Humans worry. We worry about people we love, fear whether the lights at home are turned off, worry about getting late for work, about food being overheated, about things we see, hear and experience. We worry, and we worry always. 

Worrying may feel as though it helps prepare, problem-solve, or secure a level of certainty or predictability. In reality, worry can only be helpful sometimes. When worry becomes challenging to control and results in persistent anxiety, it is no longer useful and can be very destructive. Destructive worrying is accompanied by the feeling of fear and the state of victimhood. 

We may predict what will happen, then the possibility of it occurring. All the consequences of the situation arise, then we associate the consequences with fear. Then we place images to the situations, and we live those images intensely with feelings of fear. This is how anxiety and fear of the future can become taxing.

Determining whether your worry is productive or unproductive can help you decide whether to use the concern to your benefit or let it go. 

• See if there is a solution to the problem

Worrying can help boost problem solving by allowing you to focus on figuring the solution out. For example, knowing the route you usually take will have traffic when your meeting is scheduled, worrying will help you find an alternate way. That is the solution. If this were done in a deconstructive manner, it would be you rethinking the problem over and over again, only increasing your anxiety and tension. 

• Worrying tends to last for a short period

As soon as you notice yourself worrying about something for longer than an hour, you will not be planning a solution. Instead, you are just ruminating. Learn to limit your worry to a short period, like 15 minutes, so it increases the pressure to come up with a solution to your problem. Because, sometimes, obsessive worrying is the result of not being able to find the right answer. The 15 minute time limit can also help you be more willing to accept an imperfect solution. When you think about it, and an okay solution is better than no solution at all. 

• Realize that there are factors outside your control

Constructive worrying involves realizing that you may a limited influence over certain situations but never full control. Instead, focus on ways you can influence positively and give up the illusion of control. 

• Worry about one problem at a time

Compartmentalising issues bothering you can make you seek solutions in a clear manner rather than getting caught up in an unending spiral of thoughts. To break it up, remember to take it one thing, one day and one problem at a time.