By Eric Sudler, M.S.
So apparently, I’m supposed to pay taxes every year. Don’t worry, I filed this year and every year before. Because of this, you would think that it wouldn’t sneak up on me each year, right? Well, it still does. It’s as if April 15th is just invented in my mind each year.
Not that this is a good justification for my behavior, but I’m not alone in my mad dash to file before 11:59pm on Tax Day. A survey by H&R Block indicated that procrastinating on taxes costs people on average $400 because of rushing and consequent errors, resulting in over $473 million in overpayments.
Despite me being in the company of many people across the country, I still can’t help but think that a lot of my buzzer beating tax filings are more within my control than I like to admit. I really started to challenge the belief that Tax Day “sneaks” up on me. Holding this belief allows me to make excuses. Making excuses usually means that I didn’t learn. And those who do not learn are bound to repeat past mistakes.
However, what if I believed that Tax Day didn’t sneak up on me at all? What if I actually knew it was coming up, but did not want to face the annoyance of organizing receipts, documents, W-2s, 1099s, T-1098s, etc.? If I knew it was coming, but wasn’t ready to endure the discomfort of organizing my financial life over the next year, I would probably say something along the lines of, “I’ll do it later. I have plenty of time. April 15th isn’t gonna be here for months.”
It seems to me as though my old friend Frustration Intolerance (FI) has made another unexpected and unwanted appearance. We all know him. FI comes in and out of your life at seemingly random times and he rarely brings good news. A very inconsiderate chap this FI is. He’s the reason your house never gets cleaned. He’s the reason why you haven’t worked up the nerve to talk to that attractive co-worker at your job. He’s also partly the reason why I and many other people wait until the last minute to file taxes. You’d think that FI works for the IRS with all of the late fees and fines that he’s responsible for. If FI wasn’t bad enough, he sometimes travels with his cousin Procrastination. Procrastination is kind of a jerk because you like hanging with him in the beginning, but usually he screws you over in the end.
You see, the longer we put something off, the longer we can live our lives without having to face that frustration. Seems great… at first. The irony of this avoidant behavior is that the longer we wait, the more uncomfortable the consequences will be when we decide to face them or are forced to deal with them.
Therefore, the first step would be to recognize which belief(s) is fueling your FI. Examine how helpful or hurtful that belief is in reaching your goal whether it be filing your taxes or anything else. Challenge that belief and replace it with a more healthy belief that will actually move you closer to your goal. Envision yourself reaching that goal even if it means breaking it up into as many smaller steps as you possibly can. Now I know this isn’t easy. But like everything else in life, it can get easier with practice.
So, next year, when Tax Season hits, instead of thinking, “This always sneaks up on me so it’s not my fault if things do not go well”, I will think, “This only sneaks up on me because I let it. If I act now, it will be much easier for me later. I can stand the discomfort of this process.” Thinking more rationally and envisioning me meeting my goal instead of the negative consequences of failing will truly help me to reduce the procrastination when it comes to filing my taxes.