Scheduled Worry

Stop Overthinking in 10 minutes a day

Scheduled worry is a simple daily exercise that will help you:

• Reduce stress and anxiety
• Fall asleep faster
• Improve your focus and concentration

Ready to try it? Get the free Scheduled Worry Quick Start Guide →

What is Scheduled Worry, Exactly?

Scheduled worry is an exercise that trains your mind to stop worrying all the time by rewarding it for worrying at the right time.

Here’s what it looks like:

1. Pick a scheduled worry time. Aim for a window of time that will work every day of the week.
2. Set a timer on your phone for 10 minutes.
3. Take out a sheet of paper and pen and write down everything you’re worried about. When you’re done, throw your worries away.
4. If you find yourself worrying outside of your scheduled worry time, remind yourself you’ve got a worry time, and refocus on the task at hand.

How to Get Started

Just grab a sheet of paper and start writing down your worries!

That said, if you want a bit more structure and guidance, I put together a free scheduled worry quick start guide:

Watch Me Do Scheduled Worry

Want to see what doing scheduled worry actually looks like…

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Common Questions About Scheduled Worry

I’m skeptical… How will worrying on purpose help me worry less?

Scheduled worry is a mental exercise that trains your brain to worry at a specific time, and by extension, not at other times.

Think about how you potty train a new puppy…

• When little Fido pees on the kitchen floor, you can’t just yell at him or explain logically why he should stop.
• Instead, you need to train the puppy that there’s a right place to do its business by rewarding it for peeing there.
• As a result, it will increasingly use only that spot and not all the other places around your house.

Similarly, if you want your brain to stop bombarding you with worries throughout the day, you can’t just yell at yourself to stop worrying or try to convince it logically. You need to train it to worry at the right time—this is why we scheduled time to worry on purpose, giving it our full attention, which is rewarding.

Over time, you will find yourself worrying a lot less at other points throughout the day because your brain is learning to worry at the right time.

Are there certain times of day that are best for doing scheduled worry?

Technically, you can do your scheduled worry at any time throughout the day.

Like most habits, the most important thing is that you do it consistently. So pick a time that gives you the highest likelihood of sticking with it long-term.

That being said, it’s my experience that early evening is often the best time for scheduled worry. It’s late enough in the day that plenty of worries have accumulated, but not so close to bed time that it will rev you up and make it hard to fall asleep.

Won’t worrying on purpose just make me more anxious?

Imagine your personal trainer told you to lift some weights.

And then, in response, you said:

Lift weights… Won’t that just make me weaker and more tired?

What do you think they would say?

Probably something along the lines of:

Well, in the very short-term lifting weights will make you tired. But in the long run, lifting weights is a great way to build strength.

A similar principle applies here: Scheduled worry is an exercise, not a coping strategy. We’re doing this to fundamentally retrain your mental habits. This is about the long-game, not quick fixes and temporary relief.

That said, most people find that doing scheduled worry is actually far less worry-producing or anxiety-causing than they imagine. In fact, most people report feeling relieved after doing their scheduled worry.

Got More Questions?

Download the free Scheduled Worry Quick Start Guide to get more specific advice for scheduled worry, including:

• Do I have to do scheduled worry at the same time every day?
• Can I do scheduled worry on my computer or phone instead of pen and paper?
• Should I keep my written-out worries and revisit them from time to time?
• How long do I have to keep doing scheduled worry?
• I do scheduled worry whenever I start to feel worried but it only makes it worse!
• What should I do when I find myself worrying outside of my scheduled worry time?

The Quick Start Guide also includes extra resources and ready-to-use templates for doing scheduled worry.

I got the guide but still have more questions…

Feel free to send me an email if you have other questions:
hello@nickwignall.com