Are you constantly feeling overwhelmed as a business owner? Many accountants, bookkeepers, tax advisors and fractional CFOs know the feeling all too well. Running your own practice often comes with long hours, constant client demands, and the stress of keeping everything organised. It’s easy to feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day, leaving you asking yourself, “How do I stop feeling overwhelmed all the time?”
If this resonates with you, you’re not alone. The good news is that this feeling of overwhelm and being out of control is often a symptom of your stage of practice growth. It comes with the territory, so to speak. Call it growing pains. Nasty, painful but a necessary rite of passage.
You can stop feeling overwhelmed and regain control of your time by making a few changes. In this article, we’ll explore actionable tips and tactics to help you stop feeling overwhelmed as a business owner and enjoy running your practice again. These insights are based on a recent Accountants’ Growth Club Webinar: Rescue Your Time.
Why are accounting firm owners constantly overwhelmed?
And by accounting firm owners being constantly overwhelmed I am including tax advisors, Fractional CFOs, Portfolio FDs and bookkeepers in this group. Feeling overwhelmed and stressed as a business owner is common. (As mentioned above!) Many practice owners get caught up in the demands of the constant client work and demands and lose sight of the bigger picture. The old ‘working on the business’ vs ‘working in the business’ conundrum.
You might spend hours answering client emails, fixing minor issues, and managing admin and dealing with the people stuff. This then consumes your diary, head space and working hours leaving little room for regular planning and business development. Without the reviewing and planning time, well and headspace, this constant firefighting can leave you feeling overwhelmed all the time, with no clear way out.
A key theme in the webinar was the recognition that this overwhelm stems from poor time management. Without clear boundaries, prioritisation, and delegation, you can easily find yourself buried under a mountain of work. Let’s break down some key reasons why you might be feeling overwhelmed and what you can do about it.
How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed: Identify Time Drains
If you’re wondering how to stop feeling overwhelmed as a business owner, the first step is understanding where your time is going. During the webinar, it was noted that many business owners – particularly accountants and bookkeepers – waste time on activities that don’t add value. Here are some common culprits:
- Endless Emails: Constantly responding to client queries can eat away at your day. Email is so addictive. It will fill all the time you have available if you let it. Set specific times to check and respond to emails to prevent them from becoming a major time drain.
- Unproductive Meetings: Meetings without clear agendas can drag on unnecessarily. Of course, it’s fun chewing the cud with clients. You tell yourself that you are ‘going the extra mile’. But what really happens is you waste time and lose track of your priorities. This is your reminder to be disciplined. I.e. set an agenda, and work to a time limit. You’ll be amazed at how much you can streamline your meetings and free up hours of your time.
- Manual Processes: Are you still manually entering data between software programmes or information sent to you by clients? Automating these processes can save hours each week. For example, can you use a tool such as AutoEntry or Dext to scan in statements to make it easier and quicker to reconcile?
- Low-Priority Tasks: Not every task on your to-do list needs to be done by you. Identify which tasks are low priority and delegate or eliminate them where possible.
Focusing on the Business, Not Just In It
Many business owners, especially in small practices, feel overwhelmed because they spend too much time working in the business, rather than on it. The webinar highlighted that the key to growth is to focus on the bigger picture.
[quote]Our priorities change… but our behaviour doesn’t[/quote]
We often get stuck doing what we have always done. Which is fine up to a point. But if you are to grow and scale your accounting firm you will need to learn that your role and behaviours need to change.
Here’s how your leadership priorities will change as you grow and scale your firm.
1. Use a plan
As your firm grows you will always have too much to do. As a result its easy to get drawn into doing your favourite or normal things. Let’s be honest with each other, who doesn’t get a buzz from getting some interesting client work that you can invoice? But unless you know what is important, everything can seem important as you are growing your firm. This means overwhelm can set in pretty quickly.
To stop feeling overwhelmed as a business owner, you need a clear plan. We advise that you have 3 plans:
- A one—to three-year growth plan that sets out your long-term vision for your business. This includes your 12-week ‘one big focus,’ which is what you will focus on over the next 12 weeks to take the next big step forward.
- Your 12-18 month capacity plan which guides you on when you need to recruit or find extra resource
- Your 12-week rolling operational plan, which shows you and your team what jobs need to get out the door by when
When you join the club your Growth Expert will help you set these plans and also keep you accountable to implementing and achieving them.
Without these plans, it’s easy to get into a situation where you just focus on the immediate priorities. This can quickly lead to overwhelm and a feeling that you don’t have control of your diary or working week.
- Set up a default diary
[quote]Success is about moving from ‘intention’ to ‘attention’[/quote]
When you have your plan you need to move from ‘intention’ to ‘attention’. This means translating your plans into actions that go into your diary. This is often the step that is missed. As a result, plans remain on paper, getting dusty in a drawer or never seen on a shared drive somewhere in your online filing system.
For a plan to have real value it needs to be looked at weekly and then used to focus you and your team on the real priorities. A good way of getting control of your time is to use a default diary often known as ‘time blocking’. This might mean blocking out time in your calendar each week for planning or brainstorming new ideas. Or keeping 1-2 days a week for those itty-bitty meetings with team members and clients that can swallow up the whole week if not carefully planned.
Strategies to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed All the Time
Once you’ve identified where your time is being wasted, and what your role should be. The next step is implementing strategies to help you manage your workload and stop feeling overwhelmed.
1. Prioritise Effectively
Not all tasks are urgent or important. One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is failing to prioritise. Start by categorising your tasks using the Eisenhower Matrix, which breaks tasks into four categories:
- Urgent and important
- Important but not urgent
- Urgent but not important
- Neither urgent nor important
Focus on tasks that are important and urgent first, and don’t get bogged down by those that are neither urgent nor important. By prioritising, you can stop feeling overwhelmed all the time and focus on what truly matters.
Your Growth Plan and the workflow in your firm’s practice management system should be your guide on what is important to do.
2. Delegate Wisely
To stop feeling overwhelmed and stressed, you need to delegate. Business owners often feel they need to do everything themselves, but that’s a fast track to burnout. Start by identifying tasks that can be handled by your team, outsourced, or even automated.
Delegation allows you to focus on higher-value tasks, while empowering your team to take on more responsibility. It’s a win-win situation that can significantly reduce your workload.
3. Automate Routine Processes and get your software talking to each other
Automation is a powerful tool to help you stop feeling overwhelmed all the time. Many small practice owners still spend time on routine, manual tasks that can easily be automated. Part of the issue with accounting firms is that software is often looked at in isolation. When you are considering your tech stack look for software that integrates well and avoids you, your team or client needing to do lots of manual entry.
4. Set Boundaries with Clients and Yourself
One of the key points made during the webinar was the importance of setting boundaries. If you’re always available, clients will expect immediate responses, and this can lead to feeling overwhelmed all the time. Clearly communicate your working hours and response times to your clients. You can also create specific periods in the day for tasks like client communication, so you’re not constantly interrupted.
Setting boundaries with yourself is equally important. Make sure you’re protecting your personal time, and avoid checking emails or working outside of set hours. These boundaries will help you stay productive without feeling constantly stressed.