Beat the IRS Blues

Did Tax Day sneak up on you? Are you stressing to the max trying to sort through boxes of old receipts and satisfy The Beast in Washington before tomorrow night's deadline at midnight?

You know the old saw: There is nothing inevitable except death and taxes.

Stressing won't solve your problem, but here are a five simple ways to ease the pain:

1. Take a few deep breaths. When you are tense, your muscles are tight and the stress becomes an endless loop. A few deep breaths can break the stress cycle and help you be more focused so you can finish what you must do.

2. Move around at least once an hour. When your left brain is frantically trying to process the numbers, your efficiency is diminished after an hour or so. Just getting up and moving around and maybe taking a couple of minutes to boogie to your favorite song can actually help "re-set" your mathematical processing abilities.

3. Try a remedy. What you want is calm and focus. A cup of chamomile or passionflower tea (Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer is great), a drop or two of valerian extract (more than that will put you to sleep -- you don't want to do that!) or a couple of capsules of rhiodiola rosea can do wonders to chill you out and help you focus without becoming sleepy.

4. Ask for an extension. Really! Just by requesting it, you can get an automatic six-month extension to file your 2007 taxes. BUT that doesn't exempt you from paying what is due on April 15th without interest and penalties, so if you owe or you think you might owe, you'd better soldier on and pay The Man.

5. Take the pledge to stop procrastinating. It's astoundingly stressful. While in the short term, a few stressors won't hurt you. Long-term chronic stress, also called toxic stress takes a heavy tool on your body and can actually shorten your life. If procrastination is a pattern for you, start keeping a to-do list, begin a regular regimen of meditation, vow to clear your desk every night before you leave your office, exercise regularly to blow of steam, take a vacation from electronics. Do whatever you need to do to chill out.