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Difficulty Concentrating
What to Expect
You may feel unable to do one task for a long time.
You may put off or avoid difficult or unwanted tasks.
Cigarettes provided you with relaxation breaks. Now that you have quit, you still need to take a break. This may be quite difficult because cigarettes gave you a reason to stop working for 10-15 minutes and now you may have to manufacture a new reason.
Frequency
Recent studies have found that 55-75% of quitters report problems with concentration within 1 week of quitting.
If difficulty concentrating occurs, it will usually begin within the first 24 hours, peak (stay high) for the first 1-2 weeks, and disappear within a month.
Self-Management
Take a break: gaze into a photo, look out a window, close your eyes and relax for ten minutes.
Try to come up with other things that you can do on a 10 minute break—maybe you can get some minor chores out of the way as a “break” from a repeated activity.
Do different tasks instead of focusing on any one activity for too long.
If you can, put off work when you feel unable to do it.
Do important tasks during the times when you feel alert.
Nicotine and Your Body and Mind
Difficulty concentrating is one of the most commonly reported withdrawal symptoms. Results from a number of research studies indicate that quitting may “slow” the activity of a number of different brain chemicals and that this slowness may be reflected in drowsiness and poor concentration.