Worry postponement
Park worries for a scheduled window
Opens in: 4h 53m 41s
Parked today (0)
Nothing parked yet.
Open full worry listWhy postponing worry works
Contains worry
A defined window keeps worry from leaking into every hour.
Cognitive off-load
Parking a worry frees the working memory it was hogging.
More present moments
You get your afternoons and evenings back.
Proven for GAD
Stimulus-control approach with 30+ years of clinical support.
The Borkovec stimulus-control method
Thomas Borkovec's classic worry-control protocol has four steps: (1) learn to identify worry, (2) postpone worries to a set daily worry time, (3) during the day, briefly note the worry and return to the present, (4) during your worry window, actively engage with the worries. Meta-analyses show it reduces worry frequency by 30–60% within 4 weeks.
How to run it
- 1
Pick a fixed 15-minute worry window — early evening usually works well, but not right before bed.
- 2
Throughout the day, when a worry arises, park it here and return to what you were doing.
- 3
When the window opens, read your list and let yourself worry actively — don't distract.
- 4
Notice: many worries have already faded, resolved, or look smaller. Cross those off.
- 5
When the 15 minutes end, close the notebook — worry time is over until tomorrow.
Tips that help
- ✦Worry window should NOT be within 2 hours of bedtime.
- ✦If a genuine urgent action shows up, do it now — parking is for rumination, not real tasks.
- ✦Keep a paper or notes-app 'parking lot' beside you all day.
- ✦It feels weird for a week; trust the practice — expect real change by week 3.
Common questions
What if I can't stop worrying between windows?+
That's expected at first. Each time, gently return the worry to the parking list. The 'not now' repetition is the skill you're training.
What if I miss my window?+
Skip it — don't double up. Consistency of the timing matters more than catching every day.
Is this suppression?+
No. You're not blocking the worry — you're rescheduling it. That's the crucial difference from thought suppression, which backfires.