5 x 5 Rule

The 5x5 Rule: If it won't matter in 5 years don't spend more than 5 minutes worrying about it.

I am an expert at working myself into an worry spiral. I can spend hours upon hours fretting over past conversations, upcoming events, things I "should" or "shouldn't" be doing, and on and on and on. Enter: the 5x5 rule - the most effective way I've found to break a worry spiral.

Here's the concept: Take a moment to close your eyes and breathe. Then, ask yourself if what you are spinning about will matter in five years from now. If the answer is yes, then take a few more breaths to regain your composure so that you are more resourced to make a plan and respond accordingly. If the answer is no, then allow yourself five minutes to feel whatever it is you need to feel, and then move on.

There are two very sweet reasons this seems to work. Firstly, it allows you to zoom out a bit and put the experience in the context of your greater life timeline. It takes some of the stressful urgency out of the equation and allows you to see if you are needlessly overthinking. Secondly, it allows you the space and time to actually feel. Take a short but sweet five minute window to acknowledge your feelings rather than shoving frustrating emotions away somewhere inside where they will likely pop back up later - digest the emotion rather than putting off the inevitable processing that needs to happen.

So perhaps the next time your thoughts begin to slide into the worry spiral, try the 5x5 rule on for size and see if it is helpful.