Well, its day six. Still doing OK. I did have one cigar on Wednesday night with a friend, but you hold those and let them burn more then smoke them – so I am not counting it.

Overall, I have found that the one key thing that I am not doing as much at home is sitting at my desk. It seems that this particular activity is one that really gets me going on wanting to smoke. Its not too hard to see the connection, the desk is where I’ve spent most my time. This, as well as the conference during the week is one of the reasons it took me another six days to throw a blog entry up. I think yesterday was the first Saturday in years that I did not touch the computer while at home.

The patch is helping, but it is definitely a constant struggle right now. I can see why this program takes about 10 weeks to complete.

One thing I am glad about. In the booklet that comes with the patches, one of the recommendations it makes is to avoid coffee and alcohol, as these two consumables are usually extremely associated with smoking. For me, I seem not to have that connection, as most of my smoking has been done outside or in the garage. When enjoying my first cup of coffee, or a glass of wine in the evening I leave it where its at and go outside.

Oddly, I do the same with my desk (I never take it with me), but that desk seems to be a HUGE anchor for me with regards to the urge of smoking. Not quite sure why the association is so strong, while coffee is not.

So – so far so good. I do know that I got huge leverage over myself from communicating what I was doing to everyone, including you folks. So thank you for being constant leverage for me over the past six days.

Also, thanks for all the comments and emails and even phone calls of encouragement. Each one has helped and, btw, increased leverage for me dramatically.