10 Ways to Optimize Productivity at Work
Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes
With the seemingly never-ending grocery list of tasks and projects for accountants and bookkeepers daily, it’s likely you feel discouraged to complete even more work with less time to finish it.
From managing multiple deadlines, clients, and client deliverables, accountant and bookkeeper’s plates are never empty. And alongside today’s modern—often technology-based—distractions and the recent Covid-19 pandemic, it can be increasingly difficult to stay productive and motivated.
To remedy this issue, we’ve compiled a list of 10 productivity tips for accountants and bookkeepers to ensure you maintain or increase your productivity.
Control your work environment
One of the most reiterated ways to encourage productivity is by controlling your work environment. Generally speaking, this means staying organized, which improves your work efficiency and productivity, but organization takes numerous forms, not just a physically clean, tidy desk. Controlling and organizing your work environment also includes digital organization with your files, clearing your inbox, sorting through paperwork, and ensuring you’re free from distractions (especially if you work from home). A controlled environment translates into control in your work, optimizing productivity.
Use multiple screens
While multitasking isn’t the best way to be productive—as multi-tasking can increase the amount of time it takes for you to focus and refocus on assignments while switching between them—using multiple screens is a way to save time and optimize productivity.
Though using multiple screens might not be the most obvious way to be productive or save time, it’s still a way to encourage productivity when working. Like most people, we’re all sure to keep lots of tabs open at any given time. When completing projects and tasks, you typically need to access emails, documents, notes, and web pages. Using multiple screens allows you to spread out documents and windows, decreasing the amount of time spent clicking between tabs to locate or access different items.
Schedule everything in a calendar
While this may seem “Type A,” scheduling a time for everything, even lunch breaks and administrative tasks, is key to being more productive. Having specific times for certain tasks means you’re more likely to accomplish what you need to in that time frame. Without a time frame, people typically waste vital productive hours. A way to enhance your productivity even more is by using a shared calendar, which gives your team transparency into your availability and holds you accountable for what you accomplish.
Use Uncat
How could we write a blog post about the best ways to be productive without talking about Uncat?
Uncat is an app built for accountants and bookkeepers to help you avoid constantly exporting spreadsheets and chasing down clients for information to categorize uncategorized transactions.
Uncat syncs uncategorized transactions from QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, and Xero, automatically notifying your clients when there are transactions that require their attention. Your client, through a one-click access Magic Link, will go to their Uncat dashboard and enter a description, upload receipts, and fill out any other information you might need from them. Uncat then notifies you—the accountant or bookkeeper—when your client updates their transactions so you can review, edit, and categorize them in your Uncat dashboard. Then, Uncat syncs your selections into the accounting software you’ve connected to Uncat so you can close the books faster, advise your clients, and prioritize your energy on projects worthy of your productive attention. Uncat even integrates with numerous individual softwares vendors and apps, so communication and visibility between you, your team, and your clients are simplified, helping you be more productive.
Uncat is geared towards accountants and bookkeeping professionals seeking to be more productive in their practice, so book a demo or start a free 14-day free trial to see how Uncat can augment your productivity!
Use automated technology
To successfully manage and run an accounting firm or bookkeeping business, automated technology is crucial these days. Practice/project management software is one of the most popular and powerful tools to optimize your and your team’s productivity.
Using Project management apps organizes and streamlines many aspects of your practices, from client accounts to deliverables. Additionally, similar to putting everything in a calendar, practice management software encourages team collaboration, accountability, and transparency, which are all favorable to productivity and getting work done efficiently.
Popular practice/project management apps include Financial Cents, Karbon, Jetpack Workflow, Aero Workflow, Ignition, Liscio, and others.
Beyond practice or project management apps, you can also adopt expense management and reporting and analytics software, payroll software, CRM software, and other apps to your practice to save even more time and promote productivity. Check out our Build the Best Accounting Firm Tech Stack for your Business blog post for more information.
Take breaks
Some of us might be under the impression that we have to work nonstop during our work hours in order to claim productivity. But realistically, despite working 8-hour (or more) workdays, we typically aren’t actually working the full 8 hours.
Research from a study conducted by Vouchercloud found that the average office worker is only productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes out of the working day. But that doesn’t mean you have to work for nearly 3 hours straight. It’s important not to burn yourself out by forcing yourself to work more than most people are capable of doing. Taking breaks throughout the day to break up your workday is key to optimizing productivity and staying motivated to work better.
Many office workers cite the Pomodoro Technique as a great way to space your work and breaks. But use whatever system or balance between taking breaks and working is best for you, and be consistent with it. Consistency with your breaks will help renew your energy when you get back to work.
Monotask
While people often proclaim their mastery of multitasking, especially since it seems necessary in an office setting to accomplish everything quickly, multitasking actually isn’t the best way to be productive. In reality, multitasking can increase the amount of time it takes for you to focus and refocus on assignments while switching between them, and you’re less likely to get quality work done because our brains can really only focus on one task at a time.
In contrast to multitasking, monotasking—focusing on one thing at a time—means prioritizing your focus on one task and minimizing distractions, such as email notifications, until the task is finished or a certain amount of time has passed. Minimizing interruptions through monotasking is key, as researchers at the University of California, Irvine discovered that the average office worker is interrupted every three minutes and five seconds, and it takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus on their previous task.
All of these distractions add up in the end, as Jonathan Spira—author of “Overload! How Too Much Information Is Hazardous To Your Organization”—estimates these distractions waste 28 billion hours a year and nearly $1 trillion to the U.S. economy (The Washington Post). Monotasking aims to create more meaningful, productive engagement with our work and environment.
Minimize paperwork
It seems like everything is going digital these days, and the accounting and bookkeeping industry is no exception.
Switching to the cloud or digitizing your files on an electronic system reduces the space required to sort and store physical copies. Plus, an electronic system makes searching through documents much easier and faster, especially when you and your team adhere to a standardized system like sorting by last name, date, or company name.
When going digital, everything is at the touch of your fingertips. For example, if a client calls with questions, you can quickly access their paperwork on your computer and productively answer their questions right then and there.
Designate time for emails and messages
While you might worry that you need to constantly check your inbox, Slack channels, or Microsoft Teams, unless you’re waiting for a critical response or are in an actively imminent conversation with others, it’s more productive to check these notifications during a designated period—as continuously checking your email or messages throughout your workday disrupts your workflow. While email and messages can’t be avoided all together, there is a fine line between being responsive and letting messages, emails, and phone calls rule your work life and productivity.
Stick to your work-life balance
Accountants and bookkeepers are often at risk of burnout with the sheer number of hours put in the complete client work or other tasks, especially during tax season, when approaching a deadline, or around the holidays.
It’s important to maintain a work-life balance and strictly follow it to avoid burnout and lowered productivity. Knowing you have a set number of hours to finish your work pushes you to be more efficient and productive.
A great way to ensure you and others abide by your business/working hours is by adding them to your calendar, your email signature, and changing your status to “do not disturb” after your working hours conclude. Most of the time, unless it’s an emergency, an email, Slack, or Microsoft Teams message can wait until the next morning.
And that’s it! While you don’t have to incorporate every tip in this article to optimize your productivity—as trying too many new processes all at once can be overwhelming—give a few a try, see how they benefit your firm or practice, and even modify them to fit your needs and goals. Remember that consistency is key to any tip(s) you choose to implement.
Have other tips to increase productivity and save time? Feel free to share them or tell us which tip(s) you plan on trying out.
Want to see how Uncat optimizes productivity and saves you time in practice? Book a demo or start a free trial today!