4 Ways Stress Management Can Improve Your Finances

In many ways, stress has become not only an expectation of American life, but a strange badge of honor. Few people brag about how they manage or limit their working hours, but conversations and media reports about being overworked, stressed, and exhausted abound despite stress management techniques.

While smartphones, laptops and tablet devices that allow us to be constantly connected are partly to blame, the issue is that as a society, stress has become a curious form of pride that we choose to enable.

In her book, “Sleeping With Your Smartphone,” Harvard University Professor Leslie Perlow describes the “cycle of responsiveness” that so many people fall into — and that ultimately, becomes so costly.

[pull_quote align=”left”]”We begin adjusting to such demands, adapting the technology we use, altering daily schedules, the way we work, and even the way we live our lives and interact with our family and friends” by quickly responding to email and other electronic communication.[/pull_quote]In order to accommodate some form of pressure, like a demanding client, boss, or deadline, says Perlow, “we begin adjusting to such demands, adapting the technology we use, altering daily schedules, the way we work, and even the way we live our lives and interact with our family and friends.” In turn, we comply, and apply the same expectations to others, fearing the dreaded label of being “less committed” to work than a peer.

While there can be a monetary reward, like promotions, raises, and bonuses to working long hours, there is another cost, too. The American Institute of Stress estimates that stress costs American businesses up to $300 billion a year, in the form of employee absences, tardiness, health care costs, reduced productivity, and tardiness.

Stress impacts your financial bottom line, too, but you can mitigate its effects, if you’re willing to adjust some key behaviors. Here are four ways that committing to stress management can actually improve your finances, and how to do it.

1. Curb emotional spending

Going to the grocery store on an empty stomach is almost a guaranteed way to blow your food budget, and the same theory holds true for “window shopping” whether its online or at the mall, when you’re stressed.

For years, behavioral psychologists focused on external drivers, like marketing and sales techniques, to understand the triggers behind impulse shopping and spending. Only since the early 1980s have psychologists begun to factor internal drivers, like mood and willpower, to the decision to spend needlessly.

A study on impulse buying and stress conducted at the University of Denver in 2008 confirmed that while stress leads to greater impulse buying, deliberate strategies for controlling stress (like overriding thoughts to spend, or the classic “credit card in the freezer” trick), are not only ineffective forms of stress management — but actually backfire, leading to greater impulse buying.

Stress management strategies that can be relatively effective at curbing the spending urge, according to the study, are so-called “automatic strategies,” which include controlled breathing, mindfulness, and finding the positive in challenging situations. In short, we may be to eliminate the budget-busting impulse to buy by learning to “regulate stress responses automatically.”

Take a deep breath

The next time you find yourself lured by the “sale” signs or making poor spending decisions because you’re tired, need a mood boost, or simply not thinking clearly, turn to the stress management method of breathwork before you whip out the credit card.

[pull_quote align=”left”]”Relax your shoulders, breathe in on a count of up to 7, hold for about 4 seconds, and breathe out on a count of up to 7. Repeat several times and you’ll feel the calming benefits.”[/pull_quote] Elaine Masters, author of “Drivetime Yoga” suggests an easy stress reducing exercise called 7-4-7 breathing, which has been shown to clear the mind, lower blood pressure, and increase your energy. “Relax your shoulders, breathe in on a count of up to 7, hold for about 4 seconds, and breathe out on a count of up to 7. Repeat several times and you’ll feel the calming benefits,” says Masters. Taking the time to tap into the real issue that you’re trying to solve with impulse spending, or simply learning to “remove” yourself from the tempting moment can help you weigh your actions and spending more clearly.

2. Save on health care

Workplace wellness programs have become popular in businesses large and small over the past decade, and they’re interest in improving your health has nothing to do with the fact that your employer cares about your quality of life.

They are however, interested in saving money on rising healthcare premiums and coverage for employees, and investing in employee wellness is a means to accomplish that goal, and will help your stress management.

According to Linda Lulli, associate vice president for human resources at Bryant University, an inactive person spends $1,500 extra on health costs per year. Johnson & Johnson, which adopted a wellness initiative that focuses largely on stress management, estimates that it has “reduced per-capita health-plan costs by $400 per employee per year, and significantly improved overall employee health and productivity,” thanks to wellness initiatives.

Aside from curbing health issues like sleep loss, high blood pressure, and anxiety, ones ability to curtail stress can even impact the response to major health issues, like Alzheimer’s Disease, according to a 2006 Science Daily study called, “Stress Significantly Hastens Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease.” When you take better care of your health through stress management, you shield yourself from the onset of costly diseases, and become a more productive contributor to the workforce.

Find incentives to be healthy

Employee wellness programs commonly motivate healthy behaviors by “paying” employees to play. If your employer offers such a program, participate, and capture all the “freebies” of stress management that you can.

You can also incentivize your own commitment to stress management and better health in much the same way. If you have a savings goal you’ve been trying to reach or a credit card balance that you desperately want to eliminate (but never seems to budge), reward healthy behaviors by “paying yourself” to keep motivation strong. Start with baby steps, and keep progressing further. For example, your initial “reward” may be to pack a healthy lunch that you take to work for one week, instead of eating out.

3. Stop self-medicating

If you turn to cocktails, cigars or cigarettes to unwind you’re not alone, but it’s killing your health, wasting your money, and very likely, creating even more stress for you in the long run.

[pull_quote align=”left”]For every $100 American consumers spend, about $1 of it goes to alcohol, which affects how you’ll perform the next day on the job.[/pull_quote]The U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics estimate that for every $100 American consumers spend, about $1 of it goes to alcohol. From a stress management standpoint, it also impacts how well you’ll sleep, and how you’ll perform the next day on the job.

One study published in the  May 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research found that while alcohol may help you fall asleep faster initially, it “decreases sleep duration and efficiency,” causing wakefulness in the second half of the sleep cycle.

If you have a weekly “date” like hitting happy hour with co-workers, or spending Friday night unwinding with alcohol or tobacco, test the financial impact of the “1/2 rule.” You don’t have to ditch all vices entirely, but commit to consuming just half of what you typically would.

4. Ready to face the day

When you learn how to get a good nights’ sleep, you’ll be poised for better performance the next day. Secretary of the International Brain Education Association, Dr. Sung Lee, says that early morning hours before 11 a.m. are your brain’s peak time to perform analytically and creatively, due to moderate levels of cortisol, which help you mentally focus.

Though there are plenty of highly successful CEO’s like Martha Stewart and PepsiCo’ s Indra Nooyi, who claim to thrive on just a few hours of sleep at night, sleep quantity needs are a personal matter, and they’re critical to your performance.

While you may not always have the freedom to get the 7 ½ to 8 hours of sleep a night that experts recommend, you can control the quality of your sleep with stress management. The 2011 Sleep in America poll released by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) revealed that “about two-thirds of Americans say their sleep needs are not being met during the week,” and our ever-present addiction to connectivity mentioned above is largely to blame.

Sixty-one percent of those surveyed said they use their laptops or computers at least a few nights a week within the hour before bed.  The solution? Power down electronics, and get more sleep.

Sleep researchers have found that artificial light exposure (provided by a computer, smartphone or TV screen) at night suppresses release of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, and shifts circadian rhythms. The result? That “relaxing” web surfing actually keeps you awake about one hour longer than it would had you powered down sooner.

Another common source of stress is the fear of not being able to pay your bills on time. High interest rates, expensive car payments, and costly mortgages have the potential to break the bank month after month. The good news is that just by simply raising your credit score you can cut a significant chunk out of all those payments.

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