How the Scary Hour Helps Me Take Control of My Finances

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We all have financial challenges that make our stomachs churn. You know the ones: checking your credit card balance after a month of spending, finally opening a medical bill, or diving into your retirement account settings. Discover Scary Hour , a trending productivity technique that helps me turn financial anxiety into actionable progress.

What is the Terrible Hour?

The idea is very simple: set aside one hour to solve problems that you have been avoiding due to anxiety or fear. While the term is popular on TikTok ( RIP ), it’s a fresh take on established time blocking techniques . But there’s something powerful about naming this time dedicated to facing your fears: it acknowledges that these tasks are indeed scary, and that’s okay.

My financial approach in the “dreaded hour”

I started applying this “scary hour” to my finances after realizing I had a growing pile of “I’ll deal with it later” money tasks. Hey, there’s nothing like writing about personal finance all day to get you excited about saving for your personal finances. Here’s how I structure my financial doom:

  • I schedule this for Tuesday morning when I have a lot of energy and my mind is already in productivity mode from the start of the work week.

  • My phone turns on Do Not Disturb mode

  • I make my favorite ginger tea (a little reward goes a long way!)

  • I keep a physical activity pad handy.

  • I set the timer for exactly 60 minutes.

What I Really Do During the Scary Hour

In the first session, I solved problems that caused immediate anxiety:

  • Checked all account balances

  • We classified “miscellaneous” purchases from the past month.

  • Called about an incorrect charge that I had been avoiding (I accidentally overpaid my credit card and created a negative balance ).

  • Finally calculated my true monthly restaurant expenses (oops!)

You can also work on more in-depth financial planning:

Why this productivity hack works

The beauty of Scary Hour lies in its limitations. Knowing that I will only have to solve these problems for 60 minutes makes me feel doable. Additionally, a timer creates a sense of urgency that helps overcome analysis paralysis, a common obstacle I face when making financial decisions.

Most importantly, this approach creates a dedicated space for financial self-care. Not only will you reduce anxiety by making daunting tasks routine, but you’ll also turn them into small victories. If you want to turn vague financial worries into concrete action, this is the advice for you.

Tips for Your Own Financial Doom

Start with quick wins like unsubscribing from tempting emails, making that one phone call you’ve been avoiding, checking the balance in an abandoned account, or storing important financial documents.

With these small actions you can give yourself a little boost. Once you’ve got the hang of it, move on to larger tasks like creating a new budget , consolidating debt , or maybe even researching estate planning .

Make this habit sustainable by making a list of tasks for future scary hours. Celebrate your progress, no matter how small, and be gentle with yourself if you miss a week. In the end, I believe the real magic happens outside of the Last Hour. By regularly confronting financial fears in a controlled environment, you’ll likely find that money issues in general become less scary. I noticed that I made financial decisions faster, felt more confident in conversations about money, and experienced less anxiety about day-to-day money management.

Bottom line

Money doesn’t have to be scary all the time. By dedicating just one hour a week to combating your financial fears, you can turn anxiety into action. Remember, the goal is not to completely eliminate financial stress, but to build confidence that you can manage it effectively.

Start your own financial “scary hour” this week. Your future self will thank you for facing these fears one hour at a time.

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