Worry is one of the most common reasons people walk into my therapy office. It’s usually not a specific worry — it’s more of a constant worry about almost everything. And it often gets in the way of enjoying the moment, getting things done, and feeling good.

Most of them have already tried the obvious things, like telling themselves to stop. But that doesn’t work because worry isn’t a problem you solve by trying harder to avoid it.

You can’t prevent worries from popping into your head. But you can control what you do next. As I explain in my new book, The Mental Strength Playbook, there are many strategies you can use to reduce worrisome thoughts and regain your mental bandwidth.

Here are three of my favorite strategies that help people stay mentally strong when their brains want to worry all the time:

1. Schedule Time to Worry

This sounds counterintuitive when all you want to do is stop worrying. But research shows it’s an effective way to contain worrying to a short window of time.

Your brain is wired to anticipate challenges and prepare for the unexpected. That’s why it’s so easy to spiral into worrying — your mind thinks it’s helping you avoid mistakes or fend off future disasters. But when you tell yourself to stop, your brain tends to do the opposite. So instead of trying to suppress worry, contain it to a specific period of time.

Here’s how to schedule time to worry:

• Pick a 15- to 30-minute window each day, at a consistent time when you’ll be undisturbed. Put it in your schedule.
• When a worry shows up before then, remind yourself, “It’s not time to worry about that yet. I’ll worry about it later.” You may have to repeat this a hundred times on the first day. That’s just proof you need this play.
• When your worry time arrives, worry on purpose. Sit with the worst-case scenarios. Write them down if it helps.
• When the time is up, get up and do something else — even if you didn’t “solve” anything. Trust that you can revisit unresolved concerns at your next worry time.

It’s a strategy I frequently recommend to my clients. Whether they’re worried about one specific thing or they worry about everything, they tell me this play frees up their mental bandwidth and increases their productivity.

2. Change the Channel in Your Brain

Some worries don’t respond to scheduling. They’re a replay button stuck on the same unhelpful thought — a conversation that didn’t go the way you hoped or a what-if scenario that keeps spinning.

The natural response is to tell yourself to quit thinking about it. But suppressing thoughts backfires and amplifies them.

Changing the channel works because our brains aren’t great multitaskers. When you fully immerse yourself in something that requires brainpower, you naturally shift your focus.

Here’s how to change the channel in your brain:

• Recognize when you’re ruminating. Ask yourself, “Is this helpful?” If the answer is no, it’s time to change the channel.
• Pick a distraction that requires real mental effort. Mindlessly scrolling social media won’t cut it — it doesn’t demand enough of your brain to redirect it. Take a walk that requires you to navigate, work on a puzzle, or hold a conversation with someone about anything other than what you’re worried about.
• Repeat as needed. You may have to change the channel more than once a day. That’s normal.

3. Flip the Script

Sometimes worry shows up as a specific catastrophic prediction: I’m going to mess this up. They’re going to fire me. Everyone will see I don’t belong here.

When you entertain those thoughts, you feel anxious. And the more anxious you feel, the more catastrophic your thoughts become. It’s a feedback loop — and the way out isn’t to argue with the thought. It’s to flip it.

Here’s how to flip the script:

• Notice the unhelpful thought. Pay attention to the assumptions you’re making. (“I’ll mess this up.” “I’ll never feel better.”)
• Flip it to the opposite extreme. If you’re thinking, “I’m never going to earn enough money,” flip it to, “I’m going to earn more money than I know what to do with.” Yes, the opposite thought is exaggerated. That’s the point.
• Land somewhere realistic. Once you have both extremes in front of you, develop a more balanced thought — something like, “I’ll keep working hard and earn the money I need.” The goal isn’t to convince yourself that everything will be perfect. It’s to land somewhere in the middle, which is often the most realistic outcome.

Flipping the script trains your brain to see that your catastrophic prediction isn’t the only possible outcome. Over time, it builds the kind of mental agility that lets you adapt under pressure instead of spiraling.

You can’t prevent worries from popping up into your head. But you can control how you respond to them. When you have a few strategies up your sleeve, you can prevent them from eating up too much of your time and mental energy so you can be the strongest version of yourself.