The 5×5 rule for worry

I don’t know who originally came up with this, but here’s a summary:

Whatever unpleasant situation you are undergoing, applying the 5×5 Rule is to simply ask one question: Will this matter or affect me in 5 years? If not, don’t spend more than 5 minutes worrying about it.

Nick Fuentes

I’m a sucker for rules to live by, so obviously I’m in love with this.

In 10% Happier, Dan Harris talks about the “is this useful?” rule for worry. When you catch yourself worrying, ask yourself if that worrying is useful. Worrying about a presentation makes you spend more time practicing, for example. That’s valuable. But when the worrying stops being useful, cut that crap out.

Of course, that’s easy to say. Stop worrying. Oh, thanks fartface. So I like the 5×5 rule because it gives it a condition and a deadline, which is a brilliant abuse of Parkinson’s Law. If it won’t matter in five years, set a five minute timer. Spend those five minutes stressing out and over-thinking and getting it out of your system. Then when the timer goes off, that’s the cue to move on.