There’s a new way to deal with anxiety. It’s a unique process called “worry time,” which sets aside time for your obsessive fears.
For those who suffer from anxiety, anxiety seems to be a normal part of life. Personally, I worry a lot during the day, and then I keep myself awake at night doing the same thing. I feel like I have no control over this anxiety.
Many of you may feel the same way, especially when you add an extra crisis to the mix. But here’s some good news: You can schedule time to worry that allows you to address your fears, and then move on to other things the rest of the time.
What is the time to worry?
Worry time is a cognitive behavioral concept that actually helps you control your obsessive thoughts. It’s a paradox. You will intentionally decide to worry at a specific time of the day. Why? Well, since you feel stressed all the time and waste so much of your life in worries, you can at least practice compartmentalizing that worry. You can do something else for the rest of the time.
For example, take time to worry, and then have productive thoughts for the rest of the day. So, since this is a timeline to worry about, there must be steps to follow to do it right, right? lets take alook.
How to schedule time to worry
Stop your obsessive thoughts for a moment and listen. Anxiety is not so bad when it is controlled. Even though you assume you can’t control it, post-training anxiety can actually be trained. Here are the steps to use for worry time:
- Schedule time
The first thing you should do is identify the times of the day when you should worry. Yes, I know this sounds kind of silly, but CBT would disagree with you.
So, use a calendar, planner, or notebook and write down the time of day you would like to schedule time for obsessive thoughts. A 15-30 minute session is ideal for anxiety time. After that, you can practice your positive daily routine. By the way, it is recommended not to schedule this right before bedtime. It will likely prevent you from sleeping well.
- Write things down
During the designated time for worrying, be sure to write down your thoughts. You don’t have to find a solution during this 15-30 minute period, but if you do, that’s okay too. The goal is to get your thoughts down on paper, so you can see exactly what’s bothering you, rather than just obsessing over it.
There is therapeutic power in taking thought and turning it into written information. You take it away from you and put it somewhere else, and at the same time you see all the truth in the thoughts as well.
- Keep fears inside your worry time
If you start worrying about things outside of your designated worry time, stop immediately. You must remind yourself that anxiety can only occur at the appointed time. This won’t be easy, and it will take some time to remember. Constantly capturing your fears and bringing them back to those neat little periods of your day will help you gain control.
Also, when it’s time to worry, please don’t think about all the times you’ve felt anxious outside of worry time. It’s just counterproductive and ridiculous.
- Weekend reflections
At the end of each week, go back and read what you wrote during your scheduled worry time. Are there any patterns? What are the things you think about most? Go ahead and ask yourself any questions you want to understand more about your concerns. And yes, you should also schedule “thinking about your worries at the end of the week” just like you did with your worry time each day.
Your thoughts are healthy, but be careful and do not go into recurring problems and feel defeated. Just keep moving forward with the same schedule as before.
- Make it long term
After a week or so of this practice, you may want to continue. In fact, I recommend this. If you practice this routine long-term, you will strengthen your thoughts, make it easier to control your fears, and learn more about organization and focus. So, just keep moving forward and see where it leads you.
Anxiety isn’t all bad
It’s not terrible to worry about things in life. Now, I worry about our world and the nation in which I live. Every day, I check the headlines to see if things have improved, but unfortunately, it seems to be getting worse by the day. By scheduling worry time, I can allow myself to break down these headlines and prevent them from taking over my entire day with stress and anxiety.
