Not OP, but chewing normal non-nic gum is commonly used as in combination with other quitting methods to help appeal to the physical oral sensations associate with smoking (obviously it's not a perfect proxy, but just "something to do with your mouth).

Ultimately, all cessation methods are aiming to require 0 nicotine at their conclusion. As for the "best thing" to do when trying to quit, financial loss seems to be a good incentive. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1414293