7 Ways to Improve Your Work-Life Balance as a Firm Owner and Accountant

So, how do you improve your work-life balance? Here are seven tips. 7 Ways to Create Balance in Your Life as an Accountant and Firm Owner

1. Define What Balance Means to You

What does a balanced life look like to you? If you could engineer the ideal life for yourself, what would it look like?

So many firm owners get stuck in this cycle of wanting more and more – more money, more growth, more opportunities. But is that truly what you want? Maybe the answer is yes, and maybe the answer is no. To create balance, you need to figure out how much you truly need to be happy and how you want to spend your time. Ask yourself:

• How do you want to spend your time?
• How much money do you want to make?
• How many hours do you really want to work?
• What do you want to focus your time on?

Answering these questions will help you figure out where you want to be and what will make you happy. From here, you can create a plan to help you reach your ideals.

2. Pinpoint Your Balance “Obstacles”

What’s stopping you from creating more balance in your life? These balance “obstacles” are often self-limiting beliefs – reasons we believe we can’t pursue our work-life balance goals.

What are your balance obstacles?

• Are you afraid of change?
• Are you chasing growth because that’s what “you’re supposed to do”?
• Are you living your life in accordance with other people’s or society’s expectations?

To pinpoint your balance obstacles, you need to be honest with yourself. Once you understand what’s stopping you from creating balance, you can take steps to break down those barriers.

3. Make Balance a Part of Your Firm’s Culture

If you want to create more balance in your life, make balance a part of your firm’s culture. When it becomes a priority for everyone at your firm, it’s much easier to make it a priority for yourself. After all, it’s your job as a firm owner to set an example for your staff.

Better work-life balance means a happier, more productive team. But how do you make balance a part of your culture? We do a lot of things at our firm to ensure it’s a part of the culture, a few of which include:

• We strive to keep our team working less than 45 hours a week, 55 during tax season.
• We encourage our team to take vacations and use their personal time off.
• We also make sure that our managers have time to train staff and that everyone has time to ask questions.

Find out what work-life balance means to your team, and work to help create that environment. This may mean:

• When possible, being flexible with work hours. This is especially true when it comes to overtime. Some may be morning people, while others may be night owls.
• Not forcing them to choose between work and family. If you have a team member that wants to pick up their kids from school and log back on after, encourage them to do so.
• Encouraging your staff to take breaks and vacations.
• Ensuring that you’re not overloading your team. For example, when we see staff working over 55 hours during busy season, that means it’s time for a conversation about their workload and how to reduce it.

Knowing what your team values can help you make balance an integral part of your workplace culture.

4. Shift Your Perspective

Many firm owners feel guilty about prioritizing their work-life balance. For many, taking a break or shifting their priorities can feel selfish or even irresponsible. How often have you felt guilty about enjoying downtime, believing that you should have been doing something more productive?

Shift your perspective and start thinking differently about living a balanced life. Consider it an investment in your health, happiness, and the future of your firm.

5. Focus on Capacity Planning

Capacity planning can be a highly effective tool in preventing work overload. When you know how much work your firm can realistically handle, you can prioritize and keep your plate from getting too full. Alongside capacity planning, be sure you’re hiring before you are at capacity to avoid overworking your staff and yourself.

6. Learn to Say “No” and Prioritize Work You Love

To create balance in your life, you have to learn how to say “no” and focus on doing work you love.

Make sure that you’re only taking on clients who are a good fit for your firm and you enjoy working with. Remember that it’s your firm and you’re in control of your work. You don’t have to work with every client or take on every project.

7. Adopt a Hobby

Work is an integral part of our lives, but it’s not the only thing. To create more balance and joy in your life, adopt a hobby. Play a sport, take up gardening, paint, read – do something you love. For me, this means playing basketball twice a week. Engaging in hobbies can help reduce stress, improve social connections, increase your happiness, and more.

Creating more balance in your life can help you take control of your future and your happiness. As a firm owner, you have the power to create your ideal life and your ideal firm. It’s just a matter of figuring out what that means for you, removing barriers, making balance a part of your firm’s culture, and shifting your perspective.

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Christopher Hayden, CPA, CMA, CGMA is the managing partner of Hayden Nelson & Yoder, a CPA firm based in Pennsylvania. You can learn more about him and/or the firm on their website https://hnycpas.com/.