Well Wyzz, that's the generally accepted idea but it never worked for me. I was altering a behavior pattern with something I might not ever have done or liked to do or whatever. For hand habits I tried toothpicks, stick cinnamon, fake cigarettes, etc. I also tried healthy activities like water or even bad ones like candy and gum.
Yassee, my problem with all of that stuff was that while I was doing it I was thinking "I'm doing this rather than smoke a cigarette." AND......I still wanted a cigarette as soon as I finished "whatever." In every case it was always on my mind becasue it wasn't natural or what I was doing. So the "urges pass" idea became an important stand alone idea.
I'd be reading and want a cigarette. I'd just think "Fuck it.....Urges Pass," and go right on reading. I'd be Mudcattin' which I damn near always did with a cigarette, chain smoking, and I'd get the urge. Again, "Fuck it.....Urges Pass." and keep on reading threads or responding.
When I tried all the subs, I'd be saying, "Hey great.....Ain't smoking, faking it with a cinnamon stick," but the urge was foremost and still there when I was done with the gum or mint or toothpick or carrot stick..........As soon as I was finished I wanted the real thing because I'd been thinking even more about it while I was gnawing on the jerky!
I'm a fan of whatever works for the smoker. I loved cigarettes. Really. Loved the taste, the hand habits, blowing smoke patterns.....everything but the price. Ya' know that last trip to the hospital, I was in really bad shape and I knew it but I stalled and covered as much as I could because I knew I'd have to try and quit again. Even with our "smokeless hospitals" its still easy to get a cigarette. Before I'd make it a few days and as soon as I could leave the floor I'd be having a gasper within a few minutes. I know the addiction is stupid. I also know its incredibly powerful. For me, the more I thought about it, the harder it was to quit......and that's what the substitution thing always did to me. It made me continually conscious of the addiction.
Urges pass. Let them go. Keep right on with what you were doing, even if it was staring at the boob tube!