Experts say this daily 30-minute or less technique stops your worries from running wild

It’s human to feel worry and concern; however, many people can drown in it. One worry can lead to another, then another, and another, further until it overtakes your mind. “Just don’t worry about it,” well-meaning friends say. Yeah. Sure. Has that ever actually worked? But what if it’s the opposite? What if part of the solution to stop worrying is to worry? At least, for a little while.

For worrywarts and people who struggle with anxiety, experts and therapists recommend adopting a daily “worry window” or ”worry time” habit to combat worrying throughout the day.

The technique is fairly simple and adaptable. Set up a time each day, anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, to just sit and worry, stress, fret, etc., until the alarm goes off. Write your worries down on paper, in a journal, or in a Word doc. Fully experience it all. When time is up, do something physical that will shift your brain’s neural pathways and snap your mindset out of your worries. Some examples include going for a run, splashing cold water on your face, or popping a sour candy in your mouth.

By dedicating a specific daily “appointment” for their worries, people have found that their worries are less invasive throughout the rest of their day. The professionals that GOOD reached out to vouch for the worry window’s effectiveness.

“By scheduling a specific time to worry, we can teach our brains: 'I decide when I engage with these thoughts, not anxiety,’” said licensed therapist Lisa Chen. “This can be a helpful boundary, which signals safety to our minds. Leaning into the physical senses, we can help anchor our mind to the present moment.”

“It gives you time to feel your feelings fully rather than as background noise throughout the day,” said licensed psychotherapist Ciara Bogdanovic. “This allows full emotional processing rather than suppression, so your emotions can move through your system and resolve rather than linger all day.”

The reason therapists recommend this as an option to combat chronic worrying is that it allows people to feel their feelings while separating the feeling from the reality of whatever they are worrying about. It can also help them determine whether what they’re worrying about is something they have power over or whether there are actions they could take. In either case, it gives a person a better sense of control over their feelings, actions, and overall lives.

“Clients can see that worrying isn't an action and that the worry doesn't actually accomplish anything,” said therapist Alyse Freda-Colon. “When isolating the worry window to 30 minutes, it often highlights how unproductive worry really is, helping clients to reframe the idea of worry altogether. At the very least, it gives clients the gift of not being struck with worry that plagues them whenever it chooses to appear and helps clients feel more in control of which thoughts get to stay in their heads and which ones get kicked down the road to be dealt with later on (if at all).”

“It also sets a boundary around your worries, which can help you feel like you can control your thoughts rather than them controlling you,” added Bogdanovic.

Many who practice this technique look over the worries they’ve written and see that they’re either not worth worrying about, something they have no control over, or that they can find possible actions that could resolve the worry.

For example, a person worrying about the result of a job interview after a worry window time would have the presence of mind later to think to send a follow-up email or set a time to look for other job opportunities in case they don’t hear back, but ultimately realizes that the interview already happened and the end result is no longer in their control. The great thing is that this technique is adaptable to you and your personality. If you're able to convince your brain to hold off on worrying until your scheduled hour-long appointment, more power to you.

If you consider yourself someone who worries too much or feels that worrying interferes with your work or relationships, give the worry window technique a try. There are also other ways to manage your worries, stress, and anxiety that could help you, too. You can also contact a licensed therapist who can offer techniques and guidance to help you manage your worry. Just know that if you’re worrying about worrying, there is help available to you.