Taxes may or may not be a complicated process for you… however it is still a process. The key to submitting taxes is being prepared and being prepared is not staying up late at night pulling your paperwork together in a hurried panic.

How do you feel when you prepare for your taxes? Panic? Hurried?

Now that the tax deadline is over, it’s time to reevaluate your process. It’s time! It does not have to be an ordeal EVERY year.
I want to share some things I do to help the tax process be smooth sailing each year for me. It is my hope that you can snag an idea and apply it to your tax process.

Find your system so that your tax process can be less frustrating and time-consuming.
Collect your items so that you have everything at your fingertips.
Set deadlines for your spouse i.e., you need XYZ by a certain date. Make sure this date is at least 30 days before you are gathering your paperwork. Plug those dates in!

Set a specific time to collect your paperwork. Make sure that paperwork is uninterrupted time. I like to make a cup of tea, put on some classical music and begin the process of gathering.

Organization  is a year round effort.

I meet with my tax preparer and ask what categories can I write off. I keep updated each year in case anything changes. I take those categories and make a file for each. Each day I put the receipts in each specific file folder category. I write the name of the person I was with, file it and I continue to to that each day until the following year.

I use this divider folder I repurposed from another project and use for receipts.

Keeping your documents organized will reduce the errors and you will save time in completing them.

Keep everything in one place. I use this banker box and call it my TAX BOX. I keep hanging folders, envelopes and file folders among other things in this box.

I keep my business in separate folders, but it still remains in the box. I try to keep the paperwork under control and I like to use software like Mint.com (for my business Quicken works good for me). Both are easy to send to my tax preparer and with my tax box I have everything at my finger tips.

Are you feeling like you need extra support? Let’s work together! Connect with me and we can find a system that works for you and together we can make a new change. It doesn’t have to be complicated… it just has to work for you!

Planning Peace…Shelley 

Sometimes finding motivation when making a personal change  can seem like a long and winding road.  I agree it can  definitely be a journey and as most journeys, there are challenges to rise to. When you are slow to decide and even slower to take actions, finding a simplified life seems even farther away. Being present seems easy enough to say, but to do it can at times be very challenging. Sometimes I catch myself so caught up in attempting to multitask, pushing myself to do more in a less amount of time.

It’s at these times that I usually end up making silly mistakes-

You know what I mean?

 Texting the wrong person

 Leaving  an  item at home when I left my home to solely drop off that item.

Forgetting to hit send and wondering why this person has not responded?

 Saying YES to a project when clearly you want to say NO.

 Driving to the wrong location because you were thinking about all the to-do’s.

Come on!

I know I am not alone in this club so don’t pretend you don’t know what I am talking about!

Everyone thinks multitasking is a faster way of doing things but it really isn’t. Some of us have gone off the edge with multitasking and I am first in that line. But I  have changed the way I approach my to do’s and it has helped me avoid getting caught up in “get out of my way I am trying to finish my last 3 to do’s!” 

Even a concealer won’t help!

Just listen for a second…

Multi tasking does not exist.

I repeat.

Multi tasking does not exist.

Okay… did you hear me?

Multi tasking does not exist!

You may think you are multi tasking but the only thing you are creating is:

1.  More time used to finish task

2. Increased amount of mistakes

3. Increased levels of  stress

image by Lars Plougmann

Why not do one task at time and complete that task

efficiently, effectively and effortlessly? 

Being present in what you are doing at the moment is so important, it can move  you forward in your short-term and long-term goals and plans. Taking the smaller steps each day and being present when doing them—putting your effort in and pulling your focus to your actions—will soon transform the way that goals and plans are achieved.

Today, try to be at ease with doing 1 task at a time.

If the task is to watch TV, then sit down and watch TV. Don’t try to catch glimpses, clean the living room, talk on the phone, and/or check your emails. Slowing down and being present allows you to be upfront in your life and make wiser decisions.

It’s time to:

Slow your to-do roll today and  remember in order to do a task well, you must take the time to do it one task at a time.

When you begin to see your to do list diminishing, you will see your progress and feel happy.

Planting Peace…Shelley

{photo by Thomas Hawk}

{photo by tomo908us}

Today I want to talk about something that has become my motto and reminder – “Inch by Inch is a Cinch.” I find that whatever I may tackle in life, the small or big things, I have to take it one step at a time. LIFE is something we have to work at every single day that we can wake up and live! We set short term and long term goals, but either way small steps must be taken to achieve big steps.

Try approaching it by day by day and even at moments, minute by minute. You can read all the books but that won’t create an organized life. What does? It is being able to learn how to adjust, adapt, accept day by day, minute by minute. Life requires you to adjust your thinking, habits and environment. Organization must be adapted to suit your personality, lifestyle and inspirations. Creating Peace within yourself requires you to start accepting your life the way it is this very minute. If you are waiting for someone or something to dictate what to do in your life it will eventually lead you to frustration and you will find yourself even deeper in clutter and disorganization not only in your home or office, but your actions and thoughts.

Invest more time in exploring where your internal clutter really is, why it arrives and at what time it arrives. Are you frustrated because every time a new diet is started or a new time management plan arrives, you always fall off the wagon?

Remind yourself first that achieving something takes work, time, and patience – Inch by Inch is a Cinch – start small and work your way up.

Then bring to your mind to the place where you recognize and accept that your life is perfect in its imperfections.

There you will find your answers and with those answers you can begin to create new systems that work for you and only you.

Planting Peace…

Shelley

 So I ask you…

 What if your planner could be your own space to plant peace, order, and simplicity? What if it’s not just simply a place you write your appointments down, but a place where you can set short-term, long-term, and in between-term goals and aspirations?

This year I came out with a brand new and IMPROVED Piece of Time Peace of Mind Peace Planner. I am so excited for you all to try it out and plan your way to your own Peace of Mind. The Piece of Time Peace of Mind planner offers you a new way to organize your schedule each day. Peaceful features include:

• a space for you to write your OWN date in–flexible and productive!
• customizable front cover-CHOOSE what makes you feel most at Peace!
• space for both short and long-term goals-REMINDing you each day
• Identify Daily Priorities
• Segment Your Daily to Do’s
• Ceate a space for Daily Gratitude
• Reminder to Nurture YOU
• Reminder to Act on Kindness
• Create a space for Inspired Ideas
• Get Inspired with your Personal Plans
• Connect on Life Progress each month
• Jot special notes
• Create Weekly shopping list
• Create a weekly journal of your life
• Plan Peaceful Escapes

Planting Peace,

 Shelley

Last time I talked about accepting the fact that LIFE can be a mess sometimes. In this blog post, I want to build upon adjusting, adapting, and accepting life’s curve balls by talking about holding the space. There are many times when our emotions threaten to overtake our day… they seem to want to trample on our good mood or our positive attitude and stamp out our positive energy.

But we have to realize that when we are angry and upset, we have the power to control how we react and ultimately the outcome. There are many times where it is just too easy to feed your own negative energy… the more we complain and the more we choose not to accept, the more we might spiral negatively.

LIFE is sometimes going to get a little bit wild… but we cannot try to fit it into the box of our own perfect expectations. We have to hold the space in that moment when someone pushes our buttons. We take a pause, step back, and adjust, adapt, and accept whatever situation is giving us strife.

When your New Year’s Resolutions threaten to overwhelm you with impossibility, try replacing them with a one word motto… it worked for me! This one word motto is not only simplifying your life, but it is also giving you a huge space to improve and stretch yourself as you grow throughout 2013. You can bring your word up during moments of stress and hold the space… fill your mind with the word you choose and what it represents to you. Like I always say “Inch by Inch is a Cinch!”

Remember that we have to work at our lives each and every single day.

Planting Peace,

Shelley

That is why I created my new “Peaceful Gifts” page (located underneath my “Store” tab). This page is all about the free resources that I can offer you to create space and simplicity for planting peace amidst the craziness in your life! These resources can be checklists, remedies, or just some peaceful tools of self-affirmation and self-reflection–which is why I want to share them with you so Enjoy!

One of my newest additions to the page is the “Creating Simplicity” Checklist. Sometimes we sit down and try to plan our year; what results is a great big sigh of “oh boy!” There seems to be so many things to plan and not enough energy, time, or Peace to plan them! We try to plan one thing and then get caught off guard by another and before you know it you feel neck-deep in to-do’s and errands.  My “Creating Simplicity” Checklist most if not all of the big and small things that you need to take care of for the year–plus some tips on how to indulge and relax yourself. Create some Simplicity in your life and let me know how it goes! Check it out here or click on the picture below to download it! 

There are 2 things that help me achieve balance being inspired and  realistically planning my life.

 Feeling inspired allows me to be motivated and being motivated pulls me in the direction of being productive and when I feel productive I feel capable of handling most things that arrive in my life.  

I focus on the smaller steps and pay less attention to the big steps. Like I always say… Inch by Inch is a Cinch!  

What I have learned is achieving your goals through smart planning and patience is the way to go. 

Steal a peek into Tomorrow’s Peace…

I wanted to discuss the different elements in my Peace Planner. I created the planner to help me in creating peace on a daily basis within my life. These days your life may be full and at times may be very chaotic and stressful, sometimes when you are planning your day, week, or month it feels like everything is important.  It can become difficult finding the priorities in your day. But remember it’s essential to deal with your life as it is now and not by the way you wish it would be. It is my hope that the Peace Planner helps create more clarity in your life.

Today I want to discuss  the  Daily Life Progress – click  here to listen.

Planting Peace,

~Shelley

 The Gift of Time! Or better yet… my services! I know what you are thinking… how can Shelley be a gift to my friend or loved one? Well I can help them complete any projects that they have needed to complete or support them in de-cluttering and regaining peace in their chaotic lives. They can take a breather and have a mini ME-cation as I hustle and bustle for them… they deserve that break!

This is why I created my Piece of Time Peace of Mind Gift Certificates in the first place. I want anyone to have the option of giving a truly (almost) priceless gift that is easily customized. The recipient of the Gift Certificate can ask me to help, support, and redo any part of their workplace, living area, and even regaining peace in their own life! Simplicity and streamlining… PDR approach… and life coaching for a stress-free schedule-I can do it all! It is like gifting them an Executive Personal Assistant/Coach.

Check out the Gift Certificates here (or you can click on ‘Gift of Time’ underneath my ‘Store’ tab) and purchase one for someone today. The gift of time, creating it and being able to actually give it is a feeling that I know is priceless.

“Time is the most precious gift one can give. Each moment is unique because it will never happen again… the gift of your time spent with others is the ultimate display of unconditional love.” – Robert W. Merriweather

Planting Peace,

Shelley