First, the Time Tax
An article by Annie Lowrey in The Atlantic (July 27, 2021) describes the obstacles put in the way of those who apply for various governmental benefits. The forms that applicants have to fill out are confusing and unnecessarily long, causing many of those who would legitimately benefit from those programs to give up after hours of trying to complete them. She calls this the "Time Tax." One example of the absurdity of these forms is the question on a state's application for benefits: "Tell me the date of the conception of your children."
We all experience the Time Tax when we struggle with bureaucracy. We may not need financial assistance, but we are all subject to bureaucracy in other ways: health insurance, income tax, college applications, reports and guidelines for behavior at work, and any interaction with a complicated "menu" and long hold times.
What Does the Time Tax Cost Us?
When we have the choice of trying to follow through on something despite the bureaucratic hurdles, we can think of the Time Tax this would cost us and decide whether it's worth it. What about a small, erroneous charge on a credit statement? Or a mistake that we or someone else has made on a document? Is it worth our time to get such things corrected?
Here's Where the Stress Tax Comes In
Every situation that demands a Time Tax also creates stress; we can think of it as a Stress Tax. Some bureaucratic hurdles must be dealt with, and we pay the Time Tax and the Stress Tax. But other situations do offer a choice. If we choose to follow through with correcting a small error, it's stressful because it's frustrating, and perhaps irritating, to have to spend time on it. And if we let it go, it may eat at us, and that also causes stress. But one of the largest sources of stress comes when we can't decide whether or not a problem is worth dealing with. We feel ambivalent. We go back and forth about dealing with it. This kind of indecision is very stressful; the Stress Tax is substantial.
How Can an Inner Guide Help?
Just today I found myself caught in such a situation. Someone had created an error that I felt ambivalent about expending the time and energy to correct. Was it worth the Time Tax? My ambivalence was creating stress. Our Inner Guides are dedicated to increasing our comfort. They understand the impact and the consequences of dealing with or disregarding a problem. I asked my Inner Guide what to do, and she responded. That solved the ambivalence...and the stress that it was causing.
Your Inner Guide can do the same for you. And if you don't yet have an Inner Guide, you can acquire one here: https://emotionalcomfort.com/blog/post/you-can-acquire-an-inner-guide-part-4
