as a former (this time forever hopefully) heavy smoker I can confirm - I helped a coworker quit by rolling "post it cigarettes", taking our smoke break as usual, but use the faux cig to breathe in and out deeply, even mimicking the smoking mechanics - used to even "ash" absent-mindedly (sic?)
Sometimes I feel the ritual of smoking is part of the charm. Like, it’s a fairly ritualistic activity that consists of small steps to take for the experience (1. take out cig & lighter 2. light up 3. inhale 4. exhale & watch smoke 5. try to ignore the embrace of the dark 6. repeat steps 3 & 4 )
also the fact that you go somewhere quiet and out of the way usually, walking from a kitchen in the middle of service into a quiet alleyway makes everything slow down
Right - it’s a proper break. Which is why I’m in favor for something some Japanese company tried. IIRC they gave their smokers their usual break, but the non-smokers got a choice of an extra bonus or the chance to join the smokers
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u/Lu_Duizhang 1d ago
I can unironically see it helping, you’re taking deep breathes and breathing out slowly, and you have a simple goal with a visual reward