The Day After Tax Day: Now What?

Tax Day comes every year. Actually there are multiple ones, January 31st (W2s and 1099s), March 15th (Corporate/Partnership due date) and then the big one which has a habit of never falling on it's targeted due date, "April 15". For four years I've focused every ounce of energy into tax season. Exhaustion and fatigue start to get the best of you and then it's silently over. The last return gets filed and you go home, early. Back to reality. Which is....? 

                

April 16, or "the day after" always prompts the question... "now what"? What is your reality? The reality is the mounds of clothes that have been piling up, the dust collecting throughout my house, the bathroom that I should have scrubbed months ago, the takeout straws and receipts collecting in my car. Most importantly though is the reality that I'm exhausted and I have to find a way to rest. Last year I thought a trip to the Hawaiian Beaches sounded about the most relaxing I could imagine. In retrospect our girl's trip to Oahu was exciting but anything but restful! 

 I looked into renting a cabin on Lake Jocassee which looked pretty restful and  peaceful, but I didn't want to do it alone. I had a couple friends offer me their cabins just for a chance to get away, but again... In the end I decided to just collapse in my bed, and the next morning I headed out to a coffee shop to people watch and draw. It was rainy and cloudy outside and calm. No phones were ringing, nobody saying my name, no one yelling at me. Just calm. Bliss. 

 

What are your most stressful deadlines and how do you decompress? What works for you and what doesn't?