Schedule Time To Worry (Yes, Really) | Simon Sinek + Amy Morin | A Bit of Optimism

22 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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In this interview excerpt, Speaker A asks for practical advice on maintaining mental fitness in a stressful world. Speaker B shares a research‑backed technique: scheduling a dedicated 15‑minute worry period each day. By writing down or thinking about worries during this allotted time, individuals can reduce the constant background anxiety caused by everyday concerns and excessive media consumption. The conversation highlights that true mental strength is not about suppressing negative emotions but about allocating space for them, allowing the mind to process worries without them hijacking daily life.

Any top tips that you would offer for how to help somebody stay mentally fit, mentally strong in this crazy, insane world that literally every pressure on us is trying to keep us mentally unfit?
There is actually research that you could schedule time to worry, and that's one of my favorite exercises, and I'll do it with my therapy clients. The ones who do it will sometimes look like the weight of the world has literally been lifted off of their shoulders in a matter of a couple of weeks. A lot of people don't even really realize how much they're worrying. I'm worrying about the weather, I'm worrying about what's going to happen after work, what's going to happen in the next meeting. People's heads are just so filled with worry all the time, not to mention that we consume so much media that we're often in this heightened state of alert, and then our anxiety is high, so then we're looking for danger all the time. But research will show when you set aside just 15 minutes a day to worry, that you sit down and you've got to put it in your calendar, you've got to actually schedule it. Set an alarm. And maybe just sit at your kitchen table at 7 o'clock at night, Write down whatever you're worried about. Maybe you just sit and think. When your 15 minutes is up, it's okay.
I think this is really important, and I think we've confused being mentally strong and mentally fit with denying or suppressing bad feelings.
Yes.
What I love about your strategy is we're not denying or suppressing anything. We're allocating time for all of that nonsense. Very healthy nonsense.