How Worrying Can Help You Solve Problems
Worrying has an adaptive function, which allows you to work through problems in your career.
Worrying is repetitive and circular thinking about problems or fears, as you think something bad has occurred or can occur. Worrying is concern about the future or past- it is the opposite of the here and now.
But worrying has an adaptive function, which allows you to work through problems. It’s like trying to put a large jigsaw puzzle together- the more you try to place the pieces in different places and look at it from different angles, the better you will be at solving it, as long as you persevere. So worry helps us to solve problems, as we think, re-think, and look at different angles of the problem. Worry also has the adaptive function of distracting you from more disturbing problems and emotions that you are not able to process right now.
In addition, worry makes our concerns transportable, so that you can think about your problems at any time, which can be an advantage or disadvantage. But this depends on if you are using your brain, rather than being run by it. Left to run wild and uninhibited, worry can take on a life of its own and become a habit that takes all of your time.
Fortunately, most of the things you worry about never happen. That’s because your worries help you to solve problems, so that your concerns do not become larger or your worst fears are not realized. By thinking about your problems and concerns, it is the first step to solving it. So instead of avoiding your problems, you deal with it directly by thinking about it.
However, if you do not use your brain to help you solve problems, then you can be run by it. Worrying about your problems can become so overwhelming that it causes significant anxiety. Thus, when worry turns into pathological worry, it induces anxiety symptoms that can paralyze you. Having too much worry then leads to the same outcome as avoidance…you don’t solve your problems.
So worrying too much leads to the inability to solve problems. What you need is a moderate level of worry, which will coincide with optimal problem solving. To decrease your excessive worry, you can look at the following flowchart:
(Flowchart reproduced with permission from AnxietyBoss.com)
Using this strategy can help you to not be controlled by your worry. Instead, you can control your worry to help you solve your problems, which is the reason why you worry in the first place. So worry has the adaptive function of helping you to solve problems, and worry makes your concerns transportable for your convenience. When you have too much worry, then the goal is not about eradicating the worry: rather, the goal is to decrease your worry to moderate levels, where your problem-solving abilities are optimal.
The key is knowing when to worry, when to take action on that worry, and when to move on from that worry. The above flowchart can help you to make these choices. For more information and help with worry and anxiety, please visit AnxietyBoss.com.
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