At some point, everyone's had to budget their finances. We do so, mainly for two reasons:
Firstly, to limit what we spend on things that aren't important.
Secondly, so we're not taken off-guard when expenses arises.
We might also add a contingency, to avoid added stress of inevitable surprises that always, always come up.
So what if we applied this to our emotions?
It may not involve spreadsheets. But it's a similar process of looking ahead, becoming aware of anything which might take up more emotions than usual - and planning around them.
If there's a particularly stressful event or time period on the horizon, maybe we should be aware of adding anything else around it - and even take extra care of our mental health during that period.
We might even have a "contingency" - a simple awareness that, from time to time, life will throw some curve balls.
This acknowledgement alone can remind us that such curve balls aren't the end of the world and don't need to add extra stress.
They're just life - and it's in the contingency.
Budgeting emotions can help to be better prepared for stress when it comes - and to not spiral into distress when it does.
How's your budget looking?