Anxiety can be a funny thing. It loops through our frontal lobes, and if left unchecked, it doesn’t always willingly see itself out. Psychologists have long studied ways to help quell anxiety, and while potential solutions are certainly not one-size-fits-all, they’re worth exploring. One such idea is called the “6:30 p.m. rule,” which, according to a recent piece on MSN, was popularized by journalist Mel Bradman, who was treated for chronic anxiety. The theory is that if we set a certain time each day to tell our minds, “no more worrying,” we can, in essence, “trick” our racing brains into slowing down. View this post on Instagram “No Worry Time” In an op-ed for The Guardian, Bradman described her anxiety and said she was intrigued when her Norwegian therapist suggested the technique during a session: “I was stuck in a particularly vicious circle of over-thinking, (and) she said: ‘Tonight after 6.30pm is ‘No Worry Time.’ ‘What do you mean?’ I asked. ‘Exactly that. From 6.30pm until you wake up the next day, you’re not allowed to worry.’” When she pushed back on how that might help her, she relayed the therapist’s words: “‘By giving your brain a rest, and allowing the other parts of you that aren’t driven by anxiety to come back in,’ she said. She told me that anxiety is a bully, and like all bullies, it needed to be put in its place.” Bradman continued the practice and says it helped her reframe the idea of worry. “Last year, when I was travelling in Bangkok, I saw a sign in a bar that read ‘No worry zone.’ I loved it. It was a reminder that I could make my life a worry-free zone, and that you don’t have to be held hostage by anxiety – sometimes you can call the shots,” she wrote. It’s 6:30 p.m. for a reason The MSN article notes that choosing 6:30 p.m. isn’t random: “The choice of 6:30 p.m. is not insignificant. After this time, the brain begins its recovery phase: the fatigue accumulated throughout the day often amplifies negative thoughts and rumination. Setting a limit allows you to interrupt this cycle before it takes over, offering genuine mental rest, much like a muscle after exercise. To give you an idea, one study estimates that we have an average of 6,200 thoughts per day. It’s impossible to control them all, but framing them within a specific timeframe is entirely feasible and helps reduce stress.” Upworthy spoke with Lisa Chen, a licensed therapist, who explained why this can be successful. “This rule works because it provides a cut-off and psychological boundary for anxiety,” she said. “Anxiety tends to seep into any unstructured space, especially in the evening when our minds are tired and our brains are more susceptible to ruminating and over-thinking.” It’s about the prefrontal cortex “Later in the day, our prefrontal cortex is less effective, while our emotional center, driven by our amygdala, can take over and make us more reactive,” Chen added. “That’s why our worries can feel louder at night, and a 6:30 p.m. cutoff helps create a concrete boundary and routine to shift us out of a problem-focused mode into recovery.” Rachel Loftin, a psychologist with Prosper Health, also told Upworthy why 6:30 p.m. is a good benchmark. “The ‘6:30 p.m. rule’ works because it sets a clear boundary at a time when the mind is more likely to drift into worry,” Loftin said. “Early evening is when the structure of the day falls away, so thoughts can expand unless something interrupts them. It also trains the brain through repetition. If you consistently stop engaging with worries after a set time, your mind starts to learn that evening isn’t the time for problem-solving, and those thoughts show up less.” “It removes the need to decide when to stop” Loftin says this can be especially helpful for neurodivergent patients. “For neurodivergent adults, that clarity is especially helpful,” she said. “It removes the need to decide when to stop, making it easier to keep rumination from taking over the night.” View this post on Instagram “Finish each day and be done with it” Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson may have been on to something when he famously wrote: “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” The post Anxiety experts explain the fascinating reason 6:30 p.m. is a perfect time to enter the ‘no worry zone’ appeared first on Upworthy.