OCD Recovery Podcast: "Track At The End Of The Day?"
Host: Ali Greymond
Date: November 14, 2025
Episode Overview
In this episode, Ali Greymond discusses the critical role of tracking rumination and anxiety throughout the day as part of OCD recovery using her proprietary Greymond Method. She clarifies why tracking rumination at regular intervals—rather than simply at the end of the day—is vital for building accountability and successfully reducing obsessive-compulsive behaviors. The episode provides listeners with a practical overview of how and why to use tracking as a tool to progressively decrease rumination and anxiety, with reference to her OCD Help App.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Understanding the Tracking Method
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Table Columns Explained:
- Date: Each tracked day.
- Total Minutes Ruminated: The sum of time spent actively ruminating that day.
- Time Segments: Tracking by:
- Wake-up to 9am
- 9am to 12pm
- 12pm to 3pm
- 3pm to 9pm
- 9pm to morning
- Anxiety & Stress Levels: Recorded separately; anxiety for OCD-specific feelings, stress for life factors.
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Purpose: Tracking is about raising awareness and fostering accountability to break the cycle of obsessive thinking.
2. Why Tracking Must Be Frequent (Not Just at End of Day)
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Common Question: “Can I track at the end of the day?”
- Short Answer: No.
- Reasoning: "What you're doing here is you're constantly playing a game of reducing your rumination. So as the day continues, you need to be constantly on top of it."
— Ali Greymond [00:29] - Tracking only at the end of the day makes it easy to miss moments of rumination and lose the real-time accountability that allows for change.
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Comparison:
- Ali normalizes the tracking process:
"It's not more work than turning on Instagram every few hours or TikTok. It's not more work than that. It's having accountability."
— Ali Greymond [00:48]
- Ali normalizes the tracking process:
3. Approximating & Notifications Make It Manageable
- Not About Precision: The process relies on “approximate” time—perfection is not required.
- App Notifications: The OCD Help App reminds users every three hours to check in, making it simple and routine.
4. Accountability and Personal Growth
- Game-Like Motivation:
- "You're just trying to beat previous times score and definitely yesterday's score. So you're playing this game where you're constantly beating the score, and, little by little,... the anxiety is dropping."
— Ali Greymond [01:10]
- "You're just trying to beat previous times score and definitely yesterday's score. So you're playing this game where you're constantly beating the score, and, little by little,... the anxiety is dropping."
- Behavior Precedes Anxiety Reduction:
- Reducing rumination and compulsions causes anxiety to drop.
"The anxiety cannot maintain itself being up without the behavior that you're doing... if you're not doing behavior of rumination, compulsion avoidance, the anxiety will start to drop."
— Ali Greymond [01:22]
- Reducing rumination and compulsions causes anxiety to drop.
- Benefit Over Time: A gradual reduction visible in tracked numbers helps reinforce progress and builds confidence in recovery.
5. Sign-Off and Next Steps
- Encourages listeners to download the OCD Help App and begin the tracking routine immediately.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
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On the importance of real-time tracking:
- “No, you cannot [track at the end of the day]. The reason why you can't is because what you're doing here is you're constantly playing a game of reducing your rumination. So as the day continues, you need to be constantly on top of it.”
— Ali Greymond [00:29]
- “No, you cannot [track at the end of the day]. The reason why you can't is because what you're doing here is you're constantly playing a game of reducing your rumination. So as the day continues, you need to be constantly on top of it.”
-
Relating tracking to daily app use:
- “It's not more work than turning on Instagram every few hours or TikTok. It's not more work than that. It's having accountability.”
— Ali Greymond [00:48]
- “It's not more work than turning on Instagram every few hours or TikTok. It's not more work than that. It's having accountability.”
-
On the positive feedback loop:
- “Little by little, as you can see in this example, as the numbers are dropping, the anxiety is dropping... that's what we're trying to do, is little by little, bring it down.”
— Ali Greymond [01:18]
- “Little by little, as you can see in this example, as the numbers are dropping, the anxiety is dropping... that's what we're trying to do, is little by little, bring it down.”
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Encouragement:
- “Download the OCD help app and start tracking.”
— Ali Greymond [end]
- “Download the OCD help app and start tracking.”
Important Segment Timestamps
- 00:00 - 00:20: Introduction of the tracking overview and columns
- 00:21 - 00:45: Addressing "Can I track at the end of the day?" and the need for ongoing accountability
- 00:46 - 01:10: Normalizing the effort—relating it to the frequency of social media use
- 01:11 - 01:26: How tracking reduces anxiety and description of the reduction process
Takeaway
Ali stresses that frequent, approximate tracking is fundamental to OCD recovery because it builds self-awareness, accountability, and motivation without being overwhelming or obsessive. Using the OCD Help App's prompts can turn progress into a daily “game” of self-improvement, leading to measurable decreases in both rumination and anxiety. The episode serves as a concise encouragement to make tracking a central part of the recovery journey.