What Is a Worry Time and Is It Helpful?

Anxious thoughts can be constant and debilitating. You may worry so much that you’re unable to concentrate on anything else. You’re buried alive under the weight of your thoughts. And the more you tell yourself to stop, the more you think.

So, if you have ever felt like you can’t turn off those anxious thoughts, this technique might be for you. It’s called having a “Worry Time.” It’ll help you stop your anxious thoughts and push them off until a later time.

What Is a Worry Time: A scheduled time during the day that you devote to worrying. 

How to Properly Schedule a Worry Time: 

• Set aside a time for 15-30 minutes during the day where you have some privacy

• Choose a spot that is uncomfortable, like a hard chair. Avoid using a place that you enjoy, like your bed, so you don’t start to associate your bed with worrying

• Address each of your worries during this time. Try to challenge your thoughts and come up with solutions

• When your worry time ends (and this is the hard part), tell yourself you will think about your worries again at your next worry time. Then try your best to push off your anxious thoughts until then

• In the beginning you can allow yourself multiple worry times during the day. But the goal is to slowly decrease the amount of worry times

Why This Works

This will help give you control over your thoughts. Instead of letting yourself spiral into the hole that is worrying, you give yourself a limited amount of time to reflect on your anxious thoughts. Many studies show that scheduling a ‘worry time’ has the ability to reduce anxiety.