The method behind Mindhog

By Nico Obersundermeyer, CodeQuid

Last updated: October 26, 2026

Overthinking rarely picks a good moment. It starts in the middle of a meeting, on the bus, or right when you’re trying to fall asleep. Telling yourself to just stop thinking about something hardly ever works. Mindhog is built on a technique that tries something else: you don’t push the thought away, you move it to later. It’s called worry time, or worry postponement.

What is worry time?

Worry time gives your worries a fixed appointment. During the day, when a thought starts spinning, you don’t follow it. You note it down and save it for later. Later is a set time in the early evening, when you look at everything you’ve collected.

Psychologist Thomas Borkovec and his colleagues first described the technique in 1983. It has been studied in a number of trials since, and therapists often use it as part of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

How it works, in four steps

Note it, don’t follow it. When a worry pops up, write it down in a few words. “Rent due?” is enough. No solving, no essays. Then go back to what you were doing.
Pick a set time. The same time every day, and keep it short. In the early studies, it was 30 minutes.
Make it early evening, not right before bed. That way, the sorting doesn’t follow you under the covers.
Sort. Go through your notes one at a time and ask: Can you do anything about it? If yes, plan one concrete step for a specific day. If not, let it go. A note that felt urgent at noon often looks a lot smaller by evening.

What the research shows

Worry time has been studied, but it’s no miracle. Here’s the honest version.

Small but measurable effects. A 2024 meta-analysis from Leiden University pooled 7 randomised controlled trials with 999 participants. Compared with just keeping track of their worries, people who postponed them spent less time worrying each day (d ≈ 0.31) and worried slightly less often (d ≈ 0.19). Both are small effects, and there’s hardly any long-term data yet.

Less worry, sleep still an open question. In a 2013 study, 53 people who worry a lot were randomly split into two groups. One group set aside a fixed 30-minute worry period every day for two weeks. Compared with the other group, they reported less worry, less anxiety, fewer negative feelings and fewer sleep problems afterwards. There was no difference in low mood. The study itself calls its results preliminary. A larger 2025 study with 186 participants, however, found no benefit for sleep.

Writing it down before bed. In a 2018 sleep lab study, 57 young adults aged 18 to 30 spent five minutes before bed writing either a to-do list or a list of things they’d already done. The to-do group fell asleep faster, and the more specific their list, the faster they dropped off. Planning a note for a specific day follows a similar idea.

Most worries didn’t come true – in one particular group. In a 2020 study, 29 people in treatment for excessive worry wrote down their worries for ten days and kept track over 30 days of whether they came true. Across all their worries, 91.4 % didn’t. You’ll often see this quoted as “91 % of worries never happen”. That goes too far: it was one small, specific group over a short time. Still, it’s a good reminder that worry makes a poor fortune teller.

What we don’t know. Mindhog itself hasn’t been studied. The app brings a researched technique into your day and doesn’t promise more than the research shows.

How Mindhog brings worry time into your day

On paper, the hardest part of worry time is sticking with it. Mindhog makes each step small enough to fit between two messages:

Park it in seconds. One line, a tap, and the note sticks on the hedgehog. He carries it until evening.
Sort it tonight. At your sorting time, Mindhog reminds you. One note at a time: Can you do anything about it?
Let go or plan it. Let go, and the note gets shredded. Plan it, and you pick a day. That morning, the note is back on the hedgehog.
Just for you. No AI, no account. Your notes stay encrypted on your phone.

You choose your sorting time yourself. We’d suggest the early evening, for the reason above.

Where worry time stops

Mindhog is an everyday helper, not therapy, and does not replace medical or psychological advice. Worry time is meant for everyday overthinking. If worrying takes over your days for weeks, keeps you up at night, or gets in the way of work, studies or friendships, talk to a doctor or a psychotherapist.

If you’re having thoughts of hurting yourself, please reach out now. You’ll find helplines in your country at findahelpline.com.

If you’re in immediate danger, call your local emergency number.

Want to try worry time with a hedgehog? Join the waitlist, and we’ll write to you once, when Mindhog launches.

Sources

Borkovec, T. D., Wilkinson, L., Folensbee, R., & Lerman, C. (1983). Stimulus control applications to the treatment of worry. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 21(3), 247–251. doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(83)90206-1
McGowan, S. K., & Behar, E. (2013). A preliminary investigation of stimulus control training for worry: Effects on anxiety and insomnia. Behavior Modification, 37(1), 90–112. doi.org/10.1177/0145445512455661
Scullin, M. K., Krueger, M. L., Ballard, H. K., Pruett, N., & Bliwise, D. L. (2018). The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: A polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147(1), 139–146. doi.org/10.1037/xge0000374
LaFreniere, L. S., & Newman, M. G. (2020). Exposing worry’s deceit: Percentage of untrue worries in generalized anxiety disorder treatment. Behavior Therapy, 51(3), 413–423. doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2019.07.003
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. doi.org/10.1007/s41811-023-00193-x
McCarrick, D., Prestwich, A., Ferguson, E., & O’Connor, D. B. (2025). Effects of worry postponement on daily worry and sleep: A randomised controlled trial. Psychology & Health. Advance online publication. doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2025.2590072