As I write this, it is march.

March!

When we start talking about tax season as soon as the calendar turns to a new year, April feels so far away. But then it is like, well, January hardly counts. And then February is still early. Suddenly, though, it’s March and now April is just next month.

And this is how procrastination builds. Few people start by saying they are going to put things off until the last minute. No one really wants to subscribe to that as a life rule. But when you have ‘enough’ time to take care of something whose deadline is in the future, it moves to the bottom of the to-do list and then the longer something lives there, the easier it is to keep it there.

At some point, you become acclimated to how much it doesn’t have to get done yet. Then each time something else comes up that is more important (or more fun), it receives priority and gets done first.

But now suddenly, it is already March.

So this week, I am not writing about big, surprising news (we knew the way the calendar worked when this season started) or any tips, tricks, knowledge, etc. Instead, this is just a call to put thought into when you are ACTUALLY going to get this stuff done.

I am not casting predictions of impending doom if you don’t get everything in order and complete this weekend. It is still EARLY March even, so there is time. But I am going to say it’s time to no longer leave your tax prep chores on the bottom of the list and start to carve out time for it. In fact, I will push this a little further and say that you should have it all done by the end of this month and leave April as your buffer.

If you are the type of person who needs a little more of a push to really get this done, though, then why not make your appointment to get your taxes done. If you have that on the calendar staring at you, you will be forced to complete what you need done beforehand.

For if you do get all this done, if you stop the procrastination spiral, then you can ease the stress that you feel next month. And how good a deal is that? Wouldn’t you choose to do what is needed now to give yourself peace in the future?