Some Workers Are Spending 1 to 2 Hours a Day Worrying About Money. This Can Help

It's a major problem, to say the least.

If you're spending a good chunk of your week worrying about money matters, you're definitely not alone. A recent survey by SecureSave found that 30% of Americans are spending one to two hours every week stressing about money. That's apt to be wreaking havoc on their mental health and impacting their productivity -- at work and in life.

Now it's easy to see why Americans have lots to worry about. A good 67% don't have enough money in their savings account to cover a mere $400 expense. And on a broad economic scale, there's lots to be worried about, from continued inflation to the potential for a recession to hit in the near term.

If you're spending a lot of time worrying about money on a regular basis, it's important to try your best to break that cycle. As Suze Orman, a well-known financial expert and SecureSave co-founder says, "When you can't afford to pay your bills...it can impact your mental health and productivity."

Now there may not be much you can do individually to address the problem of inflation or prevent the U.S. economy from tanking broadly. But you can most certainly improve your personal financial situation by building up an emergency fund.

Do you best to build some savings

If the idea of encountering an unexpected bill -- and not having the money to pay for it -- is keeping you up at night or distracting you from your responsibilities, then it's time to map out a plan for building an emergency fund. That way, you'll be less likely to immediately resort to credit card debt when hit with an unplanned expense.

Now as a general rule, it's a good idea to have a robust enough emergency fund to cover at least three full months of essential expenses. And Orman herself even recommends saving enough to pay for up to a year's worth of bills, if that's feasible.

But it may not be feasible for you, and that's okay. If you can't manage a large emergency fund to cover three months of bills, having some amount of money in savings is better than having none.

So start small. Tell yourself you're going to try to save $100 a month over the next year. That may not leave you with enough cash to cover multiple months of bills. But if you're sitting on, say, $200 right now, and you manage to save up another $1,200 on top of that, you'll be in a much stronger position to handle an unexpected expense.

An important way to prepare for a recession

Having emergency savings is important at all times. But it's especially crucial at a time when recession warnings are still floating around.

This isn't to say that you'll be able to snap your fingers and magically watch your savings grow. You may need to make tough sacrifices, like cutting expenses or even taking on a second job. But if that spares you from spending numerous hours each week worrying about money, then it may be more than worth it.