Did you hear that? It was the giant sight of relief from those of us in the accounting profession as the tax filing deadline finally passed. Sure, that extended April 18^th deadline gave many taxpayers some extra time to file their return, but it meant tax preparers were holding our breath for a little longer than usual.

We sometimes feel like we are alone on an island during the tax season, for even when surrounded by others, our lives are run with such single-minded focus that everything on the periphery tends to fade a little bit. There was even an article on AccountingToday.com about how tax preparers relax during the season, and boy, some of that was just getting up to walk around for five minutes.

With all that being said, I hope you will allow me a little diversion with this week’s spiel, and a few less words than usual.

So to the first part of that, here is the Whose Line Is It Anyway cast bringing you Songs of Accounting – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSranciXOvs.

Yeah, even professional comedians can’t help but call us boring.

Maybe in here, though, is a little bit of a lesson. Not everyone works in an occupation where government-declared deadlines forces a busy season upon you, but everyone has days that feel overwhelming. Everyone has moments when there is too much to do, not enough time to do it, and finding a way out seems impossible.

Those are the days, however, when it can be most important to take a break. Even if it is just a five-minute walk outside, or a couple laps around the office, doing something different for a few moments can be crucial to one’s sanity. And if you are sane, your work output tends to be of higher quality.

Beyond that, having a laugh (and being able to laugh at yourself) helps ease pain and stress as a general rule. And when even a boring accountant says that, it must be true.