Free tool · Scarlet Beast En español →
Worry time: set it down now, look at it later
A worry that shows up at ten in the morning can run the whole day. This page gives it somewhere to wait. Write the worry in one line and go back to what you were doing. Once a day, at a time you choose, open the list and take them one at a time: this one has passed, this one I can do something about, this one is out of my hands. The page keeps the list, your next steps and a count, in your own words.
Good to know
How it works
- Set a worry down in one line when it shows up. You can say what it is about, or not.
- My worry time is a time of day you choose, for 10, 15, 20 or 30 minutes.
- At that time, open the list. For each worry, pick one: It has passed, I can do something (and write one small next step), or It is out of my hands.
- The clock is optional. It counts down on the page and tells you when the time is up.
- Looking back counts the last 30 days and lists your next steps.
- Print my sheet makes one page with the waiting worries and room to write more.
What this page can’t do
- It cannot remind you. It has no alarm and sends no message. The clock only runs while the page is open.
- It is not treatment or therapy, and it does not diagnose anything.
- It cannot promise that you will worry less. For some people putting a worry off is hard at first, and for some it does not help.
- It does not judge a worry. It cannot tell you whether a worry is reasonable or what to do about it. You decide where each one goes.
- The list does not move to another phone or computer by itself. Print it, download it, or use My data on this device to carry a backup across.
If the worry comes back before the time
- It probably will. You could tell it, “You are on the list. I will look at you at six.”
- Then put your attention back on something in front of you: what your hands are doing, or what you can hear.
- If a worry is about something that needs doing right now, do that. This page is for the ones that can wait.
- A worry that keeps you awake has its own page: Can’t sleep?
- For a step that feels too big, One step at a time breaks it down.
These are everyday ideas in our own words. They are not advice from a clinician, and they do not suit everyone.
Where the idea comes from
Putting worries off until one set time of day is something therapists who use cognitive behavioral therapy sometimes teach. It is often called worry time or worry postponement. This page borrows that one plain idea. It is not that therapy, and nobody trained in it has looked at this page. If worry has taken over most days for months, read When the worry won’t switch off and talk to a doctor or a therapist if you can.
Tools that go with this
- Thought check: look at one thought from both sides.
- One step at a time: for a next step that feels too big to start.
- Breathe and ground: for the body, when the worry is loud.
- Weigh it up: when the worry is really a decision.
- Can’t sleep?: for the worries that come at night.
- When the worry won’t switch off: what anxiety is, and where to get help.
- All the free tools, and how to save them on your phone.
The tool and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). It was not reviewed by a clinician. Also in Spanish: La hora de las preocupaciones; both pages keep the same list on this device. The page holds up to 40 worries waiting and the last 300 in all, and keeps them until you erase them. Found a mistake? Email [email protected].