I quit cold turkey on Memorial Day weekend 1985, after smoking since 1969. At the end, I was up to close to 2 packs a day.
Everyone has to find the method that works best for them. The most important/essential part of being successful is WANTING to quit for YOU, not because someone doesn't like that you smoke. If you are not ready/committed to quitting, you will never be successful.
You should choose a quit date and tell everyone in your life. You will need their support and you will also feel some accountability to succeed.
When I quit, The American Cancer Society's spokesman was Larry Hagman, of Dallas (big TV show back then). The slogan was "It's a snap to quit", and worked by negative reinforcement. You wore a good sized rubber band on your wrist, and every time you had the urge to smoke, you were supposed to pull back on that rubber band and let it slap against that tender inside part of your wrist!!! Oh, man, did it sting!!!
To this day, every time I talk about quitting, my hand automatically goes to my wrist, because I remember the pain of the negative reinforcement; it was extremely effective for me.
My wrist was a red mess, but it worked!!! I kept a calendar for an entire year and crossed off every day that I didn't smoke. I will say that I was successful and never looked back. Even when my mother died in 1987, I didn't start smoking then, and I always said that that was the worst thing that ever happened to me, and if I didn't start then, then I would NEVER start again.
The first weekend, I took lots of showers, went to places you can't smoke (movies) and hung out with my very athletic friends with whom I rode my bike. They were very supportive of me and I was very committed. Again, YOU have to WANT to quit.
I'm not going to lie, it was without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever done. The main reason I know I will never smoke again is because I don't ever want to go through the process of quitting!!!
They say that the first 2 weeks are the worst, because it takes a while to get the nicotine out of your system. After that, it's really mind over matter, a habit that you need to break.
I chose to take the amount of money that I was spending on cigarettes each week and splurge on something that I wanted -- fresh flowers, a nice dinner out, you get the idea. Some people put the money in an account to save for a vacation or something else that they want. You choose your incentive!!!
I smoked a lot on my commute, so I started chewing sugarless bubble gum in the car to replace the smoking for my "habit" and stress release of the traffic. Nothing more fun than blowing bubbles and popping them!!! It is surprisingly rewarding!!!
I wish you the best of luck. I hope you will be successful, but it you don't make it the first time, just try again. Everyone has to do it their way.