Tool · Worry Time

Park the worry now. Deal with it later.

When a worry shows up, write it down and postpone it to a short daily window. Then, at worry time, decide what to act on and what to let go. A simple stimulus-control technique from worry research.

1 · Park a worry

Write it in a few words. You don’t need to solve it now.

2 · Your worry time

Same time and place every day. 0 worries waiting.

Daily start time

Length

Waiting for worry time

How it works

Outside the window: when a worry appears, park it here and bring your attention back to what you were doing.

During the window: go through each worry. If there’s something you can do, write one small step. If there isn’t, let it go — or keep it for tomorrow.

Tip: pick a time at least two hours before bed, in a place that isn’t your bed.

The evidence

RCT 53 participants

Two weeks of a daily 30-minute, time- and place-restricted "worry period" reduced worry in people with high trait worry compared with a control condition.

McGowan SK, Behar E (2013). A Preliminary Investigation of Stimulus Control Training for Worry. Behavior Modification. DOI PubMed ✓ Verified via Crossref · Oct 26, 2026

Evidence grade C: promising but based on a small study. Your worries are stored only on this device.