How much does worry get in your way? We worry for lots of reasons: habit, illusion of control, it can make us feel like we are doing something – but worry isn’t a productive use of our time.
Research finds worry has negative effects on both our mental and physical health. So, what to do? One simple and effective strategy is to take control of your worrying by literally scheduling worry time.
Set aside 10 or so minutes a few times a week and train yourself to worry just doing those times. Keep a list of things you would worry about, in fact there are even phone apps created for this!
The key to this strategy is when a worry comes up: put it on the scheduled time and then do something else to distract you from that worry, there’s time for it – just not right now!
When we work to be more intentional and deliberate about choosing our thoughts, we can put worry in its place!