Managing Worry - Productivity Tips For High Achievers Who Worry

Are you a worrier? Do you frequently spend time and energy worrying about your finances, your children, your career, world politics? Worry can be a highly useful, brilliantly engineered cue to action or a useless and destructive energy drain. The challenge is to decide which it is, on a case-by-case basis, and manage yourself accordingly.

Here is a quick and dirty, but highly effective way to manage your worrying habit.

1. Learn to recognize when you are worrying.

This takes practice. You may not recognize yourself worrying until you've been at a particular worry for days or weeks. But whether you catch yourself in the first minute or the first month, the most important step is recognizing the pattern. You can develop your "witness" over time and become more proficient in noticing when you are worrying.

2. Determine if something needs to be done.

Ask yourself, "Is the worry a cue to action?"

    For example, if you are worried that your toddler will get lead paint poisoning from the lead paint on your windows, there is indeed

something that needs to be done. You need to get the lead paint removed from your windows. And keep your child well supervised in the meantime.
    If you don't know whether or not something needs to be done, find out. You need to get more information - THAT's what needs to happen.


3. If something needs to be done, get it done as soon as possible.

Often just deciding to take the action can loosen worry's grip on you. But it's critical that you follow through - take that action as soon as it is feasible.

    Call the state agency that deals with lead paint removal and get the names of contractors who do that kind of work. Get moving with hiring and scheduling a contractor. Call your pediatrician and get advice about how to protect your child during the removal process and follow up on every detail.


4. If nothing needs to be done, release the worry.

    If the lead paint removal is scheduled, your child is adequately supervised, and you're following all of the pediatrician's instructions, there is nothing more to be done. Your job in this case is to re-focus your attention elsewhere.

For most people, relinquishing the worry is the hardest part. If you generally let worry run unchecked, you know that it's a very greedy energy that will take as much of your attention as you let it. It will reduce your effectiveness and productivity. Some serious boundary setting with yourself is required here.


By Sharon Teitelbaum