Coaching

 

 

TAX TIME TIPS

 Now that March is here, arrange for a session with yourself to get started on your taxes

  • Set aside a couple of hours to get started
  • Go through your checkbook and files to find important items to copy for accounting purposes
  •  If you already use an accountant, usually a tax preparation document will arrive for you to base your information.
  • If necessary, two weeks after this set up one more session for yourself to complete your work.
  • You are then prepared to begin your actual preparation or send your information to your accountant.
  • Use technology as your assistant
    Financial software can rescue you from a potential mistake.
  • Load Quicken on your computer and begin entering you checking information.
    · The programs preset categories are conveniently set so that as you pay your monthly bills, and you are itemizing for taxes too!

File electronically

  • File electronically with the IRS, and upon receipt, you will receive confirmation!

 

 Newsletter: -December 2010 Enjoying the Holidays

While there is no way to add a couple of extra hours to each day during November or December, there are ways to cope with the stress of the holiday season. 
 1. Keep taking care of yourself. This is not the time to neglect your yoga class or skimp on your exercise routines. Continue to do what keeps you centered and energized. You’ll need every bit of serenity to stay cool while looking for a parking space at the mall.
2. Decide ahead of time what you’ll buy. Finances are the number-one stressor during the holidays. Make a list of people to buy a gift for, each with a dollar amount and gift idea. Shop specifically for the items on the list. Consider doing all your shopping online — it not only cuts down on impulsive overspending, it saves time you'd spend driving, wrapping, and mailing.
If finances are tight, offer homemade gifts or provide a service, such as mowing the lawn or babysitting. Or suggest a family gift exchange. There are probably other family members who will be relieved by your suggestion.
3. Delegate.  Be sure to post each family member's duties on a chart on the fridge, with a check-off box next to the name and the task. You’ll know at a glance whether the job has been done. Remind those who drag their feet that sharing in the work makes sharing in the fun more rewarding.
4. Let go of the idea of the perfect holiday. Most of us think we can do more than we actually have time for. Better to plan too little than too much. Family traditions are wonderful, but as families change and grow, you may need to do things differently. The Nutcracker will be around next year if your family is too busy to attend this year. Adjust the holiday plans to your current situation. Say no, instead of yes.
5. Help yourself focus. Take a day off from work or hire a babysitter so you can plan, write cards, or shop without the kids. You’ll increase your efficiency and reduce the time you spend in the store. And, at the same time, you’ll give yourself time alone to recharge your batteries.
6. Skip shopping altogether. Save even more time—and avoid mall madness — by making a donation in family members' names to a favorite cause or nonprofit.
7. Set aside family resentments. Try to accept family members for who they are. Avoid topics or sore spots that you know are likely to spur an argument or hurt feelings. Address those at a more appropriate time. Focus on what you are grateful for at this time of the year.
8. Leave it all behind. Take a vacation from the holiday season — and the frenzy that goes with it. Take your family on a trip the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Inform relatives that you’re celebrating the season differently this year — by yourselves.
 

 

Newsletter: August/September 2010 Back to School Edition

•  To help keep track of everyone, try placing a large monthly calendar in a central location for schedules and events to be added as they arise. This may be on the side of a refrigerator, or at a desk in the kitchen area. Available are many dry erase versions of a month-at-a-glan to add activities as they come up.
•  Use color markers to designate between children or activities.
•  For older children, set up a communication center with magnetic pockets and note pads for messages. This is a great way for parents and children to communicate, if home arrival times vary.
•  In this area include a pad for lists for groceries and other necessities needed. Family members can add to that list as needed.
•   Handling the school notes that need a response, set up a horizontal file with stackable trays as an ‘in and out’ mail system for those that need to be returned to school.
•  Schedules that arrive on 8-1/2”x 11” sheets for sports and activities, for a season or the year, may be placed in top loading protector sheets, then place into a desk directory for the family. This “Lifestyle Notebook” can be used for the entire family, with different sections and categories to handle all those schedules, list and important information and much more.

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March Newsletter 2010

IDENTIFYING  CLUTTER

 With Three Easy Questions

What exactly is clutter? Clutter is anything unnecessary and extraneous. It can be more than the physical clutter most of us think of. Getting organized means clearing out the clutter in your mind, heart, and life. As for the physical clutter, ask yourself the following three questions about each item in your home. If you can't answer yes to at least one, it's probably clutter!

1. Is it beautiful? A stunning piece of artwork enriches your life because it brings joy each time you see it. A gorgeous vase full of fresh flowers reduces stress and energizes your spirit.

2. Is it useful? You use your 12-cup coffee maker every day. You couldn't make it through the week without it. (Don't confuse this question with, "Will it be useful someday?")

3. Is it loved? The antique pocket watch from your grandfather is a precious reminder of him. Your favorite cashmere sweater makes you feel fabulous.

You'll find that as you inventory your possessions, you may be able to answer "yes" to two or even three of the questions above. Those are the things that are most valuable to you. Remember, the goal of de-cluttering is not to get rid of everything. It's simply to keep only things that you truly appreciate and use.

To stop clutter, prevent it from accumulating in the first place. Don't give clutter a chance to form. As you've probably experienced, once clutter occupies a space, it has a way of multiplying. Always remember to place your emphasis on quality over quantity. In other words, it's not important to have a lot of things, many of which you never use. It's more beneficial to have fewer things, all of which you use and/or enjoy.

Think before you buy. Try to look beyond the initial "thrill of the purchase" and see what provides deeper moments of meaning. Before you buy, think about the time you'll spend in cleaning, storing, and maintaining that item after you bring it home. If you must buy, establish a "new item in, old item out" system where some purging takes place before shopping.

Once you rid yourself of clutter and make space only for what's special, you'll find it's easier to get - and stay - organized! You'll soon reap the benefits of a clutter-free life: more energy, happier relationships, a well organized home or office, new opportunities, and a better outlook on life.

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REASONS FOR CLUTTER
 
  • A need for Abundance: Buying and storing in bulk: cooking in mass; feeling guilty if you waste something    
  •  Unclear Goals, Priorities: Taking on too much; feeling scattered; bouncing from one thing to another; accumulating things you don’t use.
  •  Fear of success or failure: Using disorganization to hold yourself back; making excuses rather than taking baby steps forward
  • A need to Retreat: Using clutter to provide insulation and a feeling of safety.
  • Fear of losing creativity: Believing that chaotic, disorganized surroundings enhance creativity.
  • A need for distraction: Creating chaos to ignore larger underlying issues; avoiding things you’d rather not face or deal with.
  • Sentimental Attachments: Holding onto the past; not letting go of objects that no longer serve you and that you may not even like
  • Perfectionist tendencies: Having unfinished projects; thinking nothing is ever good enough; needing to control
  •  “Just in case’ clutter: Holding on to things in case you might need them in the future
 
SOLUTIONS FOR CLUTTER
  •  Give everything a home. It’s okay to have stuff, but try to keep it in organized locations.
  • Narrow things down. Create a system that suits your way of living and thinking so you’ll stick with it.
  •  Allow yourself to exceed your own expectations-start with small tasks with realistic goals.
  • Give yourself a lift. Start with a room you love and keep only what you absolutely love.
  •  Remember that being organized releases rather than constricts creativity
  • Take quiet time for yourself, and focus on what you’ve been neglecting. Reward yourself for noticing.
  • Offer furniture and family mementoes to relative that may appreciate or need them more than you. If you don’t like it, give it to someone who does.
  • Let others help. Start with a small project and follow through to completion.
  •  Trust that the universe will provide for you. If you need that item again, trust that it will come to you in some way. 

     

 

 

           April 2011 Newsletter
Here are 10 easy ways you can reduce your footprint:
  1. Each time you replace a bulb in your home put an energy efficient bulb in its place.
  2. Reduce the amount of meat you eat. Think about eating veggies 3 or 4 more times a week.
  3. Next car you buy, buy one that gets better gas mileage.
  4. Next house you buy, downsize. How much space do you really ‘need.’ We have a guest room AND office. Couldn't we just have one room for that?
  5. Remove one plane trip from your itinerary this year. Cut out a business trip, or take a local trip rather than flying for vacation.
  6. Ride your bike. This one is a no-brainer. Ride your bike to work, over to a friends’ house, or down to the store. Seriously. It's a lot of fun. It's exercise. And it's good for the earth.
  7. Cancel your newspaper subscription and cut down on junk mail. Don't give your mailing address out unless you know they won't sell it. This will reduce the amount of junk you get in your mailbox and reduce the number of trees being cut. And read your news online rather than in print.
  8. Buy locally. This one is really easy too, and can be a fun process. Visit the local farmers market to buy your veggies. Look for local products in the grocery and take a trip out into the country and buy produce or baked goods from the local farmers.
  9. Recycle. I can't say how easy this is. My household produces one 13 gallon bag of trash per week or less. We produce double that in recycled materials. Just call your local recycling company and sign up for pick-up. If you don't have it, then just save your stuff in big totes and take it in once a month. You'll feel better about yourself.
  10. And here's one all of us can do. Vote for candidates that want to make real change for the environment. We all have our political affiliations. But things are getting bad with global warming and we can't stop what's going to happen in the next 50 years. But for our kids and grandkids sakes, we can at least try to make some policy changes that force big companies to make more eco-friendly decisions so 100 years from now we don't have mass famine and drought.