Personal Finance

3 Steps to Relieving Financial Anxiety from COVID-19

Name: Article discussing ways to reduce financial anxiety from COVID-19
Brand: Axos Bank

Apr 14, 2021

2020 was a rough year.

COVID-19 took the lives of over 400,000 Americans, and counting¹. Over 70 million Americans have filed for unemployment², and more than 100,000 small business owners closed their operations for good³.

For those who still earn an income, their fortune has been overshadowed by questions of uncertainty. How long will I have a job? How long will my business stay open? Will the government continue to boost unemployment? Do I have enough savings to last until we reopen for good?

For most Americans, COVID-19 has had some sort of impact on their financial wellness.

Don’t Let the Financial Anxiety Consume You

Whether COVID-19 has made a direct or indirect impact on your finances, it’s completely understandable to feel anxiety. We don’t often get the chance to witness a global pandemic and, until things are back to normal, the fate of our economy remains unknown. That being said, don’t let the stress of uncertainty consume you.

Here’s the thing –

Occasional stress is unavoidable. Chronic stress? That’s a problem. Chronic stress causes poor judgment, affects your ability to concentrate, and causes you to only spot the negative (instead of identifying positive opportunities). And if you’re going to ride out this COVID-19 tornado successfully, you’ll need to keep your wits about you.

This may be easier said than done, but we wouldn’t be a good bank if we didn’t deliver at least a few helpful tips. Below, we cover three steps to help you manage financial anxiety through COVID-19.

Step 1: Make a Plan

Make a list of the financial areas that are causing you the most stress. Are you worried about credit card debt? Unpaid bills? Job insecurity? Once you’ve identified your major stress areas, you can build a plan to resolve them.

For example, let’s say that your biggest stress areas are job insecurity and high credit card debt. What action items would help you relieve this stress? Probably paying off the credit cards and building a rainy-day fund, right? Unfortunately, these action items cannot be achieved overnight. So what can you do today to help resolve these issues? How about next week? And, next month?

Perhaps, while brainstorming ideas to relive your financial stress, you come up with the following action items:

Build a budget.
Call credit card companies to negotiate interest rates.
Research debt management plans.
Ask colleagues about freelance opportunities.
Commit to paying an extra $X per month toward credit card debt.
Commit to paying $X per month toward a rainy-day fund.

Once you organize these items into what you can accomplish today, next week, next month, and throughout the year, you will have a solid plan for resolving your most stressful financial concerns.

Step 2: Stop Worrying

Now, here comes the hard part –

Once you have a plan, your next step is to stop worrying. This may sound impossible, but remember: all future events fall into one of two categories. They’re either within your control or outside of your control.

If a possible scenario is within your control, great! Create an action item to resolve it and add it to your plan. But, if this future scenario is outside of your control, then there is no use worrying. After all, it is completely outside of your control. That means there is nothing that you can do to resolve the issue. So, stop wasting your mental energy by worrying about it.

In the Meantime, Take Care of Your Health

It may feel uncomfortable to sit still while you gradually put your plan into action. However, building a plan isn’t the only way to relieve financial stress. You can also take steps to improve or maintain your health. Doing so will not only keep your mind off your financial concerns – it will also provide more mental stability so you will be in a better position to problem solve.

Here are some ideas to help you take care of your health:

Write in a journal.
Take long walks or runs around your neighborhood.
Get 8+ hours of sleep.
Eat a balanced diet.
Practice mindful meditation.
Catch up with family and friends.
Practice yoga.
Go hiking.

There are so many ways to take care of your health – find what works best for you and stay consistent throughout this process.

Step 3: Track Your Progress

As you put your plan into action, you will also want to track your progress regularly. Tracking your progress serves two purposes. First, it allows you to celebrate your wins, which is very important, so don’t forget to do this! It also gives you an opportunity to adjust your plan if you’re not hitting your target goals.

For example, if your plan is to put an extra $100 to a rainy-day fund every week, but you can only add an extra $10, it makes no sense to beat yourself up over this. Just adjust your plan accordingly. Remember, a plan is useful only if it’s realistic.