Name The Actual Event
Write the real upcoming situation, not every possible outcome.
Before-it-happens worry
Anticipatory Anxiety
Anticipatory anxiety is the stress that arrives before the event. The mind rehearses what might go wrong, then treats the rehearsal like evidence. The goal is to prepare enough without turning preparation into constant threat scanning.
Prepare One Useful Step
Choose the next concrete action that reduces real uncertainty.
End The Rehearsal
More mental replay often creates more alarm, not more readiness.
Return To Today
Ask what needs your attention in the next ten minutes.
A Practical Reset
- Write the event in one sentence.
- Write one useful preparation step.
- Write one thing you will handle only if it actually happens.
- Move to a present task for ten minutes.