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The Balancing Act of Pile Management

Guest post by: Debbie Lessin

Article Overview: Piles, piles everywhere. We all have them. Things that require our attention but sometimes get lost in the shuffle. Debbie Lessin, "djthebalancelady" has been on a balance quest for over 15 years. Her "day" job as a CPA for individuals and small busineses might not lend itself to much balance. But she has crafted her own life in a way that even made the 2009 tax season the best one in 26 years. In 2008 she finally had a life during tax season, this time it was actually a balanced one! But now that tax season is over, Debbie has to face the "piles of her life", catch up and move on! Her approach and attitude make all the difference. After you read the article, you'll be thinking about all the pile of your life and how you can better balance them. Happy Pile Management!

The Balancing Act of Pile Management

Now that tax season is over, the seasons of the rest of my life begin. It's an annual renewal, a change in focus, an awakening of my other self. The transition is immediate but taken in gradual steps. First I need to let my body clock reset, my work mode click off. The desire to just play overwhelms me. I'm free. Work is no longer my 7 AM to 7 PM focus. I can see my friends, take Milly on her first big girl Aunt Debbie outing (to Chuck E. Cheese no less!), sleep late (or at least not wake up at 3:00 AM). I can shop 'til I drop feeling patriotic for stimulating the economy. As if I need any justification.

Surprisingly, my house looks remarkably organized, the piles well maintained, hidden in drawers, fancy office storage boxes, awaiting my attention. The second bedroom has become a storage closet, boxes of winter shoes and boots lined up, waiting to be hoisted to the top rafters of the bedroom closet. Teased by warm weather earlier in the month, the closets beckon me. "Change me", they yearn. And yet, the weather isn't consistent enough to totally motivate me to bring the boxes of sandals down to make room for the winter wear. I've yet to pull out the short sleeved and sleeveless t-shirts from the storage bins under my bed, replacing them with their long sleeved siblings ready for their summer slumber. A newly purchased storage box has been filled with winter scarves and gloves, its seasonal resting place yet to be determined. On the bed small piles of gifts to be given and papers for upcoming trips to be traveled are scattered. And yet, because I don't sleep in that room, I can pass it by and ignore the seemingly organized mess for yet another day. Any one piece of spring/summer clothing or shoes is close enough at hand to justify putting off the chore for another day. Last week in a burst of evening energy, the summer and winter closets were swapped, outfits tried on to check the fitting, body weight moving one year to the next, regular exercise and diet notwithstanding. Another new pile is created, clothing to pass on to friends or to donate. That pile gets hidden in the second bedroom closet.

If I've learned anything over the years, it's this. Everything gets done...at work, at home, everywhere. For me to let "mommy mail" accumulate for over two months was a pat on my back and acknowledgement to myself just far I had come. Last year, my parents' personal and trust tax returns weren't even finished until July (yeah for extensions!). The added responsibility after my dad's death in June 2008 overwhelmed me in a way I never saw coming. There were so many accounts to be opened/closed/analyzed. And unfortunately there were just as many incompetent people processing the paperwork. But I stepped up to the plate as he knew I would, being the financial professional in the family. This year, the returns were signed in mid February, weeks before my real crunch at work would even begin. At that point I knew that if I let the monthly reconciliation for the accounts slide for a while, it really wouldn't matter. The little free time I had (on Sundays) was better spent curled up on the couch reading. Somehow I managed to read two books a month for three consecutive months in the middle of tax season. How, I'm not sure. Most nights I couldn't even keep my eyes open past 10:00 PM. I just knew that on Sunday I needed to chill. And I kept true to myself and did. Reading was an easy way to escape and rest simultaneously.

But now the time has come to tackle all things personal, chores deferred, appointments postponed. There are cash donations to be made, sharing in the bounty that was the season, honoring the life of a lovely 17 year old girl tragically killed in a bicycle accident a month ago. The memorial program lay on the kitchen table for weeks, its presence making her death a constant reminder long after the barrage of media coverage finally ended. As if walking into the new storage room at work, which she organized for me during Christmas break wasn't enough of a daily reminder. A cousin's wedding invitation requires a special "no" RSVP, as does the shower invitation from his sister. The mailman has delivered many invitations (real ones, not "evites"!) this spring. And yet, too many of them conflict with other important plans; speaking engagements, college graduation, and out of town travels.

On the kitchen table, mini piles abound. Clipped AMEX and Capital One receipts wait to be organized and verified against the statements, the statements to be input into QuickBooks and then paid. Two months of out of pocket expenses to be posted. Lists litter the surface, friends to call, doctor appointments to schedule and the coupon for the new Infiniti dealer stares at me, the car needing a check-up too. Insurance bills are lined up; the car, house and personal liability policies come due for renewal one after the next in six weeks succession, these being some of the few payments not direct debited or paid online. Instructions to my new Flip video camera (my compromise tech toy for not buying a 1^st generation IPad) sit next to the photo album from the Biz Mitzvah party 13 years ago celebrating my business "coming of age". I coined the phrase all those years ago and even thought about trade marking it. But I didn't see myself starting a party planning business so I let the idea go. My heart wants to plan a Biz Mitzvah 2 party to celebrate 26 years and show off the new office. My mind isn't sure it wants to spend the money. And yet, plan a party is front and center on the table. Write the invitation list, design an invitation and plan the menu. Graduation cards and Mothers Day Cards silently smile at me for they were purchased weeks in advance. Papers to bring to the safety deposit box sit, clearly not in a safe place, just waiting until the day that they will be.

The house "to-do" list left over from last year is buried behind the insurance bills. The 2010 add-ons are still floating in my head. After last years unexpected $25K for new windows and the sealant project, there may or may not be a budget for much this year. But after 15 years even I can't ignore that the floors need refinishing, especially in the kitchen. A new front door, more window repairs downstairs, painting - what to prioritize? Save that for next month when the gut rehab next door is finally done; the water and mold damage there being that severe. Then the contractor can focus on something else. Not that he can't juggle jobs like the rest of us do. He can, of course. It's just my internal excuse for why that pile wait.

Balancing Act reading/emails has its own little pile, taking a back seat without argument. That pile knows that it will get its due soon enough. Tax reading (which abounds from all the new laws passed in the middle of the season) doesn't even make it to the piles at home. Those printed emails/website links still hide in a cubby hole at the office, valid work excuses being made to clients for patience weeks ago. Maybe this week I'll at least organize them by subject - health care, jobs bill, other.

And in between all of this, I have plans - fun things to do. A road trip to Madison Wisconsin to see my nephew Benjamin, a college senior who I take out to dinner at a fancy restaurant, making him wear a sports jacket and nice pants and promise to try not to gulp the wine. I've visited the same weekend for each of his 4 years. This year I even sign up for the 2 mile Crazy Legs Hirsch walk that takes place outside my hotel on Saturday morning. 10 o'clock AM however is simply too early for my slumbering nephew to join me. Walking through the campus that was my college home oh too many years ago to count brought back lots of memories.

There was my semi-annual triple oxygen facial at Bliss with my friend Bev followed by shopping at the W Hotel gift shop and dinner at Wave. It is a one stop hotel vacation without actually checking in. I have plans time for theatre, art events, dinner with friends. Massage and then another massage; a new day but at a different place. I sign up for a new Pilate's equipment class, even though the schedule/studio still doesn't feel quite right to me, its one plus being that it is only one block from home. A volunteer presentation on taxes and recordkeeping to student entrepreneurs requires an outline, a focus on handouts, and my creative process to make the discussion flow spontaneously, which is when I am at my best. And then of course there's laundry that's accumulated. The thing about laundry is that as long as I'm home, laundry can get done at the same time without feeling like a chore. Ah, multi-tasking!

There's so much to do and luckily, right now, so much time. It's with that freedom of time that I know that if I tackle one thing a day, then I'm okay. One day I organize the credit cards receipts against the statement. The next day, I input them. One day I organize the "mommy mail". Another day, I work on 2 of the 20+ files. I am making progress. And if the end result is that for every one thing that gets done, another thing gets added to the list, so be it. That's just the way life is. It's an endless to do list of this and that. Life is a balancing act! A little juggling each day is to be expected. Being single, there's no one to help me with my piles, share the errands and the "to do's". My piles are my responsibilities. But that's okay! As long as I remember to factor a little time for me into each day, then I will always know that if I work hard, that's also how I will play! So right now, I'm juggling piles. Pile management is an organizational balancing act that actually keeps you more organized than you think. And don't I know it!

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Article Tags: balancing act, cpa life balance, life balance, life is a balancing act



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