DrDeClutterBlog.com

“There is no such thing as a good tax.”
~ Winston Churchill

Tax time, again. I hear it in every phone call this time of year more than usual… “Kim, please help me organize all this paper. I can’t handle it!” Or, more to the point, two weeks ago I received a call from Jenna, “Kim, I will shoot myself if you don’t come and help me find all my tax stuff and get it together. I just can’t deal with this!”

Paper. Taxes. Not doing your Patriotic Duty throughout the year, one-receipt-at-a-time to stay on top of it. Life. Overload. High blood pressure. Fear. Anxiety. It’s a lethal mix.

What do you do? Please take the following guides seriously to organize now and throughout your year to get your financial paperwork and taxes ready and done, on time and with so much less stress, pain and self-loathing.

Fact:
If you haven’t started pulling your taxes together “yet” and may not until about April 14th, plan on lots of stress, fear, complaining, blaming the government and others and gnashing of teeth, thoughts about “extensions,” and wondering if people really do go to jail for not paying their taxes and by the way, “Doesn’t the government have more important things to worry about than my petty couple hundred dollars?”

Solution #1:
Stop waiting. Stop stalling. Stop procrastinating… NOW. Start doing them today… little by little. Sit on the floor or at a clean table and start dividing, sorting, culling through your receipts, putting them in their separate categories, such as vehicle, utilities, health insurance, etc. Put these in envelopes labeled for each category. When you sit down again, go through each envelope and add up the totals and write them on the envelope. Call your accountant. Be done for this year.

Fact:
What you put off creates more stress and becomes a health hazard.

Solution #2:
The magic of maintenance — I say it all the time, especially when I hear people complain about having to deal with and take care of their “stuff” – “90% of life is maintenance.” Whatever you have, buy, create, keep, use or store… must be maintained, even your thoughts and beliefs! You choose how much you want to maintain. If you don’t want a lot of tax papers to think about and take care of here are a few options: 1) hire someone to take care of them (which means having the money to pay them and trust that they’ll really take care of it); 2) use and buy less creating less paper/receipts; 3) move to a country that doesn’t have taxes; 4) see Solution #3.

Fact: Computer tax programs, they’re a good thing.

Solution #3:
Get ready for your 2005 taxes by getting ready now. Gather, organize and account for papers, receipts, etc. well in advance of the April 15 filing deadline. Keeping up with your paperwork and bookkeeping on a daily, weekly and monthly schedule gives you plenty of time for Tax Time to request copies of any missing documents as well.

Use Quicken, QuickBooks or some computer finance, banking and tax preparation program REGULARLY (weekly, monthly) to keep up with your receipts, expenses and income, investments and interest so that at the end of the year, like magic, you can click on REPORTS and PRINT and vwalla!! It’s all done. Incredible! Yea technology!

“This [preparing my tax return] is too difficult for a mathematician.
It takes a philosopher.”
~ Albert Einstein

Fact:
Some people need to have chaos, drama and negative experiences in their lives to feel alive.

Solution #4:
I know several people that I simply stay away from this time of year. They wait until the last few weeks before tax deadline and then become maniacs. This kind of behavior and self-imposed habit is not good for the person or their family, friends or co-workers.

Waiting until March or April every year to do your taxes creates fear, stress, anger and adrenaline spikes that are seriously not healthy for your body. Stop it. Drama and adrenaline may make you feel “alive,” but they are only helping you get “adead!” You should have and want to have much more important activities that bring joy, happiness, excitement and positive adrenaline rushes to exchange for doing mundane paperwork on a regular basis.

Do what you love, take care of the “life on planet earth daily stuff” and have a happy life — you deserve it! Those around you will love you for it too!

Here’s what I know after years of helping others get organized. There are only a few basic or core organizing keys you need to use to organize anything. Ready?
 
1. Have sorting containers ready into which to pitch!
2. Choose the heap, lump, pile or stack you’re ready to declutter.
3. Stick with this one pile until you’re done (keep piles to about an hour each so that you don’t get overwhelmed!)
4. After finishing that pile, start on the next, or if done, move the containers out to where they’re going: donation, recycle, reroute, trash, etc.
5. Shine and buff up your newly decluttered space and enjoy anew!
 
Got it?! Easy, huh!

Dive in! Enjoy!

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TIP 1: ARE THE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS STILL UP?
Don’t make undecorating a drag! Have a post-holiday-undecorating-party with your friends! Have a pot-luck, or whip up some easy munchies and invite your best friends over to undo the holiday decoration doing and have fun, take pictures!, enjoy your friends, share stories and create new memories.
 
TIP 2: RETURN THE RETURNS
If you have Gift Reciepts and things to return, do so by this Saturday so that they aren’t still sitting in a pile in the back of the closet when I come over to declutter in 9 months!! or 9 years! No joking!! Complete it now and enjoy your space and a check off your to do list.
 
TIP 3: LEFT OVER HOLIDAY FOOD
Go through your frig by tonight and make sure to freeze or plan to eat the leftovers so that you don’t throw them out. Wash up your frig shelves and start a cool new year in there too!

We tend to look at piles and heaps and think that decluttering just means getting organized again, right?

But, the cold-hard-truth is that decluttering just isn’t about moving your possessions around so that they fit better; it is about coming to terms with the issues “under” your stuff.  Those emotions, grief, loss, fears, safety and security issues, etc. that make us pile and stack and “trance out” like zombies so that we don’t “just do it” one more day, month and decade.

This is true not only for physical “stuff” clutter and things, but weight and relationships and other “stuck” places. Deal with the “inner clutter” in your mind and emotions and you’ll be amazed at what falls away easily and effortlessly and what gets organized or moved out more quickly. 

WHAT DO YOU WANT? 

The big reason to get to the bottom of the pile of emotional back-logged clutter you have about whatever issues you have in your life is that the energy of the clutter that surrounds you is actually suppressing your ability to acknowledge your deepest desires - and furthermore, to act on them.  The driving force in our lives are our priorities. Priorities give us the necessary focus to make plans, decisions and get things done.

Set your priorities today. Write them down. Notice what emotions show up as you “get serious” about your life, purpose and direction. Face those emotions with honesty and whatever emotions surface to release them (declutter inner stuckness) so that you can move forward.

EFT

I can help you with this on a one-to-one basis if you are interested. I offer Focused Life Coaching using EFT - Emotional Freedom Technique, to help you release the blocks from your mind and body more quickly. Click here to find out more.

Losses throughout the year of any kind, human, animal, health, wealth or of spirit can take an extra toll during the holiday weeks. Here are a few steps to take care of yourself during this time.

1. Make time to grieve.

Set aside time to really feel your feelings, cry your tears and let it all go where it needs to. Your body needs to mourn your loss or change all the way through.

2. Get support from others.

It’s not always easy to ask for help. Being “strong” isn’t smart. Being “human” is. Whether you talk to family or friends or see a counselor or minister, you will find layers of grief just waiting to spring forth when you talk to someone else and tell your story once more.

3. Develop skills that help you remember you are a worthwhile person.

You can let grief control you and fall into a deep depression or illness, chipping away at your self worth; you can ignore and deny it and stay busy, keeping your “mind off of it”; or, you can gain knowledge of how to embrace your pain and grow positively from it.

4. Create a physical environment that supports rather than stresses you.

During the mourning process stress levels increase. You need to create a space where you feel safe, comfortable, quiet when you need it and nurtured, even if only by yourself.

5. Take care of yourself.

There are physical as well as emotional aspects of grief. Exercise increases your strength and stamina and reduces your stress. Healthy eating gives your body the good nourishment it needs. Find quiet time. Schedule a massage to stay connected with your body.

Bottom line, grief is hard. Make sure to take the time to face it and deal with it, otherwise it will affect you for years to come.

“I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.” 
~ Charles Dickens, author of “A Christmas Carol”

Merry Christmas to you and yours,

Kim

Sweden spends more annually than our war budget on studies to find out the damage caused by cell phones on our brains and all the flying electricity and microwaves in the air at, through and around us all. A new syndrome has developed since the advent of wi-fi, cell phones and more and more cell phone towers and electric lines, it’s called “electro-sensitivity,” in which people complain that simply being near electricity causes discomfort and pain. Sweden is taking this seriously to the level that they will pay to have aprson’s house shield from the electromagnetic field if they are diagnosed as electro-sensitive.

There is no conclusive evidence that cell phones cause brain tumors, dementia, sterility (laptops and phones being held on lap or in pockets) and other life-long damage, but authorities say to use them wisely and sparingly. Shut them off a few hours a day so that the “pulses” of microwaves stop coming to your phone and to you. Especially around and by children.

I saw a very new at toddling toddler in a store last week listening to “grandpa” say hi on mom and dad’s cell phone. I kept my mouth shut, but my brain was saying, “You are potentially frying your kid’s brains.”

Children’s skulls are thinner and more sensitive to the microwaves pounding through the atmosphere into the phone and the ear, and the brain. At least defend your children and grandchildren from possible adverse outcomes until more studies prove otherwise.

You may know the Bible story about Lot’s wife. God told her not to look back on her village and “past” life or she’d turn to a pillar of salt. Well, she looked back.

Every time your attention is distracted into the past you turn to a pillar of salt. Your thoughts and attention literally “crystallize” (like rock salt) into “what was,” not “what IS.” You get stuck in old stories and memories; mental movies unable to stay HERE NOW, open to your PRESENT and move forward.

Most people today are walking, talking pillars of salt. Filled with thoughts, looping memories of regret, remorse, sadness, grief… how do you do this? Do you have items in your home, in your life, or stories that you tell that make you constantly “look back” to your past?

Look around your house right now. What photo’s, greeting cards, knick-knacks, letters, emails, articles of clothing, jewelry, books, gifts, etc. drag your attention into the past? Moreover, into a negative past filled with, “Why me?”, “Why them?”, “Should have’s,” etc.

You can’t open your PRESENT in the PAST! Stay present in your present. Open your present NOW, in the PRESENT!

                                     “Whatever the price, identify it now.
             What will you have to go through to get where you want to be?
      There is a price you can pay to be free of the situation once and for all.
               It may be a fantastic price or a tiny one — but there is a price.”
                  ~ Harry Browne, 1933-, American Financial Advisor, Writer

LEARN THE LESSONS, LET GO, LIVE YOUR LIFE – YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION
Life is about learning from our past and living in the NOW, creating plans for a better FUTURE. It’s time to LET GO (maybe, with all your might!) of whatever is not true for you anymore.

Will “letting go” be easy? Some will, some will not. But decluttering and reclaiming your space for your HERE and NOW “conscious” life is a very important decision and act to do for yourself – it’s in fact a very selfish act… good for you! Reclaim your home and environment as yours.

Grieve your grief, resolve your areas/emotions incomplete and move on, no matter what it was (“was” is the operative word here.) Reset your energy for TODAY and your wonderful FUTURE. LET GO of anything, anyone, any thought, any statements and old stories that keeps dragging you backwards.

                                                 “The world is a great mirror.
                                          It reflects back to you what you are.
                          If you are loving, if you are friendly, if you are helpful,
                      The world will prove loving and friendly and helpful to you.
                                                 The world is what you are.”
                                                          ~ Thomas Dreier

GRIEF & DEPRESSION
Upon meeting a person I can pick up if they’re in grief or depression, and I certainly know upon just a few steps into a house if a person is still stuck in their past. I have worked with clients to declutter their outer stuff only to walk, sit and talk about their “inner” stuff – emotions, fears, frustrations, stuck places. Your outer world is a manifestation of your inner world. Start with either. Clean up one and the other will “shift.”

So, look at everything you have and if you get a twinge of remorse, grief, negative longing, sadness, etc., pack it away in storage (some are family heirlooms, etc.) or get rid of it. You can’t have joy and pain the in the same place at the same time. Choose one or the other: why wouldn’t you choose joy?!

YOU DESERVE THE BEST LIFE, EVERYONE DOES

Are you going to have a wonderful Thanksgiving today?

Yes. The answer is “yes!”

No matter what you have planned, what actually happens, what doesn’t happen and what you wish had happened… you can be happy anyway! How? CHOOSE.

“Happiness is not a state to arrive at

but rather a manner of traveling.”

~ Samuel Johnson

No matter what’s happening at any moment, no matter what plans you have or had and what ends up happening, each one of us can CHOOSE our thoughts and ultimately the path of our emotions. You can CHOOSE to be at peace, happy, grateful, joyful even excited and ecstatic… if you want to!

In choosing happiness, gratitude, hope and love in the face of chaos, frustrations, uncertainty, loss, sadness, grief and even tragedy, we discover that as holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl says, “…the last of all human freedoms is the freedom to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances — to choose one’s own way”.

Many blissings for a wonderful holiday week. CHOOSE to be grateful, thankful and happy this Thanksgiving.

Exercise for Gratitude
Before your big Thanksgiving meal, take a moment and write a list of all of the good you experience in your life. From your freedom, to being able to drive, to the ability to buy pretty much what you want and need 24/7, to your health, family and friends, job and interests, being able to follow your interests and creativity, to sunshine and Autumn weather…. don’t stop, keep writing. Write for 10 minutes non-stop. The time will go by in a blink and hopefully you’ll find many more items to add to your list and sit even longer.

Now — take this list to your Thanksgiving table and share a few items. Ask others to do it too and see how much you all have to be thankful for. These lists can spark great conversations and sharing too.

Don’t let another opportunity go by with an unmindful “Grace. Let’s eat and football’s on…” kind of Thanksgiving. STOP, BE QUIET and CHOOSE to be grateful. Really “feel” grateful.

I’m grateful that I can type, that there is Internet and Blogs, that I have a peaceful home, that I have work I enjoy, that I have a gzillion wonderful friends, that my family loves me, that I’ve lost 20 lbs.! and so much more! Make this list ongoing and remember to stop, be quiet and choose to be and grateful everyday.

Happy Grateful Thanksgiving of Choice,

Kim

Are you ready yet?

Probably, if you’re not quite ready yet, you can wing it and have a great time anyway!

Loosen up this Thanksgiving. Enjoy your friends and family and the quiet that engulfs a holiday.

Do all that you can do to prepare and get ready and feel good about your holiday table and home, and at the same time, lighten up and know that something will be forgotten, missed, broken, spilled, smashed, crashed, dropped or eaten (by your dog). It’s okay.

THE NIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING… AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE…
There are things you can do this night before Thanksgiving to set yourself up for a less-stressed event. Set the table. Get the good silverware out of storage. Lay out your wardrobe–and your kids’ wardrobes. Check your list. You’re going to love yourself for this! See more here.

READY FOR NEXT YEAR!
Too early? What this means is to take the time after Thanksgiving to go back over your prepared lists and plans and see what you can alter for next year that will make it even easier, better and more stress-free for YOU! The sooner you do this the better off you’ll be year after year.

Happy Thanksgiving!!Kim