My worry list

Worry time is an effective way to manage hypothetical worries. You set a time once a day where you can worry as much as you need. Outside of that time, you write down your worries and refocus your attention on the present.

When you worry, it distracts you from present moment and focuses your attention internally, on your worries and anxious feelings. When we are truly paying attention to what is going on around us, and engaged in a task, we don’t worry. Writing down your hypothetical worries and then refocusing on a task externally, helps you to break the cycle. Using worry time helps you to feel more in control of your worrying instead of feeling like it is controlling you. Over time, the amount of hypothetical worries that you have will reduce. You will find you are more focused on other things happening around you at the present moment, instead of distracted by your worrying. You plan a time each day where you can worry in a managed way. During your worry time, you can worry as much as you want about the worries that you have had during the day. It is up to you how much time you set aside for your worry time each day. The important thing is that it is a time that you will not be disturbed and can focus your attention fully on your worries. Make sure that the amount of time you set aside feels realistic. You need a time when you are not at work, busy with the children, cooking or watching TV. This time is just to purposefully worry about the hypothetical worries you have had in your day, even if they have resolved, not for dealing with practical worries. These should be dealt with as and when they arise at the time you had the worry to not procrastinate on them. There are three steps to put worry time into action: 1. Set a planned worry time once a day where you can really focus on your worries.

2. Outside your planned worry time, you are going to write down any hypothetical worries that come into your mind. Use the worry type diagram if you are unsure if a worry is practical or hypothetical. If it is practical, take the action there and then. If it hypothetical, write it down, knowing you can worry about it as much as you need to later. 3. When you have written down your hypothetical worry on your list, you then need to re-focus your attention on the present. Keep your worry list by the side of the bed and write down any worries then too, then refocus your attention back on a task in the present. The APPLE technique can help you to do this.

Keep the list with you throughout the day. Each time you have a hypothetical worry, write it down. Try to be as specific as possible and record the real thought that went through your mind. For example, ‘What if my manager is angry with me’. You may find that you have worries when you try to get off to sleep. You may also find you wake up in the night with a worry on your mind. Keep your worry list and a pen at the side of the bed and make a note of these too.

The same hypothetical worries may come up multiple times, that is OK and to be expected, just like the polar bear example. Just write the worry down as many times as you need to and then refocus your attention.

My worry list

Write down any hypothetical worries that come into your mind until your next planned worry time. Remember to re-focus your attention onto the present moment once you have written a worry down. The same worries may come back. That’s OK. If they are hypothetical, just rewrite them on your list as many times as you need to and re-focus your attention again. You can use the tips provided to help you to refocus or the APPLE technique. At your planned worry time, you can sit and worry about the things you have written here as much as you want or need to. At the end of your worry time, throw this list away and start with a fresh worksheet.

“John: I found it useful to keep a pen and notepad at the side of my bed. I could then make a note of the worries I had when I was trying to get off to sleep and then refocus on the task at hand – sleeping! It took practice though but it helped lots. The diary helped me to record down all my worries throughout the day.”