Managing Worry to Boost Creative Thinking

If you tend to overthink and worry a lot, schedule “worry time.” I’m serious. Research shows that setting aside just 5–15 minutes a day to write down your worries called can reduce anxiety. It’s called ‘worry postponement’ or ‘stimulus control for worry.’ You’re not suppressing the thoughts; you’re containing them. When worries pop up later, remind yourself: “I’ll save this for worry time.” It’s a simple shift that creates space, clarity, and calm. P.S. Have you ever tried something like this? 📖 Research: Dippel, A., Brosschot, J. F., & Verkuil, B. (2024). Effects of worry postponement on daily worry: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 17(1), 160-178. McGowan, S. K., Behar, E., & Luhmann, M. (2012). A preliminary investigation of stimulus control training for worry: Effects on anxiety, negative affect, and sleep disturbance. Behavior Therapy, 44(3), 566–578.

Have you ever been told to “just think positive” at a moment when you were already doing your best to cope? It is usually offered with good intentions, especially when situations feel heavy or uncertain but the truth is, it’s often not helpful advice. Dr. Paul Penn has an excellent new video explaining the psychology of why it can backfire, especially under stress. (Link in the comments) It got me thinking about what the #brain is actually doing in those circumstances. Our brains did not evolve to prioritise optimism; they evolved to prioritise survival. Under stress, brain systems involved in threat detection and salience become more active, while systems involved in flexible thinking and long-term planning become harder to access. For instance, uncertainty can cause the brain to trigger a stress response and release chemicals such as adrenaline and cortisol. 👉 Adrenaline prepares the body for immediate action. It increases heart rate, sharpens attention, and narrows focus onto whatever feels most urgent or threatening. In other words, adrenaline improves performance for immediate action but degrades thinking that requires perspective. 👉 Cortisol helps mobilise energy and keeps us alert over longer periods of uncertainty. But elevated cortisol also biases the brain towards risk detection. It strengthens vigilance, makes negative information more salient, and dampens activity in brain regions involved in flexible thinking, perspective-taking, and planning. When you’re told to “just think positive” while cortisol and adrenaline are high, you’re being asked to widen your attentional lens at precisely the moment the brain is chemically narrowing it. “Thinking positive” requires cognitive resources that are temporarily harder to access. So what can help? One simple thing anyone can try in stressful or high pressure conditions is to slow their breathing, especially lengthening the exhale. Slow breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system and reduces adrenaline and cortisol output. This helps the brain to shift out of threat mode. Even a minute or two can widen attention just enough to make perspective, creativity, and problem-solving more accessible again. In other words, before asking the brain to “think positive”, it often helps to help it feel safer first. Have you noticed what actually helps you think more clearly when stress is high?

“That’s a future-me problem.” I said it aloud yesterday when a stray to-do tried to hijack my focus, and the room laughed, then relaxed. Planning is vital, worry is optional. When everything from Q4 budgets to next year’s product launch crowds today’s headspace, cognitive load spikes, decision quality drops, and creativity flatlines. The Zeigarnik effect tells us incomplete tasks gnaw at our attention until we close a loop, but “closing” can be as simple as naming the loop and parking it where future-you will find it. My 5-minute loop-parking ritual • Capture, one breath, write the task in a single sentence. • File, drop it into a dated note or calendar slot, never a mental shelf. • Label aloud, “Future Chris owns this,” physical voice sends a stop signal to the brain. • Return to the present agenda, ask, “What moves the needle right now?” • Review in a dedicated weekly block so future-me becomes present-me in a controlled hand-off. Try it today: Say it aloud the next time you feel the pressure of future work pressing down on you. "That is a future me problem."

How do you navigate ambiguity? One of the things I teach in creative thinking is the ability to embrace ambiguity—the skill of staying open to uncertainties rather than rushing to resolve them. It’s easy to talk about, but one of the hardest things to practice, especially when life or work feels complex and uncertain. This past week, I worked with a group navigating a lot of ambiguity, and it got me thinking: How do we support ourselves and others during uncertain times? Here are some things I’ve found that help: 1. Take care of yourself. When we're stressed, our good habits—eating healthy, exercising, and getting enough sleep—often get replaced by quick fixes like junk food, doomscrolling, and caffeine overload. But when we neglect our well-being, it becomes even more challenging to sit with uncertainty. Prioritizing small acts of self-care helps build the resilience needed to handle ambiguity. 2. Check in on others. Uncertainty isn’t just an individual experience—it’s collective. Reach out to friends, family, and colleagues who might feel overwhelmed. A simple “How are you doing?” or “Thinking of you” can make a huge difference. Sometimes, just knowing we’re not alone in the uncertainty makes navigating easier. 3. Take time to breathe—phone-free. Whatever this looks like for you—taking a walk, sitting in your favorite chair by the fire, or just closing your eyes for a few deep breaths—stepping away from screens helps create space for clarity. The constant flood of information can make ambiguity feel heavier than it is. Sometimes, we need to sit with the unknown and let things unfold. Other times, we’re ready to actively engage with it. If you feel the need to problem-solve, try shifting your perspective: 4. Reframe uncertainty as a possibility. Instead of seeing ambiguity as something to fear, try viewing it as a space for new opportunities. Ask yourself: What possibilities might emerge from this? Shifting your mindset from dread to curiosity can open up creative solutions you hadn’t considered. 5. Trust the process. Sid Parnes, one of the creators of Creative Problem Solving, often said to "trust the process". This means embracing the idea that even when things feel uncertain, creativity thrives when we allow ideas to unfold over time. Instead of forcing a solution too soon, stay engaged, remain open to new inputs, and trust that the right insights will emerge when they are needed. How do you navigate ambiguity? What strategies have helped you embrace uncertainty in your work or life? I’d love to hear your thoughts. #creativity #education #ambiguity

Your boss burst into your shared office screaming. "IT'S NOT CREATIVE ENOUGH!" The irony hit immediately. She was so stressed that her panic infected the entire room. We froze. Hearts racing. Minds blank. The exact opposite of creative. That moment taught me something critical: You cannot demand creativity from a nervous system in survival mode. When stress floods your brain, innovation shuts down. Your body prioritizes threat response over imagination. Problem-solving? Sure. Original thinking? Gone. Here's what actually works: Create space before demanding output. • Walk away from the pressure cooker • Let your nervous system reset • Return when you can play, not perform Calm yourself first. • Deep breaths rewire panic into possibility • Music or movement shifts your state • Your team mirrors your energy Trust the mess. • Creativity needs safety, not stress • The best ideas come when you stop forcing them • Playfulness beats pressure every time That screaming boss got nothing creative that day. Just a room full of people too anxious to think. The breakthrough came later, after we all calmed down. Stop demanding creativity under stress. Start creating the conditions where it can actually happen.

Are you worried too much about work? A powerful way to understand anxiety is to reframe it as a response to uncertainty. Most of us believe that if we could just control the outcome, we would feel better. But neuroscience tells us that our brains become more anxious the harder we chase certainty. It’s counterintuitive because pursuing better outcomes feels worthwhile, yet that pursuit pulls us into a mental spiral. Worry never produces certainty. The paradox is that every attempt to engineer certainty in the outer world amplifies uncertainty in the inner world. When we try to control outcomes, people, and perceptions, we heighten the stakes and teach our nervous system that uncertainty is dangerous. Instead of becoming more confident, and able to handle ambiguity, we become more worried. Conversely, when we practice tolerating uncertainty, our anxiety decreases. We stop negotiating with the illusion that we can control. This shift doesn’t mean we stop caring or stop striving. It means we move from control-driven effort to value-driven effort. We act because the work matters. The real skill is not eliminating uncertainty, it’s strengthening our ability to exist alongside it without losing ourselves.

I used to worry constantly. It felt productive. Responsible. Even protective. Like if I anticipated every worst-case scenario, I’d somehow stay ahead of it. Then neuroscience taught me something uncomfortable: Your brain isn’t just predicting reality. It’s rehearsing it. Every time you replay something going wrong, your nervous system doesn’t know it’s “just a thought.” It prepares. Heart rate shifts. Stress hormones rise. Muscles tense. The more you worry, the more you’re training your brain to expect threat. You’re not controlling the future. You’re conditioning your body for it. But here’s the important part: You can’t just flip a switch and turn worry off. Worry exists to protect you. So instead of fighting it, I do this: 1️⃣ Name it. “This is my brain trying to protect me.” 2️⃣ Shrink it. Ask: What’s actually in my control right now? 3️⃣ Schedule it. Give worry a 10-minute window. Outside that window, return to action. 4️⃣ Replace rehearsal. If my brain insists on imagining outcomes, I intentionally rehearse things going right. Because your brain learns from repetition — not logic. Worry feels like control. But action is control. And clarity grows where attention goes. So here’s my question: What’s one worry you’ve been rehearsing, and what would change if you rehearsed success instead?

If you’re asking your brain for big ideas while it’s busy surviving, you won’t get them. Creativity requires access to your full mind. Not the part that’s checking boxes. Not the part that’s firefighting. The part that connects patterns. That explores loosely. That makes something new out of something unclear. Stress kills that access. • High cortisol levels shrink the hippocampus • They disrupt working memory • They increase focus on threat, not opportunity Your brain narrows. You think faster, but not better. And your “creative problem-solving” turns into short-term overthinking. This is why: • You can’t crack the idea you’ve been circling • You keep reverting to the safe option • You second-guess instead of iterating • You feel flat, even when things are technically going fine It’s not a skill problem. It’s a signal. CREATIVITY NEEDS SPACE. And space doesn’t survive in a pressure cooker. So if you’re waiting for the idea to hit Or the clarity to come But your body feels tight and your mind feels loud That might be the reason it hasn’t yet. Take the pressure off. Don’t earn your way to creativity by working harder. Create the conditions it shows up in. Start by getting quiet. Doing something else. Talking it out. Sleeping. Walking. Something that reminds your system you’re not in danger. ♻️ Repost to help entrepreneurs. #EntrepreneurshipTips #BusinessPsychology #DecisionSupport #Startupfounder #Entrepreneur