Module 6 · Worry, rumination & thought patterns · Moderate evidence

Scheduled worry time

Postponing worries to a set daily slot, so they stop taking the whole day.

6 min read · Level: Practising · Free — no account needed to read

The idea

Scheduled worry time sounds strange: you set aside a specific fifteen minutes each day for worrying. When a worry pops up at any other time, you note it down briefly and postpone it — “I’ll think about that at 6pm.” When worry time comes, you look at the list and think about each worry properly, perhaps turning some into problem-solving steps.

It works because it gives worry a container. Instead of leaking into the whole day, it gets a time and place. Many people find that by the time worry time arrives, several worries no longer seem important.

Choose a time that isn’t close to bedtime, and a place that isn’t your bed. When the time is up, stop, even mid-worry, and do something absorbing.

Why it works

Postponing worry is easier than stopping it. Research on this “stimulus control” approach suggests it can reduce how much time people spend worrying.

A real example

The situation

Mariana, a new manager, worries about work all day and night, including at dinner with her family.

What happened

She starts a 15-minute worry time at 5:30pm at her kitchen table. During the day she jots worries in her phone and postpones them. At 5:30 half of them no longer matter; the rest she turns into a plan. Her evenings with her family come back.

The takeaway

Giving worry a time slot stopped it taking the whole day.

Use this when you are…

• worry spreads across your whole day
• you can’t stop thinking about something at night
• your worries feel urgent in the moment

Common mistakes

• Scheduling worry time just before bed.
• Letting worry time run over, or skipping it and worrying anyway.
• Treating postponement as ignoring the worry. You will get to it.

What the evidence says

Moderate evidence: Several studies support it, but the effects are smaller, the studies are fewer or less rigorous, or results vary between groups.

Worry postponement has been studied since the 1980s, and trials show it can reduce the frequency of worry. Effects are moderate, and it is usually one part of a wider approach to managing worry.

Where this comes from: Worry and anxiety research; Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) research.

Fields that study this: Clinical psychology.

Try it now: Set up worry time

1. Choose a 15-minute slot today, not close to bedtime.
2. When a worry comes up before then, write two words and say “later”.
3. At worry time, go through the list; turn any actionable worry into a step.

Practise with a guided technique

• Worry time — (15 min · Moderate evidence)
• Bedtime to-do download — (5 min · Emerging evidence)

Questions to think about

• When do your worries tend to take over?
• What time and place would work for your worry time?

Try this today

Pick a worry time for today and postpone worries to it at least twice.

Afterwards, ask yourself

How many of your postponed worries still felt important at worry time?

Words in this lesson

• Worry time — A set daily slot for dealing with worries, so that at other times they can be noted and postponed.
• Worry — Repetitive thinking about possible future problems. Unlike problem solving, it tends to go round in circles without reaching a next step.