I use Xanax on an as-needed basis.
Although it's prescribed as .5mg, 3 times per day, that is so I can get a supply and then it lasts me for ages. My last script was over a year ago and I have the majority of them left.
I learned that if I took Xanax regularly, even less than prescribed, I felt depressed. So, what I do now is take it in 1/4 pieces, sometimes even 1/8. And I learned by trial and error to take it when I knew the anxiety was increasing and showing no signs of letting up in spite of using grounding and distracting techniques. I learned that would hold the anxiety at a level that I could tolerate and that I knew from experience would eventually subside. It is really useful to me this way, and with the positive effects of therapy I began needing it less and less. I rarely take it now. But it's nice to know that it's there if I feel like I need it.