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For many years I've kept a daily journal. Sometimes there's no need to write anything in it because nothing happened, or if everything is going well there's also no need. It's just a time to ck in w/ myself, and sometimes it makes decisions easier if the 'for' and 'con' are written out. Coffee houses are good places for it, but almost anywhere is fine.
I still keep a journal, but now there's a Daily Worry too. This is the best because, generally speaking, there's almost always something that's worrying me. It can be small or large, but it's usually there. Except now, it isn't. Three days in, I see that my day one Daily Worry numbers 10 worries and is a whole page of paper. Day two is 6 worries and 1/2 a page, and today is 4 worries and 1/3rd of a page. The cool thing is that once it's written down and stuck on the wall (vs a journal that is always closed within a notebook) the worries are no longer on my mind. Not even a little bit. I can refer to them side by side any time I pass by them.
It seems that I've been worrying about this and that over time, but w/ it only being in my head it stayed in my head. Now that I do this daily, it's obvious what is bothering me, and if it can be resolved I make a plan and do it. What can't be fixed is let go of. This is a lot of value for very little time, even if it's a whole page it only takes like 5-10 minutes, max.
Last edited by stephenMM; 11-05-2023 at 02:44 PM..
For many years I've kept a daily journal. Sometimes there's no need to write anything in it because nothing happened, or if everything is going well there's also no need. It's just a time to ck in w/ myself, and sometimes it makes decisions easier if the 'for' and 'con' are written out. Coffee houses are good places for it, but almost anywhere is fine.
I still keep a journal, but now there's a Daily Worry too. This is the best because, generally speaking, there's almost always something that's worrying me. It can be small or large, but it's usually there. Except now, it isn't. Three days in, I see that my day one Daily Worry numbers 10 worries and is a whole page of paper. Day two is 6 worries and 1/2 a page, and today is 4 worries and 1/3rd of a page. The cool thing is that once it's written down and stuck on the wall (vs a journal that is always closed within a notebook) the worries are no longer on my mind. Not even a little bit. I can refer to them side by side any time I pass by them.
It seems that I've been worrying about this and that over time, but w/ it only being in my head it stayed in my head. Now that I do this daily, it's obvious what is bothering me, and if it can be resolved I make a plan and do it. What can't be fixed is let go of. This is a lot of value for very little time, even if it's a whole page it only takes like 5-10 minutes, max.
Might consider trying this. I have Aspergers, depression, PTSD, and anxiety. I’m 54, spent 8 years in the military, and have worked at the hospital boiler room for the past 24 years. Wife has multiple health problems and we have taken out loans for extensive roof repairs. My job stress is because I’m the most senior guy in our department and our duties and responsibilities include the hospital’s HVAC system (boilers, chillers, and other related equipment), fire alarm system, emergency power system (7 generators), medical gas systems, elevators (24 elevators), isolation room ventilation, and general building maintenance since on nights and weekends there is only one person on staff to cover the entire hospital.
I still keep a journal, but now there's a Daily Worry too. This is the best because, generally speaking, there's almost always something that's worrying me. It can be small or large, but it's usually there. Except now, it isn't. Three days in, I see that my day one Daily Worry numbers 10 worries and is a whole page of paper. Day two is 6 worries and 1/2 a page, and today is 4 worries and 1/3rd of a page. The cool thing is that once it's written down and stuck on the wall (vs a journal that is always closed within a notebook) the worries are no longer on my mind. Not even a little bit. I can refer to them side by side any time I pass by them.
It seems that I've been worrying about this and that over time, but w/ it only being in my head it stayed in my head. Now that I do this daily, it's obvious what is bothering me, and if it can be resolved I make a plan and do it. What can't be fixed is let go of. This is a lot of value for very little time, even if it's a whole page it only takes like 5-10 minutes, max.
I can understand this quite easily. Years ago, while I was undergoing a harsh cancer chemo regimen I started struggling with a weird sort of free floating anxiety and panic attacks. I had never been prone to debilitating anxiety before (though learning you get to deal with a cancer diagnosis for the rest of your life is certainly a trigger for it!) so I didn't understand what was going on or how to get a handle on it. In general, I'm a fairly rational, knowledge/learning-based person but reason didn't seem to be working. The irrational part of my brain just wasn't listening. Knowing that "chemo brain" is a real thing, I bought it up with my oncologist. He connected me with a counselor associated with his practice who explained a lot about anxiety. He connected me with a grad student who was developing various self-help tools for anxiety. One of her "techniques" was incredibly helpful, and I use it to this day.
All it requires is an alarm clock/stopwatch, a pencil/pen, and writing paper.
Once every hour I was supposed to stop whatever I happened to be doing, set the clock for 10 minutes, and jot down everything I might be worrying about; large, small, totally trivial. Do nothing else for that 10 minutes. Once the 10 minutes was up, put the notes away and do everything BUT worry for the next 50 minutes. Anything worrisome that might pop into my head had to be ignored until the next 10 minute worry window arrived. It would because I had given myself that permission for it. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat.
At first, I worried that 10 minutes wouldn't be nearly enough time to write it all down. At first, that was true. I filled pages with worry and the next 50 minutes just dragged by. But, I was sick and tired of being at the mercy of anxiety so was determined to stick to the plan.
Gradually over the next week, I found it was harder and harder to fill that 10 minutes and my scribbled notes became more and more sparce. The 50 minutes sped up and the 10 minute worry window started dragging. By the end of that next week I could hardly imagine anything worth writing down. The notebook page was largely blank and my mind would start wandering. The 50 minutes when I couldn't worry just flew by.
By giving myself permission to worry for a designated period of time instead of being afraid and trying to avoid it, learning how to clarify what those thoughts actually were well enough to write them down, and not permitting myself to worry the rest of the time I took control away from the anxiety and handed it back to myself. Regaining a sense of control over my own mind was empowering. Even without following this little "prescription", regaining a sense of control can ease anxiety in its own way.
Last edited by Parnassia; 11-06-2023 at 03:09 PM..
What was your point? The OP was sharing his story.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stephenMM
It seems that I've been worrying about this and that over time, but w/ it only being in my head it stayed in my head. Now that I do this daily, it's obvious what is bothering me, and if it can be resolved I make a plan and do it. What can't be fixed is let go of. This is a lot of value for very little time, even if it's a whole page it only takes like 5-10 minutes, max.
^ I think it is great you found a way to deal with your worries and how to let them go.
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What was your point? 
The OP was sharing his story. 
