会计可以是整体工作/生活平衡的伟大职业。但是，正如任何会计师所知道的那样，在“繁忙的季节”（通常是从一月到三月的审计师，或者为处理税收的人到四月）并非如此）。长时间是常态。当我做一个time diary projecta few years ago looking at professional women with families, I found that few people worked more than 60 hours a week, but of those who did, the majority turned out to be accountants in the midst of their busy season ramp-up.
没有什么乐趣。不过，与会计师交谈，他们会告诉您，这些长时间的时间迫使某些时间管理策略。这些策略对于试图应对生活中繁忙季节的任何人都有用。
Plan Ahead
Sometimes you can’t anticipate a work deluge, but oftentimes you can. Busy season rolls around at around the same time every year, so veteran accountants know to plan for it. They take care of life-maintenance tasks, such as getting the car serviced, before busy season hits. Some even talk of “paying in” to various relationships ahead of time, taking a good friend out to lunch at the beginning of January because the accountant won’t be able to come to her birthday get-together in March.
Do It First
Mornings are a great time for getting things done in general (see our story onWhat The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast), but this is especially true during busy season. Anything scheduled after work can get jettisoned by work woes. Smart accountants take care of personal priorities before work woes intrude.
Mary Sweeny, a partner at a small accounting firm, has been in the business for years. She noted that the culture at a big firm she used to work for seemed to value staying late, “but I still wanted to spend time with my children. So I negotiated that I would come into work at 10 a.m.” She spent the morning hours–6:00-9:30 a.m.–with the kids, and then dropped them off at daycare on the way to the office. “It made staying until 9-10 p.m. not so terrible.”
优先考虑自我保健
像所有机器一样，如果没有加油，人体也会散发出来。南希·穆奇（Nancy Muench）说，即使她准备大量的纳税申报表，“我每天都去健身房。有很多人放弃这一点。”But she’s found ways to work it in. Her gym has a spin class at 5:30 a.m., and “the pool opens at 5 a.m. so, worst case, I can always to go to the pool at 5 a.m., swim my mile and be done, and get into the office by 6:30 or 7.” She tries to eat well–microwaving a giant bag of steam-in-the-bag veggies for lunch if necessary (they taste better topped with Parmesan cheese)–and she’s figured out that sleep doesn’t take time, it makes time. “I try to get 7 hours,” she says. “I can’t go on 5 hours. At 2 in the afternoon I’m unproductive and I have to be productive until at least 6, 7 at night.”
Cut Out The Commute
增加工作时间的最无痛方法是停止通勤。通常会浪费在汽车上花费的时间，而花在西装和打包午餐的时间也可以重新部署到实际工作。Sweeny说：“在进行大型审核时，仍有可能进行远程办公。”“我将确保进行所有面试，并在2-3天内收集我从客户那里收集的所有文件，然后在其他日子里可以在家工作。削减通勤和个人准备时间释放了宝贵的时间。”智能公司采用使远程协作成为可能的软件。
Schedule Work And Schedule Breaks
入学代理人凯茜·卡文（Cathy Cavin）说：“在白天，我使用时间跟踪计划Moostito get things done–especially things I don’t feel like doing. I set the timer for 10 minutes and at least start on it.” She also uses it to take breaks, “like right now, to stretch for five minutes and read my favorite websites before getting back to work.” While breaks might seem like wasting precious work time, “Not taking 5 to 10 minute breaks every 1 1/2 hours leads to a massive headache before the end of the day,” says Cavin. “I really try to take a lunch break, even if just for 10 minutes, and read a little of a good book while eating.”
招募村庄
如果您被淹没了，您可能会感到惊讶的是，您可以将多少正常任务耕种。卡里萨·柴尔德斯（Karissa Childs）说：“我今年借给我的狗给姐姐的一部分。这使她在我的清单上少了一件事，这些东西还没有完成（而感到内gui的一件事）。”
Batch Tasks To Boost Focus
Muench reports that she stacks client conversations on some days, but on others, “I just work on returns all day. I’m very efficient when I do that.” To be sure, clients do call, but she returns these calls during natural breaks at noon and 5 p.m. All other times are for buckling down and doing the work.
Remember You Aren’t Always Working
Yes, a lot of evening TV time or weekend time will become work time. Childs, who has young children, reports that “Weekend nap time is work time during busy season.” On the other hand, “I have tracked my time consistently for a couple of months now, partly as a reminder about how much time I don’t work.” Even if you’re working 70 hours a week and sleeping 49 hours a week (7 per night), that leaves 49 hours for other things. You can squeeze a lot of quality into those 49 hours if you try.
Remember It’s A Season
远景。DVR您最喜欢的节目，让杂志堆积起来，并计划在忙碌的季节结束后返回他们。Sweeny说：“大多数大型会计师事务所在夏季提供大量休息时间。”一年，她通过将无薪假期与带薪休假日相结合的孩子的大部分暑假休假。这使生活显得更加可持续。“当您在夏天花8周而无需工作时，在冬天花10周的时间像疯狂工作似乎还不错。”