Procrastination is putting off or avoiding doing something that must be done. Excessive procrastination can result in guilt feelings about not doing a task when it should be done. It can also cause anxiety since the task still needs to be done.

There are many reasons why people procrastinate. Here are the most common reasons:
1. Perfectionism. A person's standard of performance may be so high for a task that it does not seem possible to meet that standard.
2. Fear of Failure. A person may lack confidence and fear that he/she will be unable to accomplish a task successfully.
3. Confusion. A person may be unsure about how to start a task or how it should be completed.
4. Task Difficulty. A person may lack the skills and abilities needed to accomplish a task.
5. Poor Motivation. A person may have little or no interest in completing a task because he/she finds the task boring or lacking in relevance.
6. Difficulty Concentrating. A person may have too many things around that distract him/her from doing a task.
7. Task Unpleasantness. A person may dislike doing what a task requires.
8. Lack of Priorities. A person may have little or no sense about which tasks are most important to do.

You are said to procrastinate excessively if you agree with five or more of the following statements:
1. I often put off starting a task I find difficult
2. I often give up on a task as soon as I start to find it difficult.
3. I often wonder why I should be doing a task.
4. I often have difficulty getting started on a task.
5. I often try to do so many tasks at once that I cannot do any of them.

A cannibal was walking through the jungle and came upon a restaurant operated by a fellow cannibal. Feeling somewhat hungry, he sat down and looked over the menu…

• Broiled Missionary: $10.00
• Fried Explorer: $15.00
• Grilled Republican: $200.00
• Baked Democrat: $150.00

The cannibal called the waiter over and asked, “Why such a price difference for the Politicians?”

The cook replied, “Have you ever tried to clean one? They’re so full of crap it takes all morning.”

Two women friends had gone for a girl's night out. Both were very faithful and loving wives, however, they had gotten over-enthusiastic on the Bacardi Breezers.
Incredibly drunk and walking home they needed to pee, so they stopped in the cemetery.

One of them had nothing to wipe with so she thought she would take off
her panties and use them. Her friend however was wearing a rather expensive pair of panties and did not want to ruin them. She was lucky enough to squat down next to a grave that had a wreath with a ribbon on it, so she proceeded to wipe with that. After the girls did their business they proceeded to go home.

The next day one of the women's husband was concerned that his normally sweet and innocent wife was still in bed hung over, so he phoned the other husband and said, "These girl nights have got to stop! I'm starting to suspect the worst... my wife came home with no panties!"

"That's nothing" said the other husband, "Mine came back with a card
stuck to her ass that said, 'From all of us at the Fire Station. We'll never forget you.'"

Doggone it! I just got this and had to share it with somebody.

THE SIMPLIFIED EXPLANATION OF THE TAX STRUCTURE:

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."

Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two"

The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him.

But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier. Or not reinvest in the community.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia

Simplified explanation?