Iāll just come out and say it: I like tax season.
All year long, weāre basically doing very messy maths, paying too much or too little in taxes, and now that itās Q1, we pull out the dustpans, brooms and vacuums for what is essentiallyā¦a deep financial clean. What if there could be something satisfying about flipping the tedious chore of tax return filing on its head and looking at it like a cleansing ritual?
In Patanjali's eight-limbed path of yoga, Saucha is the first of the niyamas, itās one that relates to cleanliness. I used to have some resistance to this concept because it brings up this false notion of purity or perfection that doesnāt exist (having the moral high ground, or the perfect practice, perfect diet, etc.) But a more balanced take on saucha could also be to simply hold reverence for the everyday material world, like how we take our shoes off before stepping into a yoga studio ā treating everything with care as though itās sacred.
The fact that Americans hold the burden and financial responsibility of filing our own tax returns is just one among the injustices perpetuated in and by the U.S. government. It doesnāt need to be this way butā¦.alas, Big Tax Prep. But for now, itās illegal to not file your taxes soā¦.might as well try and do it in a way that feels like the ritual that it sort of is.
You lye, you are not sure; for I say, Woman, 'tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes. āāToby Guzzle, in Christopher Bullock, The Cobbler of Preston, p. 21
If you struggle to motivate yourself to get āer done every tax season, please allow a Virgo South Node who may have been an accountant in a past life to offer ideas for approaching this one differently.
First, gather. From end of January thru early-mid February (some forms take more time to come out) just start gathering paperwork in one folder. Donāt think or worry about anything else, just gather. I make one folder on my computer/external hard drive and every time a new piece of paperwork arrives I snap a photo with Genius Scan and there it goes into the folder. Doing this step first and completely saves time. This is a good checklist for gathering.
Regulate your nervous system. If you are still reading this, thereās a chance that tax prep, even if itās just following simple prompts on the TurboTax website (*shakes fist!*), can feel at least a little daunting and scary. So take time to rest, get some sunlight on your face, move and nourish yourself beforehand. Once youāve gathered, look at your calendar and figure out what block of a few hours makes sense. No one is telling you when you have to file (and if you need more time, file for an extension for free.) On average, people spend 4-6 hours with the form completion step. So stand in your agency and do it when you have the time to care for your mind and body first.
Make your tax prep space feel fit for a ritual (i.e., add music, candles). Why not make your tax prep space feel good? Or at leastā¦smell good? This is basically the culmination of your entire year in finances and it could bring up a lot. You might receive a W2 from a job that laid you off, or you might have had a divorce that year or you might have made less than you hopedā¦or you might have made more! Give yourself a moment before getting sucked into the screen to take a few deep breaths and ground yourself. Light your favorite candle and put on music that makes you feel calm, uplifted and focused.
also offers some great energy clearing tips here to check out.This has nothing to do with taxes but for tangential minor to-do items that arise, try to address in the moment. Iām talking about outdated addresses, subscription cancellations, doctorās appointmentsā¦whatever. I donāt know why, but tax season seems to bring up so many mind-numbingly boring admin tasks. I find that if I donāt handle them immediately, they pile up on a to-do list for years and then suddenly have to be done at a very inopportune momentā¦or cause some headache or financial drain. (Case in point: Iāve been meaning to switch my car insurance for 2 years when they jacked up my premium but never got around to it. I finally did the other night and I kid you not, it took 10 minutes to sign up and 5 minutes to cancel the old for a $500/year savings.) My advice to myself: donāt add something to a to-do list that can be to-done in 15 minutes.
Consider hiring a tax professional. Three years ago, when I had 10+ different forms to file and my own business, I hired a local accountant and it was such a boon for my mental health. I still have to gather and track all my business expenses, but she answers my not-so-dumb questions and does the form completion. If your situation is complex, Iād recommend hiring a pro with the heart of a teacher. (Plus, if you are self-employed/own your own business, you can expense tax prep services which is a nice benefit.)
Other Paperwork to Do This Tax Season
If this newsletter wasnāt already boring enough, I thought Iād come up with some other terrible paperwork for you. Totally optional!!
If you have assets, kids, a spouse or specific wishes youād like carried out upon your death, write a will. Do the people you love a favor and save them the headache on top of the heartbreak. I recently learned about FreeWill.com which looks very legit and well-reviewed and also free, and will be using next time I need to update mine.
For the real nerds, a free manual net worth tracker in Google sheets.
Been feeling a lot of āInternet archive anxietyā wherein I realize that my work needs to be backed up on a platform that isnāt subject to the whims, security breaches and closures of tech companies. Anyway, TinyLetter, the OG home for Om Weekly, is shutting down :( and as a result I spent several hours figuring out how to save and then import all of my old issues from TinyLetter and Mailchimp onto an Om Weekly archive here. I guess this is just your annual reminder to back up your stuff.
Maybe 2024 is the year I finally get a password manager?
Started tracking all of my healthcare provider information in one place so I donāt have to dig through old calendars every year to figure out who cleans my teeth or checks my moles again. It calmed me knowing it was all in one place. You will not be shocked to learn I also recently started using one of those oversized weekly plastic pill cases with extra-large font for my vitamins.
Things Iām Reading and Digging
Falling by
Is Journalism Dead? from
Money, time, energy, care from
Valuable things that are totally free from
Was inspired to become a paid subscriber of
based on her recent Tiny Biz Letter (and lots of other pieces over the years!)Finished reading Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity. If youāre interested in health and want to do everything you can to be here for a long time and a good time, itās worth reading. That said, I had to actively remind myself that the author is A doctor, not MY doctor. My other critique is that it felt out-of-reach for most people who do not have absurd amounts of free time or disposable income and therefore struck me as a book for-the-privileged-only, which was disheartening. Love the paradigm shift on medicine, donāt love the emphasis on total individual responsibility.
As a complementary read and a palette cleanser to the above, I also just read Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life and thought it was a lovely one to kick off my year of presence.
That is all. Wishing you a season of paperwork that is as ritualistic and candle-filled as possible!
<3
Thanks for sharing my valuable freebies! Here's to having a better tax season!
Putting on this playlist and maybe I'll finally put together a will...
Thanks for the shoutout!