Tax Season Survival Guide: Pro Tips for Managing Workloads and Avoiding Burnout
Burnout is not a problem of people being too weak. It’s a problem of people being too strong for too long.
Introduction: Burnout Is a Tax You Pay With Your Body
In Everything Everywhere All at Once, Michelle Yeoh is melting down in an IRS cubicle under fluorescent lighting and audit pressure. Every accountant watching that scene knew it wasn’t fiction. It was a documentary.
February to April brings a specific kind of mental wear. The emails multiply, clients disappear, then reappear with zip files full of mysteries. Days extend into nights, sleep becomes minimal, eating becomes a luxury… focus flickers. And the work? Keeps coming.
A 2023 survey from the Chartered Accountants Benevolent Association found that 78% of accountants reported stress and exhaustion during tax season. 61% said it directly affected their performance. Neuroscientific research adds context: prolonged cortisol exposure impairs the prefrontal cortex: the area responsible for decision-making, working memory, and emotional regulation.
What follows is a set of practices and systems grounded in psychology, tested in accounting firms, and designed to support mental function under stress.
How to Survive Tax Season With Your Brain Intact
Tax season often equals grinding harder once the fire’s already raging. So in order to survive it, you have to prepare in advance. The real key lies in planning: building systems, pacing your workload, and fiercely protecting your breaks before the chaos hits. Don’t wait for burnout to remind you that you’re human. Plan like someone who intends to make it through intact.
Plan Like Your Brain Has Limits (Because It Does)
Fun fact: your brain burns roughly 20% of your daily caloric intake, even though it only makes up about 2% of your body weight. The prefrontal cortex handles high-level work: prioritizing, sequencing, decision-making, and impulse control. It’s super efficient, but it fatigues under pressure and context switching. Neuroscientists estimate your brain makes over 35,000 decisions a day. Most are small, but they burn fuel fast.
Try structuring your day like this and set your boundaries accordingly:
9:00–11:00 → Deep work (returns, reconciliation, reviewing)
11:00–12:30 → Client comms (calls, inbox clearing, checklists)
12:30–1:30 → Break + movement
1:30–3:30 → Admin (uploading docs, sorting folders, checking inputs)
3:30–5:00 → Overflow zone (delays, questions, new fires)
Assign one clear goal per block. Leave an unscheduled hour for the inevitable disruptions. On Fridays, audit your time and energy.
When did you focus well?
What work created friction?
Plan the next week based on your answers.
2. Automate What Your Brain Shouldn’t Be Doing
A well-rested brain still wastes time if it’s bogged down by low-value tasks. The mental cost of categorizing transactions, searching for files, rewriting the same emails, and chasing docs adds up. Fast.
According to the AICPA, tax professionals spend up to 40% of their week on admin work. Not because they want to (shocking, right?), but because it’s embedded in their workflow.
Instead of a full bullet list, here’s a quick inventory to check weekly:
What’s still manual that could be automatic?
File naming
Expense categorization
Where do you repeat yourself?
Client onboarding
Deadline reminders
Status updates
What’s creating the most back-and-forth?
Misunderstood instructions
Missing info
Incorrect file formats
Clean one of those friction points each week. Allow tech tools to help you. The impact compounds faster than a late fee.
3. Boundaries Are a Part of Your Job
“Can you just take a quick look at this?” has a half-life. One or two requests feel fine. By the twentieth, you’re blinking at your inbox like it’s a Rorschach test.
Start boundary-setting with scripts. Not policies, but actual phrases you say or type.
“To meet the deadline, I’ll need those documents by [X date]. Otherwise, we’ll need to file an extension.”
“I’m reviewing returns between 9 and 12. I’ll check messages after.”
“We send weekly updates on Friday afternoons so you can expect a summary then.”
Inside your team, use a visible workload tracker. Overload thrives in silence. Keep check-ins short but consistent.
Remember that most people won’t respect a boundary you don’t believe in. Practice saying it out loud. It gets easier. Once you’ve said NO to something, don’t change your mind under pressure, unless it’s ok to say NO to something else instead.
Others aren’t responsible for respecting your time and mental health; you’re in charge.
4. Care for the Brain That Does the Math
There’s no shortage of wellness advice. What matters is what you can actually follow through on while tired, wired, and mid-return.
Here’s what’s been shown to work in high-cognitive-load jobs:
Microbreaks every hour. Three minutes. Stand. Breathe. Let your gaze rest on something 20 feet away.
Protein over sugar. Prevent the energy spike-crash spiral. Have yourself a breakfast full of protein and nuts. Don’t let that sugar spike appear—it will make you more tired and foggy. Don’t underestimate the power of snacking on nuts.
Sunlight in the morning. It stabilizes your internal clock and improves mood. Walk or cycle at least a small part of your work commute.
Nightly shutdown ritual. Not a big deal. Just something consistent that signals work is over.
Don’t give up on your physical activities. Make time for them. Let yourself rest by getting physically, rather than mentally, tired.
Tell this to yourself when tempted to push through without rest:
My brain is not tired. It’s under-resourced.
And then feed it with resources.
5. Smart Habits Beat Hustle
Simple: hustle piles up effort. Smart habits trim it down. The most productive accountants aren’t working the fastest; they’re working inside guardrails that protect their focus.
Instead of adding more productivity rules, ask: What’s the mental version of a loose shoelace in your day?
Tools that make you click three extra times
Tabs that eat your attention span
Notifications that splinter your thought process
Remove two of those. Not all of them. Just two.
You’ll feel the lift.
6. Prep for the Crash Before It Happens
You won’t prevent the low points. You won’t prevent long hours. But you can build cushions for when they hit. Small ones. Easy ones.
Stash snacks in your drawer that support energy, not steal it. Once already hungry, it’s difficult to choose a healthy snack, so don’t let yourself enter starvation mode.
Have a hoodie or blanket near your chair.
Use noise playlists that soothe without sedating. Neuroscientific research recommends alpha waves-based music, like this playlist.
Pick a tiny reward and schedule it. Not “someday when this is over.” Wednesday night counts.
Also, write down one thing you’re intentionally not doing until after April 15. Stick that note where you can see it.
7. Trap the Lessons While They're Still Fresh
Tax season blurs, and everything that felt obvious in March disappears by May.
Capture the real notes now:
Where did your workflow break?
Which client caused disproportionate effort?
What part of your process made you feel competent?
When did you most feel like quitting or escaping to Maui?
Don’t polish the list. You’ll need it messy and honest. That’s how you walk into next season better armed.
Conclusion: You’re Allowed to Make It Easier; In Fact, You Must
Here is the deal: there’s no prize for running yourself into the ground.
This work is complex. It deserves a system that supports your brain, your time, and your capacity. If your tools are dragging you down? Replace them. You deserve software that actually helps, like Uncat.
Protect the professional. Preserve the person. And as Gwen McCrae sang, keep the fire burning.
Important note to self
If none of this feels manageable (if the fog doesn’t lift, if you’re not sleeping, if you find yourself spiraling or numb), please talk to someone. Burnout doesn’t just resemble depression and anxiety. It can trigger them. Symptoms like emotional blunting, persistent fatigue, disconnection, anhedonia, and loss of motivation are not signs of weakness. They’re signs your system is overwhelmed and needs support.
No deadline is worth your health. If you’re feeling stuck in ways that a checklist can’t fix, reach out to a therapist, coach, or physician. You shouldn’t have to carry that alone.
