The Cost of Carrying Everything in Your Head
Sometimes the stress we feel isn't the task itself. It's having to remember the task.
Because our home is listed for sale, we can get a call anytime for a showing and two hours later need to be out of the house with it looking immaculate. 😅
The tasks themselves aren't all that difficult—make the bed, wipe the counters, pick up stuff. All those little things.
But if my husband and I didn't have a list and a system for tackling them quickly, we'd be carrying the mental load of it all, every day. We'd be constantly wondering what we were forgetting and it would be hard to relax and simply live in our own home.
As I was thinking about that recently, it struck me that lots of financial tasks work the same way. Most aren't all that difficult, either. They're just unfinished.
Maybe it's a beneficiary update, a reimbursement you haven't submitted, a subscription you need to cancel, or a phone call you've been meaning to make.
Most of these things aren't urgent, so they linger. And because they linger, they continue taking up space in our heads.
We often assume stress comes from big financial problems. Sometimes it does. But sometimes it comes from ten small unfinished tasks quietly following us around.
I don't know about you, but a ten-minute task can create three weeks of mental clutter in my brain... and in my body too. The task keeps resurfacing while I'm driving, trying to fall asleep, or enjoying a weekend.
At that point, it isn't the task that's stealing my energy. It's having to remember it over and over again.
What I've noticed is that the people who care most about being responsible often carry the heaviest mental load. They're tracking everything, remembering everything, and trying to stay on top of everything. And in many relationships, one partner is carrying dozens of these open loops that the other partner doesn’t even realize exist.
For now, just notice whether this feels familiar. If not for you, perhaps for your partner. Sometimes we become so accustomed to carrying these things around that we stop noticing the weight of them.
And this may be a blind spot well worth noticing.
If you've been following along these past few weeks, you've probably noticed a common theme. Many of the things that create stress around money aren't always obvious at first glance.
That's why I finally created a guide, 7 Financial Blind Spots Worth Noticing. It's designed to help couples recognize some of the hidden patterns that may be creating tension, confusion, or unnecessary stress.
If you haven't downloaded it yet, you can grab your copy below.
Talk soon,
Dee
P.S. I've come to believe that one of the greatest benefits of financial organization isn't efficiency. It's relief.
