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3 Practical Ways to Combat Worry

How many times have you heard someone tell you “Don’t worry about it” (as if you haven’t tried that already)? Most likely, the more you think about it, the more you worry. That’s how our brains are wired.

But there are some things you can do to stop worrying in its tracks. Here are three practical exercises you can try:

Reframe Your Thoughts and Beliefs

There are three components to worry scenarios:

  • Interpretations: how you explain to yourself what is happening

  • Attributions: how you explain to yourself why it’s happening

  • Expectations: what you think will happen afterward

We tend to either jump toward “why” thoughts where we try to make some sort of judgment about the situation, or “what next” thoughts where we try to determine what will happen in the future because of the situation. Tune in to your mind chatter to see where your mind is going – why or what next.

Most of the time, we’re worrying because we’re afraid we can’t handle the situation. Unfortunately, we can’t look for evidence to prove or disprove our worry because it hasn’t happened yet. But we can look back on our past and remember that we have handled anything that has ever happened. We can think back to similar (or the same) situations and remind ourselves what actually happened and how it was resolved.

How to reframe your thoughts and beliefs

  1. Remember that your view of the situation is based on your interpretations, attributions, and expectations.

  2. Notice whether you jump to why or what next thoughts.

  3. Remember that the thing you’re worried about hasn’t even happened yet (and may never happen).

  4. Remember that you haven’t been through anything you haven’t been able to handle.

  5. Recall the same or similar situations in the past to help resolve the current problem if action needs to be taken.

Designate Worry Time

It’s a myth that worrying about a problem will protect us from a negative outcome or help us find a solution. Yet, we’ve already established that we most likely will continue to have worries from time to time. So, give yourself some grace. But not too much or your elephant will run amuck! Designate some time in the moment (about 15-30 minutes) or a time in the future (like 2:00 this afternoon) when you will allow yourself to worry. Talk to a loved one, call up a friend or take out your journal. Unload all your concerns for that designated time only. Then, make the commitment to let it go when the time is up. There is nothing more you can do.

Walk Through a Worst Case – Best Case – Most Likely Scenario Exercise

This is a great exercise to do once you’ve started snowball or catastrophic thinking because it gives you a cathartic way for your mind to dump its worries. You throw yourself out of the irrational negative thoughts into absurdly positive ones, so you end up with a more realistic view of what might actually happen and you’re better able to problem solve, if necessary. Plus, laughing and coming up with ridiculous ideas automatically puts you into an upward spiral of positive emotions, which broadens your thinking.

How to Use the WC Scenario Exercise

  1. Identify the trigger that’s causing the worry.

  2. List all the worst-case scenarios/thoughts that are running through your head.

  3. Give each one a percentage of likelihood that that scenario will happen.

  4. Now, list all the best-case scenarios. For this step, have fun and run away with totally unrealistic positive outcomes. This will help to get you out of the downward spiral of the worst-case thoughts.

  5. Again, give each a percentage of likelihood.

  6. Now, given the two extremes list the most likely scenarios and give each of those a percentage.

Once you see the most likely scenarios and realize one of them is the most likely outcome, you can stop the worry and take realistic action.

So, whether you use one or all three of these practices, put your worry into perspective. Remind yourself that you’re worrying to protect yourself. Thank your worries for their input, know that you are safe, and look at the situation from a realistic, positive point of view.




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