Personal Finance Friday - Overwhelmed!

So the idea for this post came up as my wife and I, for several reasons, have had many moments of feeling overwhelmed in the last month or two, and we know that given the set of things we will be doing in the next few months that will continue, if not increase! The things we are being overwhelmed with at this point are not personal finance things in particular, but I know that the principles I want to discuss below apply to everything in life including your finances!

When you feel overwhelmed, many times you just want to stop, run away, and not think about it any more. It’s like your mind has too many things coming all at once and it’s just like "STOP! I can't do all of this stuff!" I want to start off by saying, if you aren't ever feeling overwhelmed every once in a while, then honestly you’re probably not doing enough, just saying. There are quite a few things I could cut out of my life and just sit and read a book or watch TV, but honestly I think thats kind of a waste of life. So if your feeling overwhelmed, then at least pat yourself on the back for having enough stuff that your doing or responsible for that you get to that point. That being said being overwhelmed isn't a good thing in and of itself, and sometimes we get overwhelmed when maybe we shouldn't. As with all things it all depends.

But what do you do?! Here is what works for me, it may not work for you, but might be worth a try.

Just do something...

For example, we are working on refreshing a rental property we have. The project isn't that big of deal, some paint, some repairs, some replacements, but when you also have work, and trips, kids and sports, and everything else on top of your own household the project can feel overwhelming. At the beginning the thinking and planning aren’t too bad, but the overwhelming feeling comes when you are sitting in the place realizing, “oh my lordy there are 10's of hours of stuff to do!” What do you do? We could throw up our hands and hope someone else handles it. Which for many people that is literally their plan in life. Honestly that kind of works a lot of the time, but it certainly doesn't help you (or the people who bail you out) in the long term. You could pay a whole lot of money to have someone else do it, but that also involves a lot of work to find the person, check the work, and fight over stuff that wasn't done properly. Or you just get started, open that paint can, pour it and get to work. We used this project as an opportunity to show our kids how to do some stuff, which is an investment in the future. And can I say that once you push through that initial wall, that sense of dread and fear gets better! In fact, more than better it becomes something good. We are closing in on finishing that project as I write this, and I'm excited at how it has turned out and that we got it done. There is a sense of fulfillment and joy that comes with getting something done.

This is the same principle for that pile of junk that you keep looking at and feel overwhelmed about, that list of projects at work, that extra weight you’ve wanted to lose, that text book and class you started... same thing. It is also the same thing with your financial life. So much to learn, do, sacrifice to get to where you'd like to be. It is much easier in the moment to just stop and not think about it and put it off.

Don't...

Just start...

with anything...

Take one step. Set up that automatic savings plan, just do that form at work for adding to your 401k, just make that one decision not to spend on something you don't really need. Just do the one thing, and then just do one more...

I 100% Guarantee (please don't read my last post lol) that just starting that motion forward will make it all seem much easier, it will break the dam of being overwhelmed. In the end, would you rather look back and think “wow, look how much I did!” or “wow, there’s so much I could have done?”