dopamine (pleasure chemical) release that nicotine delivers when it reaches your brain.
- Practice some deep breathing exercises.
- Meditation: This technique of stress relief can help you focus on a completely different place and reset your mind.
- Listen to calming music or a podcast.
- Try some grounding exercises (e.g. 5-4-3-2-1).
- Text or call a friend, family member or chat to Beyond Blue for support.
- Exercise - Head to the gym, take your dog for a walk, do an at-home dance workout.
- Take up a new hobby such as word games, craft or gardening.
- Have a puzzle laid out on the table and place a few pieces when a craving hits.
- Learn or play an instrument. A cheap and easy option is a harmonica or recorder. Just start playing every time you want to light up.
- Paint your nails: Buff, shape and lacquer your nails. You will have to stay still while it dries.
- Get moving! Go for a walk around the block.
- Take 10 deep breaths.
- Talk to someone you trust.
Habits & physical triggers
A huge part of why it can be so tricky to quit smoking is because it becomes so closely associated with your habits and activities that you can forget how to do life without it. Switching up your routines while you quit can help your brain untangle cigarettes from the things you do every day.
- Change to a different drink and place it in your smoking hand.
- Chew on a flavoured toothpick - you can find them at your local health food store.
- Clean the inside of your car, including the seats, to get rid of the smoky smell.
- Wind down your windows, turn the radio up and sing!
- Chew on a straw.
- Swap the car ride for the bus.
- Jump straight in the shower.
- Stretch it out! You could try an at home exercise video or attend a class.
- Brush your teeth straightaway or take a shower.
- Plan something fun with your partner.
- Talk to your partner about ways they can help you with your triggers and cravings.
- Go for a walk around the block, listen to music or sit in a different environment.
- Keep your hands busy with a fidget spinner, stress ball or pen.
.jpg)
Find your how
Different strategies work for different people. From quitting cold turkey to getting help from a trained counsellor, there will be something that works for you. It may take some trial and error to find what works but hang in there. You can quit.
Cold Turkey
What is it?
Quitting smoking without any aids.
Why is going Cold Turkey effective?
Cold turkey works for many people, sometimes on their first attempt, sometimes on their 20th attempt.
Who is it best suited to?
If you don’t have a strong physical addiction, and you know your triggers and how to fight cravings, cold turkey can work for you.
There are so many different ways to fight cravings, it’s all about trial and error. If you had a quit attempt that didn’t work out, find out what went wrong and how to work around it before you give quitting another go.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) products
What is it?
NRT products include patches, gum, lozenges and spray.
Why is NRT effective?
NRT products help to ease withdrawal symptoms to make it easier to stay smoke-free.
Who is it best suited to?
Speak to your GP or pharmacist to see if these products suit you.
For patches, rotate where you stick them on to reduce skin irritation.
If you’ve had an acidic beverage like coffee, fruit juice, soft drink or beer, wait 15 minutes before using oral NRT products for best effect.
Quitline
What is it?
Quitline is a confidential advice and information service.
Why is Quitline effective?
A trained counsellor will help you to plan and develop tailored strategies to quit smoking and stay smoke-free.
Who is it best suited to?
If you have no idea where to start, feel like you’ve tried everything, or are finding it difficult to stick with quitting, the Quitline is the place for you.
If you don’t like talking on the phone, webchat instead!
Combining a slow + a fast NRT product with support from Quitline can double your chances of quitting for good. Chat to a GP or pharmacist.
Stop Smoking Medications
What is it?
Prescription non-nicotine medications.
Why is Smoking Medication effective?
Prescription stop smoking medications can be used to reduce withdrawal symptoms and the urge to smoke.
Who is it best suited to?
Talk to your doctor to see if this is the right option for you.
Double Quit Action
What is it?
Double Quit Action is a quit method combining both a behavioural support and stop smoking medication at the same time.
Why is Double Quit Action effective?
Double Quit Action helps you manage all parts of your tobacco dependence by targeting your physical, emotional and habit-related triggers to smoke. The main benefit of combining these methods is that you’ll have someone to speak to at any stage of your quitting journey, especially if you are finding things challenging. You can also get advice about how to best use your NRT to ease feelings of cravings and withdrawals.
Who is it best suited to?
This method is for everyone, but especially if you have used one of the other methods in the past and felt like you needed more support. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting any medications, and to Quitline for advice and tips to make the most of your next quit attempt.
Have a great support system
There are many different types of support available to help you quit smoking. If you’re a people-person, quit with a friend or choose someone you’ll call when you’re struggling. If you’d prefer online options, what about an app or our new interactive quit planner to get you on your way?
I want to talk to someone
.svg)
Whether you're thinking about quitting, ready to quit today or trying to cope with cravings and withdrawal symptoms, the Quitline can help.
Learn more about Quitline.
If you want to talk to someone face-to-face, book an appointment with your doctor. This is especially important if you have any existing health conditions. You can also talk to your local pharmacist or make a telehealth appointment.
Learn more about getting started with your GP.
Text or call your family or a friend and ask them about their day. Ask family or friends to record motivational messages to help you stay quit.
Find a quit buddy and motivate each other to stay quit.
I want to quit online
For some people who smoke developing a quit smoking plan can help them achieve their quitting goal. Developing a quit plan is about identifying what works for you and taking it step by step.
Start building your own Quit Plan.
The My QuitBuddy App tracks your quitting progress, such as days smoke-free, cigarettes avoided, health gained and dollars saved.
Download My QuitBuddy App.
If you prefer to chat online than over the phone, then Quitline’s web chat is for you. It's the same service with the same operating hours, and allows you to chat with a trained quit counsellor via the website.
Ready for the next step? Create your quit plan.
Give yourself the best chance of success with a clear plan.
Our free Quit Planner helps you build a personalised quitting strategy based on your habits, triggers and motivation.
Create your plan in under 5 minutes and download it to keep you on track.
Free Quit Support
Talk to the Quitline
The Quitline is a confidential telephone advice and information service for people who want to quit smoking.
My QuitBuddy App
The My QuitBuddy App tracks your quitting progress, such as days smoke-free, cigarettes avoided, health gained and dollars saved.
Proven Tips To Quit
Some people think quitting is about willpower, but to quit successfully means being prepared, and understanding your smoking triggers.
