Peace of Mind Organizing

Taking taxes one bit at a time

28 February 2014

It’s that time of the year! I’ve had one client appointment where we pulled together tax information for the accountant, and I’ve started on my own taxes.

I do our taxes with Turbo Tax and have for six years now. Like many people, I don’t enjoy doing taxes. I think the fear of the unknown (Will I have all the information I need? Did I pay enough estimated taxes?) plays a part. Plus, it can be brain-bending work.

This year I have a few things going for me before starting the process of doing taxes:

• I had a designated spot for all my tax documents as they came in, so I didn’t have to search for anything
• I’m caught up in my business and personal bookkeeping (to give credit where it’s due, my husband keeps track of our personal finances in Quicken)
• I’d ordered Turbo Tax 2014 already and just needed to install it

So last weekend, I decided to start and I didn’t pressure myself to finish. I told myself that any effort was good effort and just getting over the barrier of starting would be a victory.

I didn’t start until late afternoon on Saturday, but I put in an hour or so. On Sunday, I was actually anxious to get going on it. (I think it’s the brain craves completion thing.) I also dangled a reward in front of myself. After working on my taxes for several hours, I went to the movie theater to see not one but two Best Picture nominees, followed by dinner out with my husband.

So now it’s February 28. I’ve made headway on my taxes, but am by no means finished—I’m still figuring out my business’s taxes and haven’t even started entering our personal financial info. I’m going to follow the same pattern this weekend; I’ll put in a little effort each day. If I don’t finish (which I don’t expect to), I’ll carve out some time during the week this week, so that I can finish by the end of next weekend. (We anticipate a refund, so it’s in our best interest to file as soon as possible.)

How about you? Have you started your taxes? If not, I urge you to start soon and avoid the stress of facing down the April 15 deadline.

Photo by PT Money via Flickr.

Tagged with: taxes

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