How to Cope with Financial Anxiety
Everyone has those “thinkers” who they follow for life advice – mine happens to be a cliché tech bro guru by the name of Tim Ferriss.
Ferriss inspires me, and for more than just his cutthroat ability to charge $43,000 per podcast ad to his media sponsors (legend). His “human guinea pig” approach to life makes me want to adopt all of his philosophies unquestioningly – and one in particular felt divinely intercepted into my life the other day:
“Routines are the antidote for the neurotic, Type A personality.”
I may be paraphrasing a little, but I think any Type A person who’s ever been on vacation can tell you: The first couple days are actually more disorienting than they are relaxing, simply because it takes a minute to settle into a new routine.
Routines anchor us to reality. They enable us to show up more fully in our daily lives, because they provide the structure and scaffolding in our day around which we can build.
The true value of a routine of any kind, I think, is that it takes the guesswork out of our decision-making. Indulge me in a ridiculous example.
Let’s say — hypothetically! – that I use one of those pastel-colored, adorably named Tinkle razors to scrape the peach fuzz off my face every so often.
(Definitely, totally not true!)
Let’s examine two ways of incorporating this into my beauty routine:
Eyeball the facial peach fuzz every few days, wondering intermittently if it’s time yet. Can I see the hair on my face? I don’t know. Kind of? Should I do it today? I don’t know. Maybe. When was the last time I did this again? Is it time? Ugh, I guess it’s kind of grown back. But is it grown back enough to shave again? I don’t really feel like it. Gosh, I kinda look like shit today. Is that a zit? Maybe shaving would help. Or maybe it would make it worse. I don’t know! (Play this incessant waffling on a loop. This is your brain without routine.)
Apply the Tinkle razor routinely every other Sunday on a predetermined cadence. Never think about it otherwise.
Notice how much less decision fatigue is involved in the second option?
While this example is ridiculous, it’s a microcosm of how all of the tiny decisions we’re faced with in our daily lives can suck time, energy, and thought from our day if we’re floating along willy-nilly. At scale, it compounds.
Do I think you need to adhere a Microsoft Excel-style chore chart for all your various shaving needs to your bathroom mirror to keep up with your relentless hair regrowth? No, probably not. That would be insane, and I definitely don’t do that. Yet.
But for the big things in your life – the stuff that really matters – leaving it to chance is ridiculous.
Is money anxiety a thing?
Well, in case it’s not obvious, apply that same ridiculous face shaving loop to something as monstrous and consequential as your financial wellbeing.
“Should I budget today? I don’t know. When was the last time I filled it out? I can’t remember.”
“Maybe I should move some money into savings… do I have enough? I don’t know.”
“Did I contribute the maximum to a Roth IRA yet this year? I think I put in some earlier this year. I don’t know. What’s the password to that account again?”
That’s precisely the unstructured, systemless disarray that breeds financial anxiety like a petri dish in a 7th grade biology classroom.
Of course you’re going to feel anxious and untethered about your finances – there’s absolutely no structure in place to ensure you feel otherwise!
In a lot of ways, routine is merely the way you formalize your decision-making so you don’t have to make decisions anymore.
How can you relieve financial anxiety?
A money routine eliminates decision fatigue and the constant loop of, “What should I be doing?”
And while I’m not as, “Put your financial life on autopilot!” as Ramit Sethi is, I do think there’s something to be said for having a system in place.
It’s like going to the gym financially. You’re probably not going to stress out about feeling fat and lazy if you spend 30 minutes sweating every morning and 60 minutes on Sunday, right? You’re far less likely to feel emotionally triggered by your own lack of attention to something if you have a routine for paying attention to it.
A money routine works the same way.
My money routine is fairly simple, and it’s composed of daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. As a result, I think about my money in a predefined way, at a predefined time – that way, the rest of the time, I don’t have to think about it at all.
It’s like putting a nice, neat little window of control around your financial concerns.
For 3 minutes each morning, you’ll recategorize new transactions appropriately in your Copilot app.
Each week for 20 minutes on Sunday night, you’ll take a peek at your checking account and credit card statements and determine if you can afford to move more money into your investment accounts.
And on the first of every month, you’ll record your spending and investing totals for the previous month and check in with your goal progress.
Neat, predetermined windows with defined outcomes that happen at a regular interval, so you’re never left to anxiously wonder whether you’re on track or not.
What causes financial anxiety, and how can a routine help?
A money routine eliminates the need for constant, never-ending decision fatigue
No more intermittent worrying about whether or not you’re doing it right, saving enough, or making the right decisions. You’ve predetermined when and how you’ll check in, and freed yourself from the anxiety the rest of the time.
Ultimately, it comes down to control. By installing routine, you’re installing control.
Routine is a proxy for control, and control over any situation (that’s semi-controllable) is the best antidote for anxiety – especially when it comes to money.
There are enough things in life that we ultimately don’t have any control over, and it’s understandable why we may feel anxiety over them.
Money shouldn’t be one of those things.
Download my money routine for free
You can download a (free) copy of my money routine (complete with a checklist and resources) so you can use it as a starting point.
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