Does the tax season make you feel stressed out or depressed because of all the stress you have to go through? Find out how you can use proven cognitive behavioral therapy techniques to stay stress-free during the tax period.
According to the American Psychological Association's yearly report on stress in America, Americans are focused on money more than anything in the past year. Almost 90% of Americans are just as stressed or stressed by money now as they were last year, and we are not improving stress management.
Whether the filing process is complicated for entrepreneurs, the financial stress of paying government money, or the need to analyze in depth what you spent on your checks last year, the tax season highlights our finances and increases the resulting stress. According to an interactive Zogby survey, more than half of American adults (56%) say that the tax reporting process is stressful, and 18% consider it "very stressful."
As tax day approaches, consider the impact of your tax stress on your health and your life in general:
• The impact of financial stress includes depression, insomnia / poor quality of sleep, relationship problems, and increased cases of heart attack, migraine, ulcers, and back pain.
• People who are very stressed by money and tax filing related issues are more likely to engage in harmful behaviors, such as compulsively watching television, drinking, and smoking.
So, as tax day approaches, what can you do to better deal with the fiscal stress pandemic? Here is a list of things to help you
Because your likelihood of coping with daily stress is the same, if you make $ 80,000 a year versus $ 220,000 a year, remember that more money doesn't make you less stressed, but your attitude toward money can.
For many couples, conflicts arise during tax season because one couple tends to spend more while the other saves more. Instead of remembering what each of you did in 2019, use tax time to make financial resolutions for 2020.
Stress leads to a healthy cycle of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Breaking this cycle will help you manage your emotions and choose healthy and productive actions. A first step is to perceive your thoughts and "remake" your negative or catastrophic thoughts into specific facts. Satisfying the facts and eliminating "emotional thinking" from your conversations will help you solve problems more productively and reduce stress.
Because the stress of money is usually linked to a feeling of helplessness, choose a simple action, like selling an old item on Craigslist that you can immediately implement to start influencing your savings. Make a list of the things that you can and cannot control and show the other person if they reach the same conclusions because there can be more objective than you have listed. When you set financial goals over what you have control, it helps you feel confident about achieving them. Focus on short-term, achievable, and short-term goals first.
Coercion or shame over financial problems can keep you from recognizing them and asking for help, which can make the problem worse or you can get out of control. Understanding that you need to talk to a tax professional can eliminate the power of this concern and can help you take action to improve your situation and reduce stress. When our brain is under the influence of intense emotions such as stress, worry, and nervous tension, we cannot effectively solve problems. Therefore, talking to someone who is not interested in your financial issues can help you put things into perspective and plan how to change course.
You can't be economical all the time. After spending all week at home, enjoy a weekend dinner with friends. When you choose to spend discretionary income, focus primarily on social activities so that it will count for something. If the goal is to spend time with friends and relatives, it doesn't matter if the service in a restaurant is poor or not, be happy spending those special moments with your family. This will help reduce stress during the tax period.
The better you avoid and cope with the stress of the tax season, the more you practice these tactics. Be proactive and start developing habits now to feel ready for the next tax season.
