Ways to quit
However you decide to quit, your chances of success improve if you plan ahead. When choosing your quit date, make it a time when you are least likely to 'need' cigarettes.
Some people find it easiest to quit
	when they're busy
	when they are not in an abnormally stressful time
	when they're away from some social situations
	when they're on holidays
	when they're not pre-menstrual
Everyone is different. Choose a quit date that suits you.
How will I quit?
How you quit is also up to you. Some people do it without help, others feel they need some sort of medication to help them through. It might depend on whether you've tried to quit before and what worked for you.
Cold turkey
When you're smoking one day, and stopped completely the next, you've gone 'cold turkey'. For most people this is the most successful.
Cutting down
Sometimes people think that stopping suddenly will be too hard - especially if they are really heavy smokers. There are a number of ways to gradually reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke, including
	smoking five cigarettes less every day until you aren't smoking at all (count out how many you are allowed that day, and don't smoke any more)
	smoking half your usual number for a week, and going cold turkey the next
	delaying your first cigarette by a hour each day
The hardest thing about this method is sticking to it. There's always the temptation to cheat a bit. If you're going to cut down, make sure that you have committed to a quit date no more than 2 weeks after you start.
A word of warning: Cutting down by itself will not reduce the risk to your health.
The only way to do that is by stopping completely - and staying stopped. If you are concerned about reducing your risk of getting any of the huge number of well documented diseases and conditions associated with continued smoking, you must stop completely.