If you find yourself often ruminating, overthinking or maybe you can’t get to sleep or stay asleep perhaps it is time to implement a worry record. A worry record is exactly what it sounds like, it is the opportunity for you to write down all your worries and objectively look at them.
To help start a worry record it is important to schedule worry time. This can be 15 – 20 minutes each day or perhaps morning and evening, where you allocate it specifically to allow those parts of you that are feeling anxious or fearful to have their voice heard. The information that you write down might help you to also identify triggers and trends in your thinking that you can then decide to act on and change. Once you have listed down all your worries see if you can take a step back and ask the following questions:
- Is there anything here that is urgent and needs immediate action?
- Which of these worries do I have full control over?
- Which of these worries can I influence?
- Which of these worries are not in my control or influence?
- Are there any actions that need to be taken in the next couple of hours with any of these items?
- Are there items here that are not helpful and need to be crossed off?
The next steps may be the most difficult. If there are clear actionable items then make a plan and get them done. For the rest of the worries put a line through them as they are not helpful and let your brain know that you are not going to think about them again until the next scheduled time. Sometimes we need to be quite stern with our thoughts and remember that we are in control of them and not the other way around. If your having difficulty controlling your thoughts, remember this takes practice and you might like to see some mindfulness activities and suggestions on the EAP Assist web page that can help you.