Worry Time Worksheet Overview
Worry time is a set slot each day when you let yourself worry on purpose, with the aim of giving worry less room in the rest of your day. Psychologist Thomas Borkovec and his colleagues tested the idea in the early 1980s, and it is now a common part of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety.
This worksheet helps you choose a time and place for worry and gives you a list to save worries as they come up. It then guides you through sorting each worry into what you can act on and what you can let be.
In this worksheet, we’ll:
- Help you choose a daily worry time, place, and length
- Explain how to notice a worry during the day and save it for later
- Share why keeping worry to one time and place can help
- Provide a worry list to write down worries as they come up
- Walk you through sorting your worries at worry time into next steps and ones to let be
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Borkovec, T. D., Wilkinson, L., Folensbee, R., & Lerman, C. (1983). Stimulus control applications to the treatment of worry. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 21(3), 247-251.
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McGowan, S. K., & Behar, E. (2013). A preliminary investigation of stimulus control training for worry: Effects on anxiety and insomnia. Behavior Modification, 37(1), 90-112.
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