Walter Moore – Page 10

News For Your Week Ahead: February 16, 2021

Posted on February 17, 2021March 12, 2024 by Walter Moore

New COVID Relief Law Now Signed | Checks Start This Week

The Maryland Legislature passed Governor Larry Hogan’s Maryland RELIEF Act of 2021 this past Friday and the bill was signed into law on Monday, February 15. Beginning TODAY, Tuesday, February 16, Comptroller Peter Franchot and the staff of the Comptroller’s Office will begin processing more than $200 million in payments to our most vulnerable families, people stuck awaiting decisions on their unemployment insurance claims, and struggling businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Visit the RELIEF Act Information page on the marylandtaxes.gov website to:
• check eligibility for payments
• watch a video from Comptroller Franchot
• read Frequently Asked Questions
If you have any RELIEF questions, call (833) 345-0787 or email ReliefAct@marylandtaxes.gov

Sales and Use, Tobacco Taxes | Digital Advertising Tax Imposed, Tobacco Taxes Increased

The Maryland Senate voted to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill that taxes digital advertising in the state. The legislation was vetoed by Gov. Hogan on May 7, 2020. Tobacco taxes are also increased under the bill. Digital Advertising Tax Digital advertising includes ad services on a digital interface, including banner ads, search engine ads, interstitial ads, and other comparable types of ads.

The digital advertising tax rate is based on the assessable base (annual gross revenues derived from digital advertising in the state) at the following rates:

2.5% of the assessable base for a person with global annual of $100 million through $1 billion;
5% of the assessable base for a person with global annual gross revenues of $1 billion through $5 billion;
7.5% of the assessable base for a person with global annual gross revenues of $5 billion through $15 billion; and
10% of the assessable base for a person with global annual gross revenues exceeding $15 billion.

Returns and payments are required as follows:

persons with annual gross revenues from digital ads in the state of at least $1 million in a calendar year must file a return and make payment on or before April 15 the next year;
persons that reasonably expect annual gross revenues from digital ads in the state to exceed $1 million must file a declaration and pay estimated tax, on or before April 15, June 15, September 15, and December 15 of that year.

Tobacco Tax Increases

Tobacco tax rates are increased as follows:

the tax per pack of cigarettes is increased from $2 to $3.75;
the tax on other tobacco products is increased from 30% of the wholesale price to 53%.

In addition, the sales tax on electronic smoking devices is imposed at 12%. The sales tax for vaping liquid is 60%.

Effective Dates

Although the bill provides for effective dates of tax years beginning after 2020 for the digital ad tax and July 1, 2020 for the tobacco tax changes, under the Maryland Constitution, vetoed legislation is effective 30 days after the Governor’s veto is overriden. Since the veto was overriden on February 12, 2021, the effective date of the legislation is March 14, 2021.

See H.B. 732 for more information.

News For Your Week Ahead: February 15, 2021

Posted on February 15, 2021March 12, 2024 by Walter Moore

IRS, Summit Partners Issue Urgent EFIN Scam Alert to Tax Professionals | IR-2021-34

The IRS, state tax agencies, and tax industry warned tax professionals of a new scam email that impersonates the IRS and attempts to steal Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (EFINs).

The Security Summit partners said the latest scheme, arriving just before the start of the nation’s tax season, should serve as another reminder that tax professionals remain prime targets for identity thieves. These thieves try to steal client data and tax preparers’ identities that will allow them to file fraudulent tax returns for refunds.

For more information, click here.

Wolters Kluwer Webinar – PPP Updated Legislation: Requirements, SBA Guidance and Tax Implications | February 18, 12 – 1 p.m. ET

Wolters Kluwer’s Tax and Accounting and Banking Compliance segments have come together to provide this unique event that will offer expert insights from both the tax and commercial lending perspectives on the updated legislation and SBA guidance affecting the PPP program, including discussion of tax implications.

Commercial lending expert Michael Fuchs will provide a status update on the current round of PPP funding
Tax and accounting expert Greg White will walk you through:
- key requirements,
- the latest SBA guidance,
- forms & required documentation, and
- tax ramifications of receiving loans and forgiveness under the PPP.

To register for this event, please click here.

Your Voice is Needed on NFIB’s Maryland Priorities | NFIB Small Business Legal Center

With bill introduction deadlines looming, policy makers in the General Assembly are rushing to get their legislative initiatives into the hopper.

House Bill 581 / Senate Bill 486 – The “Essential Workers’ Protection Act” – this bill, as introduced, will have far reaching consequences for nearly every small business in Maryland. While the definition of an “essential employer” and “emergency” are cause for concern, there are also other provisions troubling to the state’s job creators:

Hazard Pay – employers required to pay workers defined as “essential” an additional $3 per hour in hazard pay
Paid Leave – a new paid leave program whereby employers must provide 3 days of bereavement leave and 14 days of sick leave
Right to Refuse Work – employees would be able to refuse work they deem hazardous without any clear definition or right by the employer to address potential abuse

For more information about NFIB’s position, click here.

New IRS Form Available For Self-Employed Individuals to Claim COVID-19 Sick and Family Leave Tax Credits Under FFCRA | IR-2021-31

The IRS announced that a new form is available for eligible self-employed individuals to claim sick and family leave tax credits under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

Eligible self-employed individuals will determine their qualified sick and family leave equivalent tax credits with the new IRS Form 7202, Credits for Sick Leave and Family Leave for Certain Self-Employed Individuals. They’ll claim the tax credits on their 2020 Form 1040 for leave taken between April 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020, and on their 2021 Form 1040 for leave taken between Jan. 1, 2021, and March 31, 2021.

Continue reading IR-2021-31 here.

Educators Can Now Deduct Out-of-Pocket Expenses For COVID-19 Protective Items | IR-2021-28

Eligible educators can deduct unreimbursed expenses for COVID-19 protective items to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the classroom. COVID-19 protective items include, but are not limited to:

face masks;
disinfectant for use against COVID-19;
hand soap;
hand sanitizer;
disposable gloves;
tape, paint or chalk to guide social distancing;
physical barriers (for example, clear plexiglass);
air purifiers; and
other items recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be used for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19.

Continue reading IR-2021-28 here.

Critical Tax Credit Provides Significant Refund Boost to Millions

The Earned Income Tax Credit is the federal government’s largest refundable federal income tax credit for low- to moderate-income workers. See the IRS EITC news release for information on how to check eligibility, to see a list of workers who may be at risk for overlooking this important credit, helpful IRS YouTube videos and more.

To learn more about this tax credit, click here.

Correction From Last Week

In last week’s eWeekly, Jackie Brown’s name was published incorrectly. We would like to again congratulate Jackie Brown on her new position as MACPA’s CEO!

#TechTips: Compliance Lives

In this installment of #TechTips, we discuss the usefulness and the importance of cloud based storage and software. While we all have skepticism with the cloud especially as it pertains to compliance, when you stop and look into the uses, this is the future of accounting.

Working From Home: Why is my internet so slow?

Posted on February 12, 2021March 12, 2024 by Walter Moore

While working from home shortens the commute, you may be wondering why is my internet access moving slower than when I was at the office? The answer to your question is your internet bandwidth. While many companies have a larger internet bandwidth at work you may not have the same at home.

Many of us pre-COVID may have streamed a few videos on YouTube and buffering may not have been much of an issue. Now with everyone at home on video conferences, you may not have enough bandwidth. Now while looking at your Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) website you may not be sure what you need. To help, please see what each of the metrics means as it relates to bandwidth.

Download Speed: Download speed reflects how quickly you can access things online. Faster download speeds will load your websites, Netflix movies, and work email more quickly. Basically this is how fast data can come in to your various devices.
Upload Speed: Upload speed tells you how quickly you can put things on the internet. Faster upload speeds will help get the more picture perfect video conference you are looking for or that email to send more quickly. Basically this is how fast data transfers out.
Data: Everything you do online uses data, with streaming and downloading large files typically uses up the most data overall. Most internet providers allow you to use at least one TB of data each month but some offer unlimited data at a higher billing rate.

Review.org gives a very good recommendation for high speed internet and how much download and upload speed the most popular video web conferencing apps utilize (Zoom, Slack, Skype, Cisco Webex, Google Hangouts, etc.)

We hope you all are remaining safe and productive during this difficult time.

#TechTips – Compliance Lives!

Posted on February 11, 2021March 12, 2024 by Walter Moore

By Jonathan Rivlin, CPA

You know you’ve been around for a while when the stuff you were taught in school is later found to be incorrect. Case in point, Pluto is not a planet. My very educated mother just served us noodles, instead of nine pizzas. Some people take offense to this; as if Pluto, an object of impossible distance, an object that had existed for most of human history without human awareness of it, could know of its own demotion, let alone care.

From an accounting point of view, the concept of conservativism, once taught as one of the pillars of our profession’s conceptual framework has also been found to be outmoded. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but if you have strong opinions on this, please use the email below to share your thoughts!

One thing that hasn’t been outmoded, is the concept of professional skepticism.

To that end, I’d like to apply this towards those endless barrage of articles that spell the end of compliance at the hands of CAS.

Last year, in the ‘before times’, that oldest established granddaddy of publications, the Journal of Accountancy, published a survey that made statements that clients didn’t value compliance and the future of accounting lay in the cloud.

Now if you’ve been following these posts for the past 2 years, you’ll know that we have walked the bleeding edge of cloud technology in our firm, but there is no way that our clients don’t care about compliance. I don’t know about your clients, but my clients absolutely care about keeping their nose clean and see me as their primary means of doing that. Accountant as kleenex, as it were.

I don’t mean to besmirch the cloud. Bank feeds, when they work (that’s a future post), are a game changer, but they, and AI and the like are not the death knell of compliance. As long as we have a Congress that likes to change the tax laws, the laws of thermodynamics state that accountants will be the counter force to the inevitable entropy of our clients’ supporting documentation. (I may have fudged that last one; physics wasn’t my thing.)

What I never understood is why we have to have one thing over another, why we have to look for the silver bullet that cures everything. We don’t live in that world, any more than we live in a world where people don’t care about complying with the tax laws. People actually do care about complying with the laws. While you get a few that do it for altruistic and selfless reasons, most care because they just want to go along and get along without the government giving them any grief.

And also, the cloud is a useful tool to assist with compliance.

The professional skepticism of our training should see this false dichotomy for what it is.

Don’t be cowed into thinking that tax work is going away – it most definitely ain’t.

And also, the cloud can help take some of the burden out of compliance work.

One last thing, the acronym, CAS – client accounting services is the standard term. I prefer ‘cloud accounting services’ as it seems more accurate and BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) to refer to ‘client accounting services’. Call me a rebel – now that conservatism is out, we can stretch a little!

We’d like to hear from you! Please submit your own tech tips to us! We will award a free subscription to The Tax Book to the person who submits the best tip. Please submit your tips to this email address: techtips@msatp.org

Thanks, and catch you next time!

Expanding or Downsizing a Practice During a Pandemic

Posted on February 10, 2021March 12, 2024 by Walter Moore

Over the past year, practitioners have had to deal with a deadly pandemic, a flood of PPP loans from business clients along with the normal rigors of running a practice. Many of you may face the loss of business clients that will not survive the pandemic. Other practitioners, nearing retirement, may finally say “no mas” after going on record that they would work only one more year after the Great Recession of 2008/2009.

The new reality is that Practitioners with smaller practices, or those who want to sell a certain segment of the business, may be a good fit for someone who wants to replace clients lost due to the pandemic. There will be some noticeable changes in the process due to the pandemic. Buyer and seller meetings may be less frequent and more virtual. Over the last year, I have noticed that deal structures are requiring more flexibility. True up clauses or revenue price adjustments are the general rule and not the exception. True up clauses are necessitating good seller transitions.

Financing will be available through both the SBA and conventional channels though deals under 200k are often done without bank financing. Current SBA programs are offering incentives to borrowers, but one needs to be careful when choosing an SBA lender. Some SBA lenders will not allow true up clauses that allow for the adjustment of a purchase price. Ices are

Larger practices are also being listed and sold. In many cases, the dynamics are the same except they generally involve more people and larger levels of financing. Transition stress can be mitigated especially if one or more partners are willing to stay on in some capacity after the closing.

If you are interested in a growth strategy (buy-side) or exit strategy (sell-side), please feel free to email me at cliff@nationalaccountingsales.com or call me at (914) 722-2019.

Cliff Reiter

National Accounting Sales, Inc.

News For Your Week Ahead: February 8, 2021

Posted on February 8, 2021March 12, 2024 by Walter Moore

The Maryland Association of CPA’s Announces Appointments of Tom Hood and Jackie Brown

The Maryland Association of CPAs’ Board of Directors is proud to announce that Tom Hood, CPA, CITP, CGMA, is joining the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association) as executive vice president of business engagement and growth. Hood, who has served as MACPA president and CEO for the past 24 years and is widely recognized as one of accounting and finance’s most influential figures, will report to the Association’s CEO, Barry Melancon.

The MACPA’s board has appointed Jackie Brown to succeed Hood as the association’s president and CEO. Brown, who has spent the past 40 years as part of the MACPA team and has served as its chief operating officer for the past 23 years, will provide continuity of leadership during the transition.

To learn more about this exciting development please see here.

U.S. Department of Labor lssues Rule to Simplify lndependent Contractor Classification | NFIB Small Business Legal Center

One question long presenting difficulty for small businesses is whether someone qualifies as an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Today, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) clarified this distinction with the issuance of a final rule setting forth the appropriate standard to determine who qualifies as an employee or independent contractor.

For more information, read the full release here.

Correction of Forms 1099-MISC for Certain CARES Act Subsidized Loan Payments | Announcement 2021-2

This announcement notifies lenders who have filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), or furnished to a borrower, a Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Information, reporting certain payments on loans subsidized by the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (Administrator) as income of the borrower that the lenders must file and furnish corrected Forms 1099-MISC that exclude these subsidized loan payments.

Section 1112(c) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Pub. L. No. 116-136, 134 Stat. 281, 309-310 (March 27, 2020) (CARES Act), 15 U.S.C. 9011(c), authorizes the Administrator to subsidize certain payments of principal, interest, and any associated fees owed by a borrower on certain loans. Section 278(c)(1) of the COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020 (COVID Relief Act), enacted as Subtitle B of Title II of Division N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Pub. L. 116-260, 134 Stat.1182 (December 27, 2020), retroactively provides that such a payment is not included in the gross income of the person on whose behalf the payment is made. This provision is effective for taxable years ending after March 27, 2020, the date of the enactment of the CARES Act. Section 278(e)(1) of the COVID Relief Act. Section 278(c)(2) provides that no deduction shall be denied by reason of the exclusion of the loan payments from gross income.

For more information, continue reading Announcement 2021-2 here.

#TechTips: SurePrep & TaxCaddy, Pt II

In this installment of #TechTips, we discuss SurePrep & its client facing app, TaxCaddy. SurePrep Binder, as you may recall, is a work paper organizer that allows all levels of staff to review and organize a set of tax documents. TaxCaddy is the client facing side which allows clients to scan or take pictures and OCR the documents into your SurePrep software for review. This exciting tech will save you time and money!

Posture: Remember Being Told Sit Up Straight?

Posted on February 5, 2021March 12, 2024 by Walter Moore

In our previous post we gave 3 tips and tricks on maintaining a healthy work-life balance while working from home. We would like to continue this week on providing further tips, as it pertains to maintaining good posture. I recall in grade school being told over and over to “sit up straight.” Now more than ever this small piece of advice, while it seemed so inconsequential then is essential now. Good posture is essential to maintaining a healthy work from home lifestyle during this pandemic. Some may find this difficult, especially since many may not be utilizing dedicated office furniture which is designed to assist in maintaining proper posture.

I think most of us have noticed new aches and pains in our back and neck, or is it just me? While it may seem inviting to sit or lay on your bed and couch, this not only is bad for productivity, but it is also bad for maintaining good posture. Now that you are up (kidding), pick out a comfortable chair in your home, preferably an office chair with lumbar support like what you would have at the office. If you do not have a chair with adjustable lumbar support, use a small pillow or towel roll on your lower back to help you prevent slouching over your desk by keeping your lower back (lumbar area) supported while sitting up straight. Another option that has become popular during the pandemic, while admittedly stylish to the younger crowd, are gaming chairs. These chairs, which resemble a plush race car seat, provide excellent lumbar support and comfort as they are designed for gamers which often sit for long periods of time similar to an office environment.

Other things you will need to investigate are things like the height of your desk to prevent you from slouching over your keyboard. If your screens have you looking at a downward angle, consider stands for your screens or laptop. These will raise your screens or laptop and are often adjustable to suit people of all heights and are inexpensive. If you are in a pinch, a stack of books or reams of paper will suffice.

Always remember like your doctor or chiropractor may say, keep your head above your shoulders and hips, sit evenly, and most importantly sit up straight. We also recommend that you take breaks every so often getting up and stretching to prevent aches and pains from setting in.

Working from home has certainly presented new challenges. We would like for you all to continue to have a healthy lifestyle despite less than ideal settings.

For more tips please see this article from Linea Rochford at Performance Therapies, P.C.

#TechTips – The Sky is Falling!

Posted on February 4, 2021March 12, 2024 by Walter Moore

By Jonathan Rivlin, CPA

It seems that the world ends at the start of each new tax season.

We go to our usual cycle of continuing ed classes, which, as an aside, I have to say that seeing Bob J and Bill L go at each other over the webinars is one of the most reassuring things to be grateful for in the era of COVID19. Moving on; the continuing ed classes we take in the waning months of the tax year bring with it a host of new rules, modifications, extensions, and all sorts of…crazy.

One of the fathers at my kids’ daycare said that he would like to consider moving to the tax prep industry. I asked him what he was doing currently and he said, “I build radars for guided missles.” Not making that up. I replied that, “You can’t prepare a tax return, stick with your current job.” He got offended, as if I were impugning his intelligence.

Not true! I explained that, “You deal with logic and rational thought processes. Your equations are F=MA and a2+b2=c2. We deal with Assets = Liabilities + Equity and Gross Income – Adjustments = AGI – (Greater of Standard or Itemized Deductions) + AMT (if applicable) – non-refundable credits + excise and surtaxes – payments and refundable credits – liability or refund (to apply or payout) + penalties and interest if applicable. You deal with gravity and the laws of mechanics. We deal with the gravity of fear and greed.”

He stared at me as if I were speaking gibberish.

Finally, I said it like this, “I only got better at practicing in this profession when I stopped trying to understand the tax law.” He then laughed and we went into the daycare to pick up our kids.

The point of this story is that while we attempt to impose a professional construct of rational thought and reasoned processes, the fact is that there’s a lot of subjectivity in what we do.

No greater evidence of this is felt than when I hear the conversations at a lunch break (when we still had in-person seminars) about how, “I’m going to retire after this season! This new law or that new rule makes no sense!” That would be our fear, or exasperation.

Recently, in the barouque time of February 2019, one of the big issues we were rending our garments over was the IRS’ position that we’d have to include the value of parking spaces in the gross income of our employees thanks to some problematic interpretations of IRC Section 274s more arcane sub parts.

Your humble Tech Tips was dispatched to write a post about it. I did research the matter, noting that the AICPA sent a detailed request for clarification to the IRS, of which the latter responded to the former with IRS Rev Proc 2019-99.

The general idea was that whether an employer owned a building, or simply rented an office, they’d need to take some insane conjuring of numbers to ascertain the value of a parking spot and remove said value from rent expense and include it in salaries expense.

I can think of a lot of replies to such a notion and none of them are fit to print, which is one reason that article was never written. Your humble Tech Tips couldn’t get more than a few sentences out without wanting to kick a hole through the monitor.

Recently, the IRS realized that even they can push too far and reversed itself with the requirement.

The entire controversy rendered itself moot.

The point here is to take all of the nonsense that gets thrown our way with a grain of salt. Even the QBID stuff hasn’t been that big of a deal. It’s just another form to fill out – and bill for. And it will go away at some point.

Tax provisions come and go.

We need to keep an even keel.

Thanks, and catch you next time!

#TechTips: SurePrep & TaxCaddy, Pt II

Posted on January 28, 2021March 12, 2024 by Walter Moore

By Jonathan Rivlin, CPA

Two years ago, if you can believe it (where does the time go?), we covered a series of cloud based apps in the initial cycle of this blog. We’ll now revisit some of them to see which ones work, which ones didn’t, and mark an essential truth about cloud accounting: Gone are the days of deciding whether to pay for an upgrade to the next year’s version, or camping out to wait in line for a CD-ROM. The software we use today is constantly updated, patched, fixed, and improved. It’s a much better way of working, though it does mean that we don’t get to pretend we’re saving money by not upgrading to the next year’s software.

This time, we’re going to profile the app, SurePrep Binder and its client facing app, TaxCaddy.

Our firm has used these apps for three seasons now and we’re even more set on keeping this app than we were before, especially after this most recent tax season; a season to end all seasons.

A quick recap of what these apps are:

SurePrep Binder is a work paper organizer. It allows all the levels of staff (from admin to junior to reviewer to partner) to each read through and organize a set of tax documents. Each team member can sign off with a unique marker and they can also place tickmarks, highlights, and other notations directly on the source documents. As the return is finalized and file, the SurePrep binder is then printed to a PDF that preserves the notations and links. This PDF can then be posted to your firm’s secure portal (see our post about CanopyTax for secure portals) for safe storage.

The best part of this app is that there’s a feature that integrates the data in the SurePrep Binder into your firm’s tax software. Most of the major platforms are supported. We use Lacerte in our firm.

I swear; this is the most beautiful button in all of tax prep. It’s a little innocuous blue button with the word ‘Tax’ emblazoned on it. Pushing that button sends the W2s, the 1099s, the 1098s, the K1s, and even some other document types directly into your tax software. Data entry is reduced to simply pushing this button!

The software isn’t cheap, but it is less expensive than a junior accountant and it doesn’t make mistakes, nor does it take sick days. The robots aren’t coming; they are already here and you’d be remiss if you don’t consider implementing them into your practice. The efficiencies to be gained are beyond compelling.

TaxCaddy is the client facing side of the program. It is similar to Intuit Link only with a better interface and forgive the pun, it’s more intuitive to use, for all parties (preparers and clients). The TaxCaddy app features a mobile app, in addtion to a webpage, that can allow the client to use their mobile phone to take pictures of their tax documents.

This isn’t like a normal picture though. TaxCaddy’s software turns the image into an OCR’able document. This process is what allows the most beautiful button in all of tax prep to do its magic.

Additionally, TaxCaddy facilitates secure signing of engagement letters, 7216 Use and Disclosure consent forms, and the compliance questionnaire. You can also use their eFile Release Form signature request workflow.

We also post the clients’ tax returns to the app upon completion of the return. That way, when the inevitable request for a return comes in, we can direct them back to the app to download it.

Prior to SurePrep Binder and TaxCaddy, we had to have several file cabinets to store W2s, organizers, 1099s, and all the other paper that comprises a tax file. We would painstakingly pore over each document, hard code them into Lacerte, make scans of the documents and then return the documents to the client with their printout of the return. We would be reliant on a team of people, admin and production staff, to make all this happen.

After three seasons using these apps (SurePrep Binder and TaxCaddy), our process is: post up the engagement letter and questionnaire, send out the invites. As people fill post up their docs, we can then bounce that down into the SPBinder, and then push the most beautiful button in all of tax prep. Then we review the data for accuracy – and we can have more time for analysis and planning. Completion of the return is another push of the button to create PDFs from Lacerte and post them to TaxCaddy.

It’s such an amazing thing to not have to worry about a bottleneck of paper return assembly, especially down the final stretch of the season.

We’ve saved on paper, copies, toner, postage, envelopes, staffing, and most importantly, time – even after taking the software cost itself into account.

The accounting industry is going through a succession issue at the moment. I’ve noticed that succession and transition isn’t limited to our industry; it’s going on with our clients, too. One thing the younger generations are demanding from their service providers, including tax preparers, is on-demand cloud based technology.

One way to future proof your firm is to embrace the future.

Food for thought.

Good luck with your coming tax season and stay safe!

Thanks, and catch you next time!

Maintaining a Healthy Work-Life Balance During COVID-19

Posted on January 27, 2021March 12, 2024 by Walter Moore

1. Take Breaks

In the office we often would have a coffee break or meet with a coworker to have a mental break from our tasks. Even though you are apart from coworkers, still take a 15 minute break every couple hours just to break up the day. Also, be sure to have a lunch break as you normally would so you can not only replenish your body with nutrients but also mentally.

2. Disconnect and “Go home” on time

Make sure when you are done with your work day, at your normal time to completely disconnect unless it is an absolute emergency. Spend your evening enjoying time with your family which is the reason you are staying at home, to protect them from COVID-19. This is our natural time to relax and recuperate from a stressful work day.

3. Keep in touch with friends and family

While in-person meet ups are often discouraged, set up a virtual get together to touch base with friends and family. While this is not optimal, you can still connect and talk about life and maintain social interactions with friends and loved ones. If you are able to meet at a park or open public area while maintaining safe social distancing, this is also a good practice just to break up the “cabin fever.”

We hope these tips and tricks help you in your professional life and keep you in a better mental state. We here at MSATP wish you and your family a happy and healthy life and want everyone to stay safe during this difficult time.