Blogging Away Debt Blogging Away Debt follows real people on their journey to debt freedom — with tips on the debt snowball, budgeting, cutting expenses, and staying motivated.

by Hope

Are you a procrastinator? In the past, I would have answered “Absolutely not!” If a task was assigned, I tackled it.

Now…not so much. And I believe it’s tied to the ginormous amount of stress in my life.

While I am taking steps to eliminate some of that stress, much of it is inevitable. Isn’t that the truth for us all?

Procrastination and Stress

A quick search on the internet let me know very quickly that I am no the only person experiencing this phenomenon. And everyone has a suggestion for resolving the issue.  These were some of my favorite resources:

• Does Procrastination Cause Stress? And Vice Versa? I love, love, love her suggestions for dealing with it! Her solutions include: managing or rather your time better, staying in the moment and accepting that stress is part of life. It’s normal.
• The Procrastination Problem I appreciate how this writer broke down the different types of procrastination. It is not the same for everyone. And it was eye opening to see that addressing the root causes, moving forward can help with a sense of achievement and self confidence, definitely something I need to work on.
• Procrastination: Wasting Our Time and Increasing Our Anxiety We all know that waiting until the last minute causes an unnecessarily high amount of stress. Even for those of us that think we work well under pressure. The first recommendation in this article is where I started to address this issue for myself…Lists.

Making Lists

Making lists has always been my thing. I make to do list, gratitude lists, prayer lists, chore lists, grocery lists…you get the point. You could find lists for just about everything going on in my life. It keeps me sane and organized.

While I typically have my lists on my phone in different apps like Asana or on the whiteboards in our kitchen, there is definitely something to be said or hand-written lists.

I have found that I am much more productive and less likely to waste my work time if I have a Money Making Task list front and center when I sit down at my desk. These are all client tasks that I can do and make some money.

Since I am hyper focused on my finances and supporting my kids, this incentivizes me to get to work. Rather than checking things on Facebook or browsing the internet based on random dreams or thoughts.

Making a new list every night as I wrap up work, keeps it fresh and starts my work day focused on making money.

What tools or processes do you use when stress overcomes you or you find yourself procrastinating?

Hope

Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.

But life has a way of rewriting your plans.

A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.

Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.

Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.

She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.