This Will Surprise You In OCD Recovery Tracking - OCD Recovery

Summary: "This Will Surprise You In OCD Recovery Tracking"

Podcast: OCD Recovery
Host: Ali Greymond
Date: November 16, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

Ali Greymond uses this episode to explain the surprising insights that come from tracking your rumination as part of the OCD recovery process. Drawing from her own Greymond Method and her experience as an OCD coach, she lays out why tracking is a transformative tool for gaining awareness, identifying patterns, and ultimately reducing obsessive rumination.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

How Tracking Works

Ali introduces the tracking process as it appears in the OCD Help app:
- Columns include the date, total daily minutes spent ruminating (thinking obsessively), rumination breakdown by time blocks (wake-up–9am, 9–12, 12–3, 3–9, 9–morning), followed by levels of OCD anxiety and general life stress.
- Tracking is meant to be approximate, not exact; perfectionism in tracking is discouraged.

The Surprising Realization

Many clients are shocked to discover how much time they actually spend ruminating once they start tracking.
Rumination includes not just thoughts about OCD themes, but also about the recovery process itself, tracking accuracy, and day-to-day worries.
The sum total of all forms of rumination is usually underestimated by sufferers before they begin tracking.

"One common thing I hear from clients is they're shocked by how much they are actually ruminating. When they start to track, they start to realize, oh my God, I've been ruminating actually all day."
— Ali Greymond [01:04]

Logical Link Between Rumination and Anxiety

Ali explains that high anxiety is a logical result of high levels of rumination.
By understanding this link through tracking, clients begin to see why their anxiety remains elevated.

"Of course your anxiety is going to be very high because how much you are letting yourself ruminate, but what you notice is what you fix. So the tracking gives you awareness."
— Ali Greymond [01:32]

Incremental Improvement

The entire process is focused on rough estimates—precision is less important than the act of tracking itself.
As clients become aware of ruminative patterns, they can intentionally work on gradually reducing those minutes day by day.

"This is not what we're doing here. It's rough estimate. So let's say I was ruminating for an hour, okay, I'm going to try to do a little bit less and then I'm going to knock it down and knock it down and knock it down. And little by little you will get to zero."
— Ali Greymond [02:20]

Empowerment Through Focus and Detail

Ali encourages listeners by sharing examples from clients who have gotten their rumination down to zero; she reassures listeners they can accomplish this as well.
The emphasis is on attention, detail, and the intentional focus provided by regular tracking.

"You think you're somehow different. You can't, they can do it. You can't do it. Of course you can do it. But it's preciseness, attention to detail and focus. That's what's going to get you there."
— Ali Greymond [02:53]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On perfectionism:
"Don't get caught up in perfectionism. This is not what we're doing here."
— Ali Greymond [01:56]
On rumination’s scope:
"We're counting all kinds of rumination, right? The relation about the theme, the recovery, the maybe the tracking itself."
— Ali Greymond [01:15]
On empowerment:
"But what you notice is what you fix. So the tracking gives you awareness…"
— Ali Greymond [01:32]

Timestamps for Key Segments

[00:00] — Introduction to tracking using the Greymond Method
[01:00] — Clients’ shock at actual rumination levels
[01:32] — Link between rumination amounts and anxiety severity
[02:20] — How to reduce rumination incrementally
[02:53] — Encouragement: “You can do it too”

Conclusion

Ali Greymond’s episode underscores the power of objective self-tracking in OCD recovery: it surprises sufferers with the true extent of rumination and empowers them to take concrete, non-perfectionistic steps towards reducing it. The message is practical, motivating, and clear—awareness is the key to change, and anyone can achieve it through careful, honest tracking.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Let's take a look at the recovery process using the Grayman method from the OCD Help app before we start. Quick tracking overview. So you see in front of you on the screen, the numbers in red represent minutes ruminated. So first column is date, second is total total minutes ruminated for the day. Third column, W to 9 is wake up to 9am so from when you wake up to 9am, how many minutes approximately you ruminated? This is active rumination, then 9 to 12, 12 to 3, 3 to 9 and 9 till M, 9 till morning. Again your minutes of rumination, then level of anxiety. This is OCD anxiety and level of stress. We're counting the stress outside of ocd. So your life stress. Because sometimes that can impact your ocd, as you probably know. So this is approximate, you don't need to track super precise. This is just approximately how much do you think you ruminated? One common thing I hear from clients is they're shocked by how much they are actually ruminating. When they start to track, they start to realize, oh my God, I've been ruminating actually all day. Because we're counting all kinds of rumination, right? The relation about the theme, the recovery, the maybe the tracking itself. What if I'm not tracking precisely? That's also rumination, real life stuff. Ruminating about your day to day stuff. And when you add it all up together, it's actually a lot of rumination. So it's not surprising that your anxiety is as high as it is. It makes logical sense. Of course your anxiety is going to be very high because how much you are letting yourself ruminate, but what you notice is what you fix. So the tracking gives you awareness where now you're like, okay, I'm ruminating here, here and here. This time period was, let's say an hour total. And again, this is very rough estimate. Don't get caught up in perfectionism. This is not what we're doing here. It's rough estimate. So let's say I was ruminating for an hour, okay, I'm going to try to do a little bit less and then I'm going to knock it down and knock it down and knock it down. And little by little you will get to zero. Look at this example. They got to zero. You think you're somehow different. You can't, they can do it. You can't do it. Of course you can do it. But it's preciseness, attention to detail and focus. That's what's going to get you there. Download the OCD help app and start tracking.