Worrying is toxic. It messes with our minds, affects our health and productivity, and wastes our time.
But, even if we logically understand all that, it is hard to remove worry altogether – especially if worrying about stuff has become a habit.
I met someone who solved this by raising the bar on worry. For example, consider asking yourself 2 questions every time you find yourself worrying –
1. Am I worrying about something that involves a potentially terminal health problem?
2. Am I worrying about the climate crisis?
If the answer to either of the above is yes, you might cut yourself some slack and give yourself the next hour to worry about it and, perhaps, process your own feelings by writing about it.
If the answer is no, however, then it doesn’t meet the bar. It just isn’t worthy of your worry time.
We’ve got limited time and attention – it is on us to focus it on stuff that matters.
