How to Stop Worrying: The Worry Time Technique

Your alarm goes off but you have been awake for an hour already fretting about the day – worrying about work meetings, climate change, and school pickup logistics.

As the day goes on, you find yourself in a constant state of anticipating, planning, dreading, and spiraling out about possible worst-case scenarios. You feel exhausted just by keeping up with your own thoughts.

Worry is a key symptom of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, but you do not need to meet full criteria for this diagnosis to know how debilitating worry can be.  

Thankfully, there are tools that can help. Outlined below, worry time is a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy intervention that involves setting aside a fixed amount of time daily to physically write out worries. Worry time has been shown to decrease the severity of worry, anxiety, negative affect, and insomnia (McGowan & Behar, 2012).

There are tools to help you feel like you’re in the driver’s seat in life again.

(Photo credit: Markus Winkler / Pexels)

The Problem with Worry

For those prone to anxiety, worries may be a normal part of daily life. You may find yourself worrying about your children, aging parents, work, your health, the state of the world, and that weird sound the car has been making… all before 8am.

It may seem like just a few minutes here and there, but those minutes add up. Put together, you may be inadvertently worrying for hours a day at the expense of your well-being. Worries have a tendency to spiral endlessly, with no clear conclusion.

Worries also catapult us into the future and away from the present moment. In many ways, worrying is the opposite of mindfulness.

The Paradox of Scheduling Time to Worry

Scheduling worry time may seem like a paradox (who wants to worry?). One reason worry time is effective is that it consolidates worry into a confined time period, rather than letting unhelpful thoughts run rampant at all times of day or night.

It is also helpful to write out worries to create enough space to see them clearly for what they are: thoughts, not necessarily facts. Writing can feel cathartic, as it helps us identify, label, and process what is actually going on inside.

Seeing worries written out can also help shift the anxious mind from rumination to problem-solving or acceptance. Worry time helps us organize and focus our thoughts rather than letting them spin out of control.

Scheduling worry time also adds an element of certainty to an otherwise uncertain context. While worry time in itself cannot solve life stressors, having a routine, predictable aspect of your schedule can help release the grip that anxiety might have on you.

Instructions for Worry Time

1)       Set aside 15-20 minutes and put this on your calendar just as you would an appointment. Evening is an ideal time to schedule worry time as you can reflect back on the day, but try to avoid doing this activity right before bed as it can be activating.

2)       When it is time to worry, grab a pen and paper. Set a timer for yourself. Write down the entirety of worries on your mind in any format that works for you (bullet points, lists, narrative style, etc). Get specific about your worries!

3)       When the timer goes off, stop writing. Take a few deep breaths to refocus back to the present moment.

4)       When worries pop up throughout the day or in the middle of the night, make a mental note to include this during worry time (or write a note for yourself) – but do not indulge the worries further. You can do this by saying, “I’ll worry about this during worry time.”

5)       Repeat this exercise daily at the same time of day.

Conclusion

Worries can be an uncomfortable part of the human experience, but they do not have to dictate daily life. Scheduling worry time is a quick and effective tool for coping with anxiety. While this approach will not eliminate anxiety, containing worries to a predictable, short amount of time per day can come as a relief.

It may feel strange at first to invite worries in – especially if you’ve been stuck in an ongoing tug-of-war struggle against them. As with any new skill, consistency and practice are key. The more you use this approach, the more helpful it is likely to be.

For anxiety that continues to escalate to the point that it gets in the way of daily life, consider reaching out to a mental health professional for support, such as myself. Therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance Commitment Therapy are effective, time-limited treatments for anxiety. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation call with me to learn more about how therapy for anxiety can help. .

This post also appears on psychologytoday.com.

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‍Author Bio

Dr. Annie Mueller is a licensed clinical psychologist who works with high-achieving people in midlife as they navigate through life changes and transitions. Her clinical work also addresses anxiety, depression, trauma, health and aging-related changes, and issues unique to outdoor athletes. Book your free 15 minute phone call to learn more about online therapy for anxiety.

References:

McGowan, S.K. & Behar, E. (2013). A Preliminary Investigation of Stimulus Control Training for Worry: Effects on Anxiety and Insomnia. Behavior Modification, 37, 90-112. DOI: 10.1177/0145445512455661