Worry Time

Worry Time and Worry Tree

These are my personal notes from talking to a CBT professional. I am not a trained CBT professional so please do not blindly use these notes without speaking to someone who is.

In a nutshell worry time and worry tree techniques allow us to postpone worrying about stuff until later in the day at a specific time. The idea is to reduce the overall amount of time spent worrying during the day but also move the time spent to a convenient slot in your diary. If you find it inconvenient that your mind can completely sidetrack you during the day and you worry about stuff, this may be a useful technique.

Applying the Worry Tree During the Day

If you find yourself worrying during the day, the first thing is to refer to the Worry Tree process. The idea is to:

1. immediately act on anything that you can (very small proportion of worries),
2. plan to worry about stuff that is in your control but not immediately actionable later
3. during "worry time" decide whether the thing is:
   1. A hypothetical that we can't control - if so we should let it go
   2. A practical concern that we can address. If so we can make a plan to deal with it

If Worries Come Back

If you have recurring worries that come back after you have let them go you can try combining this technique with other CBT approaches such as changing the focus of attention (distraction), mindfulness meditation, deep breathing exercises and progressive muscle relaxation.

Ultimately worry time takes practice and doesn't work overnight. It's something you should add to your daily routine just like brushing your teeth or eating breakfast.

How to Run Worry Time Sessions

For worries that have been postponed to worry time:

1. 1. 1. Again there is an element of whether this is something we can deal with now or must deal with later and schedule