As I've been trying to stay away from nicotine in the last week or so, I've developed a little ritual for dealing with cravings:

I ran a thought experiment based on a comment nil left for me (specifically this one) that got me thinking about the "animal experience" that we go through - our subconscious brain processes tell us that we're hungry, and we go seek out food based on our higher order thoughts...But we're still driven by our cravings, whether it be for food or sex or nicotine. For the sake of conversation, assume we're driven by our needs and that our conscience thought is a justification for those needs (whether you believe it or not).

So we've got this pipeline of urges that are pushed up to a certain level of awareness. All day, I have to sit in my cube and receive orders through this pipeline from my stupid lizard brain. Wouldn't it be neat if I could cram ideas back down the pipe, just to show that stupid lizard brain who's in charge?

So that's what I've been doing. Every time I feel a craving for nicotine, I spend a few minutes consciously attempting to feel satisfied with something. I'll just close my eyes, and think "Wow, I sure am full right now!" until the nicotine craving goes away.

The most insane part of this whole ritual is that it's actually been working for me. I'll try to feel satiated until I actually feel satiated, then I'll get back to whatever I was doing!

(By the by, the whole "Quit Smoking" thing is going well. I'm over my physical dependency, which is good. I had a really bad day at work trying to stay focused on anything other than how bad I wanted a smoke...But I made it, and it's getting easier!)