Worry Postponement (Worry Time)

What is Worry Postponement (Worry Time)?

A cognitive-behavioral technique where you schedule a specific daily 15-20 minute 'worry window' and deliberately defer all worrying to that time. Originally introduced by Borkovec et al. (1983) as a stimulus control task, it works as a behavioral experiment that tests the metacognitive belief that worry is uncontrollable. Most people find that when they postpone a worry, it no longer feels as compelling by the time their worry period arrives.

Is there evidence for it?

How do you do Worry Postponement (Worry Time)?

1. 1.Schedule a fixed 15-20 minute 'worry time' each day, ideally in the late afternoon or early evening (not right before bed). Same time, same place daily
2. 2.When a worry arises during the day, briefly acknowledge it and write it down in a worry log or note. Tell yourself: 'I have an appointment with this worry later.' Then redirect attention to the present task
3. 3.During your scheduled worry time, review your worry list. For each item: worry about it fully if it still feels important. Many items will have resolved or feel trivial by now
4. 4.For worries that remain important during worry time, distinguish between productive worry (leads to action) and unproductive worry (circular rumination). For productive worries, write one specific next action step. For unproductive worries, practice letting go
5. 5.Track your experience over 2 weeks: note how many worries 'survived' until worry time vs. dissolved naturally. This builds experiential evidence that worry is more controllable than you believed

How long does it take?

15-20 minutes daily for the scheduled worry time; a few seconds each time you defer a worry.

Is it hard to start?

Easy to understand, moderate to practice consistently — requires discipline to actually postpone in the moment.

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