Scheduling a “worry time”.
My brain, just like my laptop, seem to be constantly operating with more than 20 tabs open at all times, with calendar notifications and software updates popping up every now and then. I can switch off my laptop, but I can’t quite shut down my brain. My thoughts are very often consumed with my to-do lists, job applications, tasks I forgot to do, that email I still haven’t gotten a reply to, and overall life-related anxiety!
Can you start ageing in your mid twenties? Will I get my paperwork in before the deadline? Should I do laundry today or tomorrow? Will that milk bottle last one more day? I have emailed her 3 times now, does she hate me? What’s the name of that song?
If like me, you also experience anxiety, or spend a lot of time worrying, fear not, I found us a solution! I came across a blog by psychologist Nick Wignall about “the art of deliberate worry,”, it sounds odd but bear with me!
In cognitive behavioural therapy, it is recommended to schedule a “worry time’, and this is where you pick one time, the same time everyday for around 30 minutes, just to worry about everything that happened that day! Let’s say you’ve picked 5pm every single day. Throughout the day, while things are happening and you start to worry, you remind those thoughts that '“I will see you at our appointment at 5pm!”. And from my experience, by the time you get to 5pm, you realise that you can’t remember everything you were worrying about because it wasn’t that important to begin with! Studies are showing that it might take some time, around 2 weeks, to work, but it works because worrying can be endless and draining! So by allocating a specific time to these thoughts, you limit your energy spend on this! And, you still get to overthink about things that are bothering you, but you just take the power away from your thoughts to consume your brain space at all times. Our worries are valid and we are allowed to feel them, and don’t put pressure on yourself to solve them during that window, but if your mind naturally goes there, that’s fine.
Worry is essentially an attempt at some type of problem solving. It can also be a means of dealing with uncertainty , which is a daily part of life. If you identify a problem that you can take action to address, then go for it! If not, tell yourself “I’m going to do my best to let go of this thought and put my attention on something else until it’s my scheduled worry time again.” Let’s close some of these tabs and pop-ups, and stay connected to our present! Whatever the future holds, we’ve got this!