Crush “money avoidance” with these four actions

Whether it’s your bank account, credit card statement, or managing your overall budget, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when it comes to monitoring your financial status. Some may even avoid financial planning because the topic triggers anxiety or stress. This “money avoidance” is more common than you may think. It’s actually a coping strategy, but not a very effective one since it can lead to even more stress and guilt down the line.

Here are four actions you can take to curb money avoidance and begin to tackle your finances.

1. Put time on the calendar

Procrastinating and avoiding money is easy if you don’t schedule time for financial planning. By having just short time slots set and dedicated to money matters, you may find the task more approachable, without all the emotional baggage. Try setting aside just 30 minutes twice a week to review your week’s spending and other financial tasks, then adjust the time as needed.

2. Make time for reflection

Avoiding a problem doesn’t eliminate the problem — if anything, it exacerbates the stress without actually dealing with the origins of it. To begin to tackle money avoidance, it’s important to identify why you avoid money and what you want your future actions to look like. During one of your scheduled money check-ins, ask yourself some of the following questions:

• What about money scares me the most?
• What feelings and thoughts come up for me when I try to manage money? Do I feel shame, guilt, fear, worry, or stress? Why?
• What habits do I want to build?
• What is my ideal attitude toward money?

These questions can help you set goals and envision a different future as you work toward a healthier relationship with your finances.

3. Adopt a growth mindset

According to Dr. Jud Brewer, author of Unwinding Anxiety: Train Your Brain to Heal Your Mind, we can easily fall into patterns of “review and regret” whenever it comes time to check our bills and budget. You may fixate on an impulse purchase or a week you overspent, leading to guilt and shame. Instead, Brewer suggests that we approach our financial planning with a growth mindset, with more of a focus on future decision-making. Instead of beating yourself up over past financial decisions, consider asking yourself some of the following questions next time you review your finances:

• What could I learn from this?
• What is this mistake telling me?
• What can I do better in the future to prevent the same mistake?

By approaching your behavior with curiosity, you may find money more approachable and less of a negative topic.

4. Start small

Getting in touch with your finances doesn’t mean you need to plan your next year of spending in your first check-in. Instead, set aside achievable goals for your check-ins. Perhaps you start with just reviewing one bill from the past month or assessing your current subscription payments — it doesn’t have to be a large task! By just getting the ball rolling with smaller tasks, you may find it easier to approach the tougher tasks and long-term planning down the line.