Try getting one of those fake cigarettes. They have no nicotine and just blow water vapor. No one will know its not a real cigarette you can say its a vape.
Well sometimes we can take things one step at a time. You don’t have to drop every bad habit at once, that can be challenging. Also, i don’t see the harm of wanting something in your hand or mouth. For some people that tactile stimulation is relaxing. You just need to change it to something healthier in your hand or mouth like a fidget cube or some gum.
In attempting to quit (im still smoking but want to quit soon) I noticed how many times a day I think about cigarettes and its really alarming. When I wake up = cigarette. When I get home=cigarettes. After I sweep=cigarette. On commercial breaks, after I eat, coffee…before and after a shower, before bed, while cooking. On and on I literally think about cigarettes all day everyday. You dont really notice till you take the cigarette away how much you brain triggers you through out the day to smoke. And that was what was so hard for me and I haven’t beat that aspect of quiting. But I’ll be trying again in the near future. I was using the nicotine lozenge which worked very well, it was really my thinking that led me back to smoking not so much a feeling of nicotine deprivation
I’m having a difficult time quitting. One of the things that I think helps is having something else to do with that time, although just hanging out would be difficult.
EDIT: I have heard from a few people that it can take many times to successfully quit.
I’m celebrating 45 days smoke free, I did it cold turkey which I sort of figured was my docs preference/theory on how best to make it.
A good Pdoc told me once it takes a year to quit, which I appreciated hearing because I’ve had ‘quits’ before which have felt like success but ended in failure.
II don’t know how to help @dreamer54 though, if i had smokers in my life, and still went to bars I wouldn’t make it.