No-fuss anxiety tips #7: Time Your Worries

You’ve joined us at blog number seven in a series of simple tips and techniques for managing anxiety. We began this series with the first blog, looking at getting to know your anxiety. In this blog, we’ll be exploring how you can time your worries - an approach that is sometimes called “worry time” - a way of ring fencing anxiety from spilling out into other times of the day. With each of these short articles I’ve aimed to briefly explore strategies that provide a sense of agency when it comes to managing anxiety. Each tip draws upon therapeutic thinking from a range of psychological and psychotherapy theories.  

What these tips won’t do is explore the origins and purpose of anxiety for you – this type of deeper exploration is what counselling offers. That said, having strategies for managing anxiety is a great place to start. Each article is designed to be quick read, no-fuss. So, let’s get into technique number seven: time your worries.

Telling yourself not to worry rarely works

Try setting boundaries around your worries by having a designated “worry time” to see if this helps you to be less impacted by anxiety

Anxiety can steal your time

If you’re no stranger to anxiety, you’ll be familiar with the excessive rumination that has the power to take over your whole day and your rest at night. It’s hard to sleep when your mind is busy with the “what ifs”.  For that reason, it can be helpful to put clear boundaries around rumination time. To set a limit on how much of your day (and night) you’re willing to give to rumination. Simply telling yourself “stop worrying” doesn’t work and risks simply shaming yourself for your experience of anxiety. Rather than try to enforce a ban on rumination, schedule a set time where you lean into your worries and give the “what ifs” free reign. Giving yourself permission to worry can be a way contain your rumination and keep your anxiety in check. 

For example, if you decide that your “worry time” is to be between 18:00 and 18:30 each evening, you have a set time in mind. When anxiety begins to creep in at other times, you can use the self-talk statement: “I’m beginning to worry. I’ll schedule that worry for 18:00”. Importantly, at the end of your designated worry time, have a clear mark that you are transitioning out of worry time – set a timer, get up, move, begin an activity – there’s countless ways to signal the end of that day’s worry time.  And, if the “what ifs come creeping back”? Well, then, you can tell yourself – with loving kindness – “that worry’s scheduled for tomorrow at 18:00 – so I can deal with that thought then”. 

There can be some wisdom in scheduling the worry time after the busy-ness of the day, but well before bedtime - so that once you’ve completed your worry time, you have scope for a relaxing or engaging activity, such as exercise or connecting with friends and laughter, before settling to bed.

Time’s up!

At the end of your designated time, have a clear signal or ritual to honour that you are transitioning out of worry time. Consider doing something you enjoy, something fulfilling or life enhancing once your anxious worry time is complete

Next steps?

Today, consider if there is a suitable point in your daily routine when you can schedule some boundaried, ring-fenced “worry time”. Consider adding this to your diary or calendar.  

To help develop your repertoire of managing anxiety, look out for more blogs within this series. And, if you’d like to talk through how counselling can help you with a deeper exploration of your anxiety, do make contact with me, Claire Law. We can talk through how online counselling or face-to-face counselling at my therapy room in Preston can help manage your anxiety.