Happiness Project-Work!

This is a very difficult time for many CPAs workwise.  We have just come off of a very busy time and quite frankly, it’s sometimes very hard to get back in the swing of things when you virtually have 5 months before another big deadline.  That’s why I decided this month would be a great one to work on my work guilt.  Here are a few of the changes I plan to make this month:

1.  Wake up every morning at 6:15.  I have a terrible time getting myself out of bed in the morning…in fact, that is 100% of the reason that I am never on time to work.  SO, every work day this month, I plan to get out of bed at 6:15…this should give me more than enough time to get to work by 8:00.

2.  Spend only 15 minutes in the morning getting ready for the day.  For some reason, I always have a hard time getting going in the morning…mainly because of the normal distractions of getting coffee, eating breakfast, and checking e-mail and voicemail.  This month, I resolve to spend only 15 minutes first thing in the morning “getting going.”  After that, it’s time to pick up the first project and get started.

3.  Use the 50/10 rule.  One of my biggest problems is distractions such as e-mail and phone calls coming in.  This month, I resolve to try to stick to the 50/10 rule.  Spend 50 minutes focused on one specific activity.  Then, spend 10 minutes dealing with any tasks that came up during those 50 minutes that could have been distractions.  After that, it’s back to 50 minutes of focus. 

4.  Make a To Do List for the next day before I leave the office at night.  Another issue I always have with getting my day started is not having a clear project in mind to work on when I walk in the door.  My resolution is to take 10 minutes to make a to do list for the next day before I ever leave the office at night.

Here’s to hoping this holds me accountable.