As someone who has studied time management for years, I love being able to help accountants to be more productive and effective without burning out in the process.  That’s why I created The Smarter Accountant Productivity Quiz.  

If you can relate to feeling like there’s never enough time to get everything done, not knowing how to properly estimate or guarantee you’ll follow through no matter what or having a never-ending to-do list that creates stress and overwhelm then this quiz is for you.

The quiz will help you discover your Productivity Score, get more done in less time, and save 5 hours a week.  It will also help you learn what works and what doesn’t, giving you plenty of time to get more done without feeling rushed and overwhelmed.

You can simply take the quiz at https://thesmarteraccountant.com/productivity-quiz-2/

Have you ever had one of those days where you sit down to get things done, and somehow… nothing gets done? You start one thing, then another, and before you know it, hours have passed and you’re wondering what just happened.

It’s the worst feeling — especially when you’re trying so hard to stay on top of everything. You’ve got the list, you’ve got the deadlines, but your brain feels like it’s all over the place.

And maybe you’ve started to wonder, “Why is this so hard for me?” or “Is it supposed to feel this overwhelming all the time?”

I hear this kind of thing from accountants all the time. They’re smart, capable, and experienced — and yet, they secretly feel like they’re barely holding it together.

It’s not something most people talk about, but maybe they should. Because when you’re constantly juggling deadlines, details, and distractions, it can start to feel like your brain just doesn’t work the way it used to.

Some people even start to wonder if they have ADHD. Others don’t even go that far — they just think they’re bad at focusing or lazy or falling behind.

But what if that’s not the full story?

What if there’s a reason certain struggles feel louder in accounting than they might in other jobs? What if your brain is doing its best, but the way you work is actually making things harder?

I’m not here to diagnose anyone. That’s not the point. But I do think we need to talk about why so many accountants are dealing with things like procrastination, forgetfulness, or just plain mental exhaustion.

Because once you start to understand what’s really going on, everything starts to make more sense — and feels a lot less personal.

So let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about why the symptoms of ADHD (or even just stress and overload) can show up in really strong ways in accounting. And what that might mean for you.

What Are Common ADHD Symptoms?

When people think of ADHD, they often picture someone who’s bouncing off the walls or constantly interrupting others. But for many adults — especially in high-focus jobs like accounting — the symptoms can look a lot different.

You might notice that it’s hard to sit and focus on one thing for a long time. Your mind wanders, you get distracted easily, or you keep switching between tasks without finishing anything.

You might forget things — little things like where you put that folder, or bigger things like a deadline that completely slipped your mind.

Procrastination is another common one. Even when you know what needs to get done, starting can feel almost impossible. You may wait until the last minute, hoping the pressure will finally push you to act.

Following through can be tough, too. You might start something with energy and focus, but it fades fast. Projects get halfway done and then left behind.

Even simple, everyday tasks can feel overwhelming. Something like reviewing a client’s file or sending a quick email starts to feel like a mountain instead of a molehill.

And then there’s time blindness — losing track of time or underestimating how long something will take. You think a task will take 15 minutes, but an hour flies by and it’s still not done.

Here’s the important part: you don’t need an ADHD diagnosis to experience these symptoms. A lot of people deal with them, especially when their brain is under stress, pressure, or constant distraction.

If any of these sound familiar, it doesn’t mean something is wrong with you — it just means your brain might be struggling to work in the way your accounting job expects it to.

And that brings us to an important question: why do these symptoms seem to show up so strongly in accounting? Let’s take a closer look.

Why Accounting Magnifies These Symptoms

Let’s be honest — accounting isn’t exactly light work. There are always deadlines, always something urgent, and the pressure to get everything right can feel nonstop.

You’re expected to focus, think clearly, and manage a lot of details all day long. And just when you’re finally in the zone, here comes an email… or a call… or someone needing something right now.

Those constant interruptions make it hard to stay on track. Your brain barely gets a chance to settle before it’s pulled in a different direction.

And let’s not forget the long hours. When you’re mentally tired, even simple decisions start to feel hard. That’s when things fall through the cracks or take way longer than they should.

Add all of that up and it’s no wonder you feel drained. Your brain is working overtime just to keep up — and if you already struggle with focus, follow-through, or getting started, the demands of accounting only make it worse.

So if you’ve ever felt like you’re on a hamster wheel and can’t keep up, you’re not imagining it. This job makes it easy for those kinds of symptoms to take over.

Next, let’s look at what that actually feels like in the day-to-day moments that no one really talks about.

What It Feels Like When These Symptoms Show Up

Some days, you open up a tax return or a client file and just stare at it. You know it needs to get done, but it feels so mentally heavy that you keep putting it off. You tell yourself you’ll do it later… but later keeps getting pushed.

Other times, you start something — maybe reviewing a file or writing up notes — and five minutes in, you’re already distracted. You stop, start again, then stop again. It feels like you’re spinning your wheels and getting nowhere.

You sit down to work, and somehow an hour disappears — and not in a good way.

Or maybe it’s the little things. You forget to reply to a client, miss a meeting, or lose track of something simple. And then you feel embarrassed or frustrated with yourself, wondering, “How did I miss that?”

These moments can make you feel like something’s wrong with you — like you’re lazy or not trying hard enough. But that’s not what’s really going on.

This isn’t about being lazy. It’s not about being bad at your job. It’s about your brain being overloaded, and trying to keep up in a way that just doesn’t work for you.

If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. A lot of accountants feel the same way — they just don’t talk about it.

It’s okay to feel this way, and there’s no shame in it. Sometimes, simply realizing that you’re not the only one can be a small step toward finding a way to make things easier.

Now let’s talk about why your brain might be reacting like this in the first place, and what’s really going on behind the scenes.

Your Accountant Brain’s Role in All of This

Here’s something most accountants don’t realize — your brain has a big say in how you feel and function during the day. And when it’s constantly under stress or struggling to focus, it’s not because you’re doing something wrong. It’s because your brain is working extra hard just to keep up.

Brains that deal with ADHD — or even just ongoing stress — tend to have lower levels of dopamine. That’s the brain chemical that helps you feel motivated, focused, and ready to take action. When dopamine is low, even simple tasks can feel impossible to start or finish.

On top of that, your brain’s “executive function” — the part that helps with planning, decision-making, and staying organized — gets weaker when it’s overwhelmed or tired. So things like following through or remembering details can feel harder than they should.

This is why urgent deadlines often feel like the only way to get something done. That last-minute pressure gives your brain a quick hit of dopamine, which can feel like a burst of motivation. But the more you rely on that kind of urgency, the more exhausted and burned out you feel in the long run.

When you understand what’s going on in your brain, it’s easier to stop blaming yourself. You’re not lazy, and you’re not broken. Your brain is just doing what it’s wired to do under pressure — and it’s asking for some support.

So how can you start to work with your brain, instead of against it? Let’s take a look at what that might actually look like.

What You Can Do Instead

If you’ve been trying to push through by just working harder, you’re definitely not alone. Most of us were taught that the way to succeed is to keep going no matter what — to just buckle down, stay focused, and power through. But let’s be honest: if that really worked, you wouldn’t still feel stuck.

The truth is, the harder you try to force your brain to behave, the more it pushes back. That feeling of being scattered, overwhelmed, or stuck in a loop isn’t a sign that you’re doing something wrong — it’s a sign that your brain needs something different.

Instead of trying to push through the hard moments, try slowing down and asking, “What’s making this feel so hard right now?” Sometimes your brain needs a break. Sometimes it needs smaller steps. And sometimes it needs a completely different way of working than what you’ve been used to.

It might mean doing a brain dump at the start of the day instead of trying to hold everything in your head. It might mean breaking a big task into bite-sized chunks. Or it might mean using time blocks to give your brain clear starting and stopping points so it doesn’t spiral.

These kinds of tools — like time blocking, short brain breaks, planning ahead, or even just checking in with how you’re feeling — help support the part of your brain that’s been running on fumes. You don’t need more pressure. You need a system that matches the way your brain works.

And here’s something that surprises a lot of people: your emotional state matters more than you think. Feeling calm, clear, and grounded helps your brain access focus and follow-through much more easily than trying to work while feeling anxious or scattered.

That’s where coaching comes in. Not to give you a list of productivity hacks or force you into someone else’s system, but to help you get to know your brain. 

One of the tools I teach my clients is called The Model — it helps you see exactly how your thoughts are driving your feelings, actions, and results. I’ll explain how a coaching client used it in a minute, but once you understand that connection, everything starts to shift.

You don’t have to figure all this out on your own. There’s a different way to get things done — one that feels calmer, more focused, and a whole lot less stressful.

So what does it actually look like when someone stops pushing and starts working with their brain instead of against it? Let me tell you about a real accountant who did just that.

Becoming a Smarter Accountant: Dealing With ADHD Symptoms In a Productive Way

One of my coaching clients once told me he felt like he was barely keeping his head above water. He said, “I’m always behind, and no matter what I try, I can’t get ahead.” He wasn’t sure if it was ADHD, burnout, or something else — he just knew he couldn’t keep going like this.

He had always been the guy everyone counted on. Organized, focused, sharp. But lately, he couldn’t concentrate for more than 15 minutes. Even the smallest tasks felt overwhelming, and the mental load was starting to wear him down.

He kept trying to fix it by working longer hours — skipping breaks, staying late, even working weekends. But it only made things worse. He told me, “I don’t get it. I used to be so productive. Now I just feel stuck all the time.”

As I mentioned earlier, when we started working together, one of the first things I taught him was something called The Model. It’s a tool I use with all my clients to help them understand the connection between what they’re thinking, how they’re feeling, and what they do as a result.

We used it to look at the thought he kept having — “I can’t focus.” That one sentence was leading to defeat, procrastination, and more overwhelm. When he saw it laid out in front of him, it was like a lightbulb went off. He realized he wasn’t broken — he was just thinking in a way that was shutting him down.

From there, we started building more supportive thoughts, like “I can do one small thing right now.” He began planning in a way that matched how his brain actually worked, not how he thought he was supposed to operate.

He started checking in with how he felt before jumping into a task — and if his brain wasn’t ready, he knew how to shift it. Over time, that mental fog started to lift.

A few weeks later, he told me, “I finished everything I planned today — calmly. I didn’t rush. I didn’t panic. I actually feel proud of how I worked.” He said it felt like he got his brain back.

And the truth is, he didn’t change his job or get some magic app. He simply stopped fighting himself and started using a tool that helped him work with his brain instead of against it.

This kind of shift is possible — even if it’s felt impossible for a long time.

Now I’m going to share the key takeaway from today and an action item for the upcoming week.

Key Takeaway and Action Item

Here’s the big takeaway from everything we’ve talked about: accounting doesn’t cause ADHD — but it can definitely make the symptoms louder. The work itself is demanding, detailed, and constant. If your brain already struggles with focus, follow-through, or managing stress, those struggles are going to stand out even more.

That doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you. It just means the way you’re working might not match how your brain works best. And once you start making small shifts to support your brain instead of fighting it, things really do get easier.

So here’s a question to ask yourself:  “Am I trying to work like everyone else — even if it doesn’t work for my brain?”

This isn’t about judgment. It’s about curiosity. It’s about noticing what’s true for you and being willing to try something different. You don’t have to keep struggling — there’s a better way, and it starts with understanding how you work best.

Pulling Back the Curtain

Now let me pull back the curtain…

I’ve never been diagnosed with ADHD, but I’ll be honest — there have definitely been times, especially during busy seasons or high-pressure projects, when I’ve wondered if I might have it. 

I’d sit down to do something simple, and my brain would suddenly want to do anything but that thing. I’d feel scattered, distracted, and completely drained, even though I hadn’t done that much yet.

What makes this even more personal for me is that my son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was just four years old. From an early age, I had to learn what worked for his brain and what didn’t. I spent years helping him build routines, manage his focus, and understand how to calm his mind when everything felt like too much.

He’s 29 now, and I’m so proud to say he’s a very successful computer programmer. He went from being in special education classes to becoming someone who’s not only thriving in his career but is also highly sought after for his skills and creativity. 

I still coach him to this day — we talk often about how to manage his ADHD in ways that support both his work and his life.

Seeing his journey firsthand has shown me what’s possible when you stop trying to force a brain to work like everyone else’s and start supporting it for how it naturally works. And it’s helped me have a lot more compassion for myself on the days when my brain feels off or overwhelmed.

So if you’ve ever had that thought — “Why can’t I focus like I used to?” — I get it. You’re not broken. You’re not doing it wrong. Your brain just might be asking for something different.

If this episode made something click for you, I’d love to invite you to take The Smarter Accountant Quiz at www.thesmarteraccountant.com. It’s the first most important step to becoming a Smarter Accountant.

And if you’re ready for a real conversation about what’s going on in your work life, you can schedule a free 30-minute call at www.thesmarteraccountant.com/calendar. You don’t have to figure this out alone.

If you know another accountant who might be silently struggling with this, please share this episode with them. You never know who needs to hear that they’re not the only one.

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