One of the less obvious benefits of quitting smoking is the extra time that is gained. All of the usual sources seem to quote the health benefits, and of course the significant amount of money that can be saved, but none that I have seen point out just how much time is wasted during the average smoker's day.
Imagine that you smoke 20 cigarettes a day and each cigarette takes 5 minutes to smoke - that works out at 1 hour and 40 minutes out of each day spent smoking cigarettes! And in my experience, the time spent smoking increases depending on the activity, for example; if I was to paint a door I would first assemble my kit (pain, paintbrush, sandpaper, etc) and then stand back and smoke a cigarette while I thought about the job ahead. Then I might complete the preparation and smoke another cigarette before starting to paint. And so on...
Not forgetting that during the average day it was almost mandatory to have a cigarette before getting dressed, going out, after a meal, or going to bed, etc, etc, etc...
In fact, it is a wonder I ever got anything done given the amount of time I spent smoking cigarettes and thinking about what I was going to do next - no wonder my wife (a life-long non smoker) used to get fed up waiting for me!
It's easy to see these things in retrospect of course. But if you are a smoker considering the benefits of quitting then add to your list, along with the health and financial benefits, the increase in time and productivity you will gain.
2 comments:
Hi, I gave up smoking some 12 years ago now, I met the person I am now married to and she did not smoke, I gave up a 60 a day habit without counselling, patches or any other type of help, however when I look back i truely believe that I was actually looking for a reason to give up rather than the reason came and then I thought hey maybe I should give up. I had been trying to give up for years, my health was deteriorating fast and at the ripe old age of 24 my Doctor told me if I carried on I was likely to be dead by the time I reached the age of 35, I suffered terrible Bronchitis and was popping so many tablets each day to combat this that I swear I rattled when I walked. What I will say though is this, I do not regret giving up one bit, food tastes awesome, I can jog after my kids without coughing half my lungs up, and I cringe at the thought of how my clothes (and I) must have stunk due to my habit.
One bit of advice I will pass on though and I hope it helps you is this. Do not think of yourself as someone who is giving up smoking, think of yourself as a non smoker, it really helps. When someone who knows you smoked offers you a cigarette say no thanks I don't smoke as opposed to no thanks Im giving up. Mentally that really helped me.
Good Luck!
Thanks for your comments and advice Mark. I guess all smokers need a reason to quit, and I agree that is more important than patches or anything else - once you are prepared psychologically then it CAN be done!
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