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Loosening the Grip of Worry
For a mind that spends its days rehearsing what could go wrong. Each day gives you one way to set worry down for a while, so it takes up less of your day.
Worry · Worry · Anxiety · one to-do a day · you choose how many days
The first seven days
- Day 1Set a fifteen-minute "worry window" this evening. When worries appear earlier, write them down and save them for then.
- Day 2Write down one worry and sort it: something you can act on, or something you cannot. Act on the first kind, breathe through the second.
- Day 3Notice one "what if" today and answer it with "even if that happened, I would..."
- Day 4Take a worry and write down the most likely outcome, not the worst one.
- Day 5Ask yourself: "Is this worry solving anything right now?" If not, put it down for an hour.
- Day 6Do something with your hands for ten minutes, cooking, gardening, drawing, and let your mind follow.
- Day 7Write down a worry from last month. Did it come true? What actually happened?
Further into the year
The to-dos keep changing as the year goes on. A few from later in this theme:
- Day 30Write down one thing you want to do this week that worry has been talking you out of, and do the first step.
- Day 60Read a chapter of a book at lunch instead of rehearsing the afternoon.
- Day 120Take a worry about a conversation and write your opening sentence. Having the first line makes the rest easier.
- Day 240Take a worry about a test result, a grade, or a verdict and write down the two most likely responses you would have. Pick which one you would rather practice.
- Day 365Try listing what you know for certain about a worry. Read the list twice, then go do the next ordinary thing.
How a challenge works
A Theraglee challenge is a theme with one small to-do for every day of a year. You choose how long yours runs, anywhere from a week to the full year, and each day you get the next to-do: something that takes a few minutes and fits inside an ordinary day. Tick it off when it is done. Nothing is scored and nothing is lost if you miss a day; the next to-do is simply waiting when you come back.
Challenges come with a free Theraglee account, which never asks for a card. Your progress stays private to you.