Obsessing too much over your finances and feeling burnt out?

We’ve all been there.

While personal finance is extremely important since it affects your everyday life, too much of anything isn’t healthy.

Have you ever been burnt out regarding your money situation? everyone has!

Managing your finances properly and improving your financial situation is all about creating a plan, sticking to it and letting things pan out. Spending too much time thinking about your goals and trying to micromanage every little thing will not be that effective and it will just tire you out.

Symptoms of financial burnout or signs that you are well on your way include:

  • Checking your bank account multiple times per day
  • Feeling stressed out about money
  • Repeatedly complaining to others about the same financial issues
  • Feeling drained or overwhelmed financially
  • Ready to give up on budgeting
  • Obsessing over your financial goals from the time you wake up until the moment you go to bed

It’s difficult to bounce back from financial burnout because you can’t just go on vacation like you’d do if you were burnt out from working. Your finances follow you each and every day and affect how much you can spend and save.

On the contrary, there are some strategies you can implement to improve your relationship with your finances.

Here are 5 ways to help you bounce back and avoid financial burnout:

1. Stop Checking Your Accounts All Day

I know it might be a habit, but try to stop checking your bank account so often. It’s almost as bad as going back and forth to check your refrigerator when you know there’s not much food in it and you need to go grocery shopping.

Unless you are making transactions all day long, nothing has probably even changed much over the last 24-hours and it’s a major time suck to keep checking your account. Cut back by checking it once a day or every other day for a few minutes just to make sure everything looks okay.

2. Start Setting Accounts on Auto-Pay

Auto-pay is a great tool to utilize for paying your bills and other payments on time. It’s also useful for those expenses that you don’t want to spend too much time and energy worrying about. Setting a lot of payments up through an auto pay can help eliminate that stressful deja vu feeling that may occur when it’s time to pay bills.

First, make sure you have enough in your account to support this set-it-and-forget-it method of making payments throughout the month. Then, literally forget about it. You’ll see that the payments were deducted when you check your accounts each week but other than that, just rest assured knowing that your payments are being applied and you don’t need to check in constantly to confirm it.

At the end of the month, you should always check your statements to make sure everything went through but not having to sit down and manually pay for each and every expenses, debt payment or contribution will lift a huge weight off of your shoulders.

3. Do Something That Doesn’t Involve Money

Money can’t control every aspect of your life if you don’t allow it to. You can avoid financial burnout by seeking out activities that don’t involve money or alter your finances in any way so it can take your mind off that addicting topic.

Each day we are bombarded with opportunities that cause us to spend and analyze our money numerous times. Try going for a walk or jog around your neighborhood. Visit a friend or family member or check out a book to read at your local library. You can even volunteer your time or give back at a local nonprofit or community event.

All of these experiences have nothing to do with how much money is in your bank account, what your net worth is or how much debt you owe.

4. Find Other Sources of Inspiration

Do you have any goals outside of the financial realm? Whether large or small, it’s important to have separate life goals that don’t directly relate to your finances. Maybe you want to spend more time with your spouse, read more to your kids, master a new recipe, run in a 5k, complete a massive puzzle or conquer a fear, life goals will help keep your focus and energy off of money and allow you to live a better quality of life.

It’s great to let your financial goals inspire you and give you drive and motivation, but your personal goals can also do the same.

5. Don't Compare Yourself to Others

Do you compare your situation to someone you know or admire who seems to be really good with managing money? It’s great to get inspired by people who seem to be doing well, but it’s unrealistic to start comparing yourself and trying to mimic exactly what they do because everyone has their own unique situation.

For example, I’m trying to aggressively pay off my debt in about 2-3 years. That timeline works best for me based on my personal situation. Although I’ve been inspired by numerous people who have paid off even more debt in less time than I’ve allotted myself, trying to compare myself to them and keep up with what they did would lead me to becoming financially burnt out in the long run.

That’s why it’s so important to take everything you see and hear about personal finance with a grain of salt and create a realistic plan that works best for you.

If you can take anything away from these strategies that help avoid financial burnout, stop worrying about money. Stop thinking about it day and night, stop obsessing over it and stop letting it stress you out. Being burnt out financially won’t get you anywhere. Money isn’t everything and you’ll get to your goals if you simply stick with your plan and avoid over obsessing.

Have you ever been financially burnt out? What do you do to turn it around?

Chonce Maddox
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