I’ve started noticing how many little routines are eating up my day. Checking the door, straightening something, rereading a message before I can move on. None of it feels huge on its own, and I can usually explain why I’m doing it, but then suddenly twenty minutes are gone.
The annoying part is that skipping a routine makes me feel tense, like I’ve left something unfinished. Sometimes I go back and do it just to get that brief sense of relief. Then I notice I’m planning around the routines instead of the actual things I want to do.
I’m not sure whether this counts as mild OCD or just anxiety and habit getting out of hand. I’m trying to delay the routines instead of fighting them completely, since that seems a little more manageable. Has anyone found a way to stop these small behaviors from gradually taking over?
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The brief relief after going back can make the routine feel necessary, even when part of you knows it isn’t. Delaying it sounds like a sensible way to practice tolerating that unfinished feeling without turning it into a huge battle.
I’ve had this happen with rereading emails. I started waiting five minutes before checking again, and sometimes the urge faded enough that I could move on. If it keeps taking up more time, a therapist could help sort out whether it’s anxiety, OCD, or something else.
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@Christine_Sandoval, the five-minute wait helped me too, especially when I used a timer instead of relying on willpower. Once it went off, I made myself choose between moving on or doing the check once, rather than restarting the whole loop.
The uncomfortable feeling usually peaked and then dropped a little. I’ve also found it helps to keep track of the time these routines take for a few days. Seeing the actual minutes made it easier to take the problem seriously and know when it was worth bringing up with a therapist.