How to Deal with Overwhelm: Black Friday Edition
I love shopping as much as the next person. In fact, my husband would tell you that I have a box delivered to the house everyday (that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but we live outside of the city so I do order almost all of our household items).
But today is “Cyber Monday” 2024, and I don’t know about you but I’m officially sick of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
As a business owner, I get it. Everyone wants to capitalize on this time of year when consumerism is so high, and it’s an important part of the business strategy for many businesses.
As a consumer, I find it overwhelming. My inbox has been exploding with sales emails since the beginning of the month.
You’re not alone if you feel overwhelmed by this time of year, too.
The flood of sales emails in your inbox, ads in your mailbox, and commercials on TV and the (real or perceived) pressure to buy now! - it’s no wonder we might be feeling overwhelmed and drained.
It also comes at a time when overwhelm and stress might already be high due to the holidays.
To help others manage this, I thought I’d share some tips about how I am attempting to manage this overwhelm, and I hope at least one of these tips resonates with you.
How to Manage Black Friday Overwhelm
Reduce the amount of emails you receive.
If you’re like me, you have way too many emails in your inbox every day, and this gets exponentially worse before and during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
I’ve recognized a need to unsubscribe from email lists for awhile, and I’ve been working on decreasing the amount of emails I get.
But Black Friday 2023 has showed me that I have more work to do.
Reducing the amount of emails you receive will help decrease the amount of overwhelm you feel during Black Friday sales and on a daily basis.
Previously, I held the thought that I would “miss” something by unsubscribing from these email lists. I would miss a sale or something new.
This is what got me on so many lists in the first place and kept me on them.
Now, I see that being on so many email lists is a distraction. I spend time deleting all of the emails, can’t possibly read all of them, and miss the emails I actually want to read.
So, I made a short list of the email lists that I want to stay on, and I have been unsubscribing from any that are not on that list.
Limiting the amount of information I am receiving, especially related to business, will help me stay focused, instead of distracted and pulled in different directions.
For my fellow business owners, these are the email lists that I chose to remain on:
Elizabeth Goddard
Evelyn Weiss
Kate Doster
Liz Wilcox
Only buy things that you would have bought anyways (and make a list!).
Around August of this year, I started making a list of items that I needed but could wait to buy until Black Friday (like a new vacuum for the basement).
This helped guide my Black Friday purchases instead of looking aimlessly through every item on sale at every store.
Similar to making a list for grocery shopping, it gives you a plan, let’s you see how much is on your list and where you might be able to cut back, and can help reduce the amount of impulse purchases.
Impulse purchases can be even higher during Black Friday / Cyber Monday.
Shopping, in general, releases endorphins and dopamine in your brain, which create pleasurable sensations. Add more endorphins and dopamine due to the feeling that you’re getting great deals and steals, and you have a quick recipe for impulsivity.
Try making a list of items you want to look for, and consider setting a limit yourself around how many items you will add to your list.
You might also consider setting a budget for yourself and exercise strong self-discipline to stick with that budget.
Remember that sales are meant to draw you in.
There’s a lot of psychology that goes into effective sales and marketing.
Sales and marketing are meant to pull you in by convincing you that you need to buy this product now by using strategies like tapping into your emotions or creating urgency.
Have you ever bought three laundry detergents because it had a buy two, get one 25% off sale?
Or maybe you’ve purchased something because it was “going fast” or it said it was your “last chance” to get it?
Don’t worry, I’ve been there, too. That’s the power of sales. Enticing us to buy things we might not need (sometimes, things we might not even really want!).
Knowing and remembering this can help you make more informed decisions and less impulsive ones when you’re shopping.
Final Notes
Black Friday and Cyber Monday advertisements and sales can be overwhelming. It’s something that comes up every year, so it’s a good idea to prepare yourself for it.
To help manage the overwhelm, you might try unsubscribing from email lists, only buy things that you would have bought anyways, make lists and a plan before you shop, and understand the psychology of sales.
Don’t get me wrong, you can find some great deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday! And using some of these strategies will hopefully help you enjoy your deals more and feel overwhelmed less.