Researchers suggest new way to kick the smoking habit

It's the time of year for New Years resolutions and, if you are still a smoker, chances are kicking the habit is high on your list. And chances are it was last year as well.
A study by researchers at a number of institutions, including the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, finds that smokers start off resolute in early January but often are back where they started by Groundhog Day. That may be a fitting reference since the researchers say smokers often go through the same thing actor Bill Murray did in the classic film “Groundhog Day,” reliving the same experience over and over.
To try to learn why that happens the researchers say they monitored the search query logs from Google from 2008 to 2012, looking for searches related to quitting, such as "help quit smoking." Specifically, they were looking for weekly patterns in smoking cessation. They found them.

Mondays are quitting day

Classic Silver cigarettes

The study found that people look for information about quitting smoking more often early in the week, with the highest query volumes on Mondays. The pattern was consistent across six languages -- English, French, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
Why is that important? The researchers suggest a global predisposition to thinking about quitting smoking early in the week, particularly on Mondays. That, they say, suggests smokers are more receptive to anti-smoking messages on Mondays.
“On New Year’s Day, interest in smoking cessation doubles,” said the study’s lead author, John Ayers of San Diego State University. “But New Years happens one day a year. Here we’re seeing a spike that happens once a week.”
That means a New Years resolution to quit smoking is not that important. What happens, for example, if you make it for several days but then lapse back into the habit? Usually it means another uninterrupted year of smoking.A better approach to discouraging smoking, the study suggests, is a weekly campaign. That way if someone is successful for a short while but falls back into the habit, they get another opportunity right away for a “reset,” in effect starting their New Years resolution all over again.
Previous research has found that it takes seven to 10 attempts to quit before someone finally gives up cigarettes. Reaching them once a week can compress the timeline of the quitting process.
“People around the world are starting the week with intentions to quit smoking – if we can connect those people at school, work and communities we can make a regular ‘Monday Quit’ the cultural norm,” said Morgan Johnson, director of programs and research at the Monday Campaigns and another co-author of the Google paper.
If you are a smoker who is trying to quit, there are several ways you can incorporate this philosophy into your efforts to stop smoking. For starters, seek some positive reinforcement.

What to do

Find people you know who have been able to stop smoking and, at the beginning of each week, seek encouragement from them. If you make it through a week without a cigarette, celebrate.
Take a few minutes every Monday to reflect on the progress you made over the previous week and make a plan for the upcoming week. Write down any cravings you had and how you overcame them, and record any upcoming triggers you may face in the current week.
Use Mondays as a time to recalibrate and recharge your commitment. Start each week reminding yourself of the reasons you decided to quit in the first place.
Reward yourself. If you make it through a week without lighting up, use the money you may have saved on buying cigarettes to treat yourself to a movie, go out to dinner, or whatever reward you think will keep you motivated to stay quit for good.
Finally, don't beat yourself up if you cave. Most smokers do before they finally stop. Remember that you can start the process all over each Monday.