Before I get started I just wanted to share an amazing review of this podcast that I just saw.  The reviewer, PaladinGirl89, wrote:

“I am so grateful I stumbled upon Dawn Goldberg on LinkedIn.  I read one of her posts and thought, ‘She is describing my life.’  As a seasoned CPA with over 30 years of experience, I was getting tired of the stress and overwhelm that was affecting not only myself, but my family and friendships.  With Dawn’s guidance and my listening faithfully to her fabulous podcast, I am well on the road to enjoying my career again!”

Isn’t that amazing?!  Thank you so much PaladinGirl89.  Since I have no way of knowing your first and last name, if you are listening, I would like to offer you a free 30 minute coaching session for taking the time to write that review.  Please email me at dawn@thesmarteraccountant.com and we’ll get something booked on the calendar.

And for anyone else who would be kind enough to leave a review of this podcast, all you need to do is take a screen shot of the review, email it to me at dawn@thesmarteraccountant.com, and I’ll also offer you a free 30 minute coaching session!

Have you ever looked at your calendar and felt a little anxious? Maybe it’s full of meetings, tasks, reminders, and color-coded blocks… or maybe it’s mostly blank and you’re not even sure what your plan is for the week.

The funny thing is, most people don’t give their calendar much thought. It’s just where you put things you need to remember, right? Like meetings or deadlines or dentist appointments.

But here’s the truth no one talks about—your calendar actually says a lot about you. Not just what you’re doing, but how you’re thinking. And sometimes, it’s not saying what you think it is.

The way your calendar looks isn’t random. It’s shaped by your choices, your habits, and even how you feel about time. You might think it’s just a tool, but it’s more like a map of what you believe is important.

If you’re always busy, your calendar probably shows it. If you’re always behind, it shows that too. It doesn’t lie. It quietly tells a story about what you’re dealing with—and what you might be avoiding.

Sometimes it’s not even about what’s on your calendar, but what’s missing. No space for breaks. No time to think. Nothing for yourself. And yet you wonder why you feel so stretched.

It’s easy to believe we’re just doing our best to stay organized. That the chaos or the overload is just part of being busy. But if we’re honest, our calendars usually reveal more than we’d like to admit.

As a time management coach for accountants, I find peaking at my client’s calendars can be as personal as looking through their bedroom closet.  I see the good, the bad, and the ugly.

And I’ll be honest – I’ve had moments where I looked at my own calendar and thought, “No wonder I’m exhausted.” It wasn’t just what I had planned—it was what I wasn’t planning that made things worse.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed or like there’s never enough time, your calendar might be showing you why. And that’s not a bad thing. It’s actually a good place to start.

There’s something powerful about looking at your calendar with fresh eyes. It helps you see what you’ve been prioritizing, even if it wasn’t on purpose.

So the next time you feel stuck, overbooked, or behind, don’t just blame your workload. Take a look at your calendar. What is it quietly telling you?

And more importantly—what would you want it to say instead?

Why Most Accountants Struggle With Their Calendar Without Realizing It

For a lot of accountants, if we’re being completely honest, the calendar is more of a reaction than a plan. You start with a few meetings or deadlines, and before you know it, your entire week is filled in—with very little thought about what you actually need.

The problem is, most people use their calendar as a way to remember things, not as a tool to protect their time. That means you’re often responding to whatever comes your way instead of choosing how to spend your time on purpose.

You might think you’re managing your calendar, but in reality, your calendar is managing you. It’s making the decisions for you—when you’ll work, what gets your attention, and even how much space you have to breathe.

And here’s the tricky part: your calendar reveals your true priorities, even when you don’t mean it to. If you’re always booked with client work and leave no room for rest or family, it’s easy to see what’s running the show.

Most accountants don’t mean to overcommit or ignore what matters most. But without a plan that’s based on intention, your calendar ends up being shaped by urgency, pressure, or what other people want from you.

So even if it looks like you’re being productive, your calendar might be telling me a different story.

And that’s where things start to fall apart—because if you don’t take control of your calendar, it will quietly take control of you.

Let’s look at why that’s such a big problem—and how it might be affecting more than just your time.

The Real Reason Your Calendar Is Wearing You Down

When your calendar is packed from morning to night, it might look like you’re being productive—but it rarely feels that way. Instead, it often feels like you’re running behind, no matter how much you do.

Without clear boundaries built into your calendar, overworking becomes the norm. You go from one task to the next, squeezing in more than you probably should, and still feel like it’s not enough.

This is how burnout sneaks in. You start each day already tired, trying to play catch-up, and pushing important work aside to deal with what feels most urgent in the moment.

The more you let your calendar fill up without purpose, the less time you have to think clearly. There’s no breathing room, no pause, and no space to recharge. And that starts to wear on you—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Even though you’re busy all the time, it can still feel like you’re failing. And that’s one of the hardest parts: doing so much but still feeling like you’re falling short.

The problem isn’t that you’re not working hard enough. The problem is that your calendar is working against you.

Now that we’ve talked about how it’s hurting you, let’s look at why your brain is wired to set you up this way without you even realizing it.

Why Your Brain Makes Calendar Management So Hard

Here’s something most accountants don’t realize—your brain plays a huge role in how your calendar ends up looking. It’s not just about habits or workload. It’s about how your brain is wired.

Your accountant brain loves things that feel good right away. It doesn’t like effort or decisions that take a lot of thought. So instead of planning deep work or important tasks, you fill your calendar with things that feel easy and urgent.

That’s why it’s so tempting to say yes to another meeting or a quick client request. Those are the “easy wins” your brain is looking for. The harder stuff—like planning ahead, thinking strategically, or setting priorities—gets pushed off because it takes more effort.

There’s also a part of your brain called the prefrontal cortex. It’s in charge of planning and decision-making. But when things feel urgent or stressful, that part of your brain gets pushed aside. Emotions take over, and long-term thinking goes out the window.

So when your calendar is vague or wide open, your brain doesn’t stay calm and focused. It panics. It defaults to whatever feels urgent in the moment, whether it’s checking email or putting out a fire.

Even worse, every time you make a plan and don’t follow it, your brain learns that it’s okay to break your own rules. Over time, it gets harder and harder to trust yourself to stick to a plan.

The more disorganized your calendar is, the more your brain operates in survival mode. And in survival mode, it’s nearly impossible to think clearly, stay focused, or feel in control of your time.

Now that you know what’s really going on in your brain, let’s talk about what your calendar is actually showing me about you—and how to use it as a smarter tool.

What Your Calendar Is Telling Me About You

If I took a look at your calendar, I could tell you a lot about how you’re thinking. Not because I’m a mind reader—but because your calendar doesn’t lie.

It shows me if you’re constantly putting out fires instead of working on what matters most. It shows me if you’re giving your time away without even realizing it.

It shows me if you know how to set and stick to boundaries.  It shows me if you know how to effectively prioritize or if you give into procrastination.

Your calendar tells me whether you’re making decisions in advance—or letting your day get decided for you. It tells me if your brain is planning from calm, clear thinking or reacting in survival mode.

A smarter calendar always starts with a smarter mindset. That means thinking from your future-focused brain—not the part of your brain that’s just trying to get through the day.

When you make decisions ahead of time, your calendar becomes a tool you can trust. It reflects priorities, not pressure. It protects your time instead of draining it.

If your calendar is packed, scattered, or blank, it’s telling a story. And that story is coming straight from the way you think about time, work, and yourself.

You don’t need to fill every minute—you need to make the minutes mean something. And when your calendar reflects that, everything changes.

Let me show you what this looks like in real life—through the story of a coaching client who learned to let her calendar speak for her in a whole new way.

Becoming a Smarter Accountant: Taking Back Control of Her Calendar

I once worked with a coaching client who came to me completely overwhelmed. She told me, “I don’t have time for anything right now.” Her calendar was packed, her to-do list was a mile long, and she felt like she was constantly behind.

When we looked at her calendar together, something became very clear. Almost everything on it was for someone else. Meetings, calls, client work, follow-ups—her whole week was filled with things other people needed from her.

There was no time set aside for focused work. No space to think, plan, or catch up. It was just one thing after another, all day long.

On top of that, her calendar kept changing. She’d move blocks around, squeeze things in, and stay up late trying to finish what didn’t get done. And still, she felt like she was always falling short.

As we talked, I helped her see what her calendar was really saying. It was showing her that, deep down, she believed everyone else came first. That if she just took care of everyone else’s needs, maybe she’d get to herself later.

But “later” never came.

We started shifting that mindset. She began to understand that her time was valuable, too—and that her calendar needed to reflect that. Not just in theory, but in actual time blocks that protected her priorities.

She learned to make decisions ahead of time and stopped treating her calendar like a suggestion. Little by little, things started to change.

Within a few weeks, she wasn’t just keeping up—she was actually finishing early some days. She felt more in control, less stressed, and more confident in how she spent her time.

The best part is that her calendar didn’t just look different. It felt different. And so did she.

Okay, now let me share a simple takeaway from everything we’ve talked about today.

Key Takeaway and Action Item

The key takeaway is simple—Your calendar isn’t just a schedule. It’s a mirror. It reflects your thoughts, your habits, and what you’ve been prioritizing—whether you meant to or not.

If it’s packed with back-to-back meetings, constantly shifting tasks, or large empty blocks you hope to “figure out later,” that’s not just poor planning. It’s untrained thinking. And that’s something you can change.

Smarter time management starts with managing your mind. It means planning on purpose—not out of stress, urgency, or habit—and following through with the help of a well-trained brain.

So here’s what I want you to try this week:  Take a few minutes to really look at your calendar. Ask yourself, “What is this calendar saying about me?”

Does it reflect what matters most to you? Or is it showing that your time is getting pulled in every direction?

Pick one small change. Maybe it’s blocking time for deep work. Maybe it’s removing something you don’t really need to do. Or maybe it’s just protecting your lunch break.

Whatever it is, start there. One simple change can lead to a smarter, more intentional calendar—and a whole lot more peace.

Pulling Back the Curtain

Pulling back the curtain for a moment…

There was a time when I thought the fuller my calendar was, the more successful I must be. I packed every day from morning to night—meetings, client work, errands, everything. If there was a blank space, I’d fill it. I didn’t stop to ask why. I just kept going.

In fact, I carried around one of those big leather bound planners like it was a prized bible.  It went everywhere with me as some strange badge of honor, like, “Look at me.  I’m so organized.”

But the truth was, I was drowning. I told myself I was being productive, but really, I was trying to prove I was valuable. I thought if I stayed busy enough, no one could question my worth—not even me.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that my calendar had become a burden. It was running me, not helping me. I was chasing approval, not protecting my time.

Everything shifted when I learned how to train my brain. I stopped using my calendar to prove something, and started using it to support myself. I learned how to create boundaries with time, not just fill it up.

Now, my calendar serves me. It reflects what matters, protects what’s important, and gives me space to think and breathe. And it’s not because I work less—it’s because I think differently.

If this sounds familiar, and you’re tired of feeling like your calendar is in charge, I want to help.

Start by taking The Smarter Accountant Quiz at www.thesmarteraccountant.com. It’s a quick way to see if and how you’ve been underutilizing your accountant brain which will absolutely affect how you manage your time.  

Then schedule a free 30-minute call with me at www.thesmarteraccountant.com/calendar. We’ll talk through what your calendar might be telling you—and how to make it work smarter.

And if you know another accountant who feels like their calendar is running the show, send them this episode. It might be exactly what they need to hear.

The truth is, you’re already smart. But this podcast will show you how to be smarter.