Worry Management

Isabelle from Animal Crossing with a nonplussed expression.

Worry is a fact of nature.  With this entry, I'll share a strategy for establishing and managing that half of the hotspots and worry journaling that I've previously mentioned.

It's only natural that a worry will quite suddenly register to the forefront of our mind. However, for some, such worries can quickly magnify and intensify until hours these foreboding thoughts consume an entire day.

Timing
Because anxious thoughts are an inevitable part of human imagination and memory, we can accept that it's a part of natural being.  Instead of fighting the urge to worry, the idea behind "worry management" is to give those unsettling thoughts a time and space to unravel.  Thus, we schedule a time, perhaps toward the end of the day, to recapture it and untangle it within a confine allotment of time. As for the space, it helps to designate an area that isn't related to sleep, rest, or some other activity which might create dissonance. 

What if... ?
Once we've honored a time and space to channel worrisome energy, it's only natural for concerns crop up throughout the day, even still.  Again, this is okay. Carrying a journal for briefly scribbling notes can allow us to quickly brain dump the worry for further assessment later if it's not of absolute necessity at that time and moment.  This gives us a chance to say, "okay, I have to address this concern, but I recognize that it can wait until later."

Worry List
For some folks, this might not be ideal; however, an extension to the strategy is to then maintain a list of worries. In the event that the same concerns keeps jumping to mind, one can check the list and accept that it's being processed.

Recap Example
Before I wind down for the day, I will journal the

• events of my day
• what I've done
• what I hope or need to get done later
• interest I am developing
• worries I need to process now"

Worry list

• money
  • solutions and actions: budgeting for the year by month
• student loans
  • solutions and actions: research consolidation options (ongoing)
• school
  • solutions and actions: start implementing rest breaks
• digital drama
  • solutions and actions: cut off the phone and social media between the hours of ___ and ___; don't accept pressure to "instant" message.

Keep in mind that every worry doesn't have to have a solution or action, and the solution doesn't have to be a behavioral change; it can be internalized validation or whatever permission you need to accept for yourself.  Management starts with identifying "I'm worried ____." Then, you can ask why, what, when, how questions.