3 Ways to Accomplish More in Less Time
Author: Financial Cents
In this article
Time is the most precious resource in the world. It can also be a luxury for accountants, especially those dealing with huge companies and startups hoping to scale. Furthermore, meeting deadlines is crucial in this industry as it is vital for proper tax compliance.
If you are an accountant having a hard time managing their responsibilities daily, do not fret. You can find the answer to your problem in these simple productivity tips.
Ways to Accomplish More in Less Time
Tip 1: Work on one project at a time
Some people believe that multitasking can speed up their work, but it is the exact opposite in reality. Every time you switch tasks, you lose time. You may not recognize it, but you end up reacquainting yourself with the task every time you get back to it. Instead of working faster, multitasking or switching from one task to another only adds to your work’s complexity.
Multitasking can also increase the number of mistakes you make. A CNN article suggests that people who multitask pay less attention to what they are doing. Unfortunately, errors are not permissible in the world of accounting. It would be better to focus on one task at a time and finish each as soon as you can.
Tip 2: Create detailed plans
Making a list of things you need to do on paper prepares your brain for the tasks ahead. Making it detailed and breaking it down into actionable steps can even make things easier to achieve. This tip does not mean you have to create a well-designed planner or a detailed timetable on a spreadsheet. A simple bullet list of the things you need to accomplish in a notebook can speed up the process. Creating a list lets you visually see your progress. It also keeps you motivated and helps you budget your time.
Tip 3: Face the biggest challenge first
This might be unnoticeable, but one reason people delay a task or project is that it feels overwhelming. If you keep entertaining this feeling, you might end up delaying it until you have no time left. To avoid this scenario, make sure to get rid of that one big task as early as possible.
Rank your tasks according to priority, importance, urgency, and weight—it is up to you, but make sure to deal with those tasks that are essential but annoying. By getting these out of the way first, you can give yourself peace of mind.
Conclusion
Do not blame yourself for work you haven’t finished. Instead, look at your situation objectively. By doing so, you can learn about the factors that contribute to unproductivity. You could be a fast worker who is dealing with too much work at the moment or someone dealing with difficult circumstances. The most important thing is that you are aware of the problem and find ways to solve it. Remember: even the smallest bit of progress is progress.
Should you need a time tracking for accountants, check out our product. Financial Cents developed a tracker made especially for hundreds of accounting firms that can help you delegate work, manage people’s progress, and communicate more efficiently. Start your free trial today.
Instantly download this blog article as a PDF
Download free workflow templates
Get all the checklist templates you need to streamline and scale your accounting firm!
Subscribe to our newsletter for an awesome dose of firm growth tips.
Subscribe to our newsletter for an awesome dose of firm growth tips.