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LEARNING RESOURCE

Time Management Tips for Time Crunched
timely, you may text us at the number in our Professionals
email signature lines.” Sharing clear communica-
Provides you with practical time management
tion guidelines with your clients can cut down
tools and tips so you can reclaim your schedule,
on distractions. meet your objectives, and feel more in control.
You should also feel comfortable asking others
about their own preferences. Rader has a CPA CPE SELF-STUDY
client who was meeting with her own clients four
to six times per year. “I asked her, ‘Do they want
to meet with you that often?’ She didn’t know.
She asked them, and they said two was plenty.
For more information or to make a purchase, go to aicpa.org/cpe-learning
That opened well over 20 hours per quarter for or call the Institute at 888-777-7077.
her,” Rader said.

Strive for consistency over speed
Try to always respond to messages within the AICPA RESOURCES
same time period. Saunders aims to respond to
emails by the following business day. “A consistent Articles
cadence is important. It creates a sense of peace “5 Tips for Overcoming Your Pandemic Screen Addiction,” CPA Insider, May
for clients that you’re not dropping the ball,” 10, 2021
Saunders explained. Clients might feel unnerved
“How to Set Professional and Personal Boundaries,” FM magazine, Dec. 2,
if you respond to some emails immediately while 2019
others take days, she noted — they may think
“How to Practice Mindfulness and Lessen Stress,” CPA Insider, April 23, 2018
you’ve forgotten them.
Your clients and colleagues learn from your
behavior, Rader explained. If you always reply
to your supervisor immediately, that’s likely to sees lots of clients who feel overwhelmed and put in
become their expectation. It’s something to keep long hours just to keep up. She encourages them to
in mind when starting a new job, she said. To set boundaries and take time to relax. In fact, taking
course-correct in your existing role, she recom- breaks can help reduce the threat of digital distrac-
mends letting your supervisor know you want to tions, she said. Recharging — through things like
experiment with a new response time by telling exercise or spending time with your family — can
them: “If you feel like I’m dropping the ball, then help you stay focused. When you lose the level of
we can revisit it.” focus required to complete more complicated tasks,
you’re more likely to switch over to email, messag-
Schedule your communication ing apps, or social media, she explained. Then you
One way to develop consistency is by scheduling your may wrap up the day feeling like you worked 10
emails and messages to send at specific times. Rader hours straight but that it wasn’t that productive.
likes an email management tool that allows her to Perceptions also play a role. Generally, more people
schedule messages and pause her inbox. She noted work more hours from home than they did back in the
that a popular messaging app has a function called office, Rader said. But many CPAs who work remotely
“Send Later,” which allows her to schedule chats. That may worry that their supervisors think they’re slacking
way, when she’s working remotely in the early morn- if they’re not extremely responsive. Also, supervisors
ing or late evening, she won’t message her colleagues can over-communicate because they want their remote
outside of business hours. workers to feel included, she said.
This practice can also help you to not get bogged This is why it’s important for organizations to
down in real-time exchanges. “I’ll schedule emails cultivate a culture of trust that allows employees to
for 30 minutes later or 15 minutes later. Sometimes ignore digital distractions more easily. One of the
people don’t even want you to respond right away core values at Grant Thornton is respect, Monahan
because then it turns into a conversation and people said. “Respect was a big component of the messag-
don’t want the conversation,” Rader said. ing around this new way we operate. We felt it was
important to have our partners embrace the notion
Take real breaks that we need to respect our colleagues and their lives
In her role as a time management coach, Saunders inside and outside of the workplace,” he said. ■

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