(originally published April 15th, 2005)

This is tax day, and as I write this, I wonder how many people are rushing through their last minute preparations in getting their tax forms completed and in the mail before midnight.

What is it about having to pay taxes that makes us procrastinate? Well, what is it that makes most people procrastinate about anything? Does the word “fear” mean anything to anyone?

People procrastinate because they don’t want to do something. Though most won’t own up to it, the main reason for procrastination is fear. If you have to do something that you know, or feel, won’t turn out well, you’ll procrastinate. If you don’t want to do something because you don’t want to know the answer, that’s a type of fear.

Think about it this way. If someone called you and said if you came downstairs now you’d earn $10,000, you’d get up from your desk and go get it. If someone you always wanted to go out with suddenly called you up and asked you out, you’d go in a heartbeat. People don’t procrastinate all the time; they pick and choose what they want to deal with or not deal with based on their own parameters and comfort levels.

To overcome procrastination, you have to be willing to stand up to whatever your fear happens to be concerning the action. As Nike says, “Just Do It.” However, if you’re still feeling as though you wish to continue procrastinating, click on this link and learn the Procrastinator’s Creed; after all, if you’re going to do something, which in this case is “not” do something, you might as well learn how to “not” do it right.