Have you been trying to find some sort of harmony between your work life and your personal life?  Do you feel overwhelmed trying to balance it all?

I’m sure a lot of us can agree that having a successful accounting career is already challenging but when you add the fact that we’d like to have a life outside of work as well, it can become very daunting.    

Today, I want to explore two approaches – work-life balance and work-life integration – in a way you may not have considered before.  As accountants, we often find ourselves struggling with the question of how to juggle demanding deadlines and client expectations while still still having time for a personal life.  

If you’re in public accounting, maybe you can relate to this scenario:  It’s tax season, and you find yourself buried under a mountain of paperwork.  Meanwhile, your family is waiting for you to come home for dinner, attend a child’s soccer game, or leave for a romantic weekend getaway you’ve been planning for months. 

Throughout my 30+ year career in public accounting, I’ve struggled with figuring out how to be the best accountant I could be, but also the best wife and mother as well.  There have been many uncomfortable moments over the years, trying to figure out how to do it all.

I’m sure you’ve probably got your own stories of missed doctor’s appointments, plans that needed to be canceled, or people that were frustrated with the fact that you’re a busy accountant.  The struggle is real, and as accountants, we’ve all been there.

We’ve also all heard the term “work-life balance”, urging us to draw a clear line in the sand between our professional duties and our personal time. It’s like putting objects on a balancing scale, ensuring that neither work nor personal life takes precedence over the other. 

On the surface, the idea is simple – figure out a way to allocate our time and energy to both aspects of our lives in equal measure.

On the flip side, there’s the newer concept of work-life integration. This concept encourages us to blend both worlds so they can coexist harmoniously. It’s like a beautifully choreographed dance where work and life move together, each complementing the other. 

Even if you’re familiar with these two concepts, the distinction between work-life balance and work-life integration is important, and understanding the nuances can significantly impact your professional and personal satisfaction.  The truth is that as the accounting profession continues to struggle with retention, we need to evolve our strategies for managing the demands of our careers and the desire for a fulfilling personal life.

So, whether you’re a seasoned accounting professional whose career isn’t sustainable at the pace you’re going or you’re a newcomer trying to figure out how to make your career work for you, I want to help you unravel the difference between work-life integration and work-life balance and offer guidance on how you can create a sustainable accounting career.

Understanding Work-Life Balance

From the time we learned accounting in school, we are very familiar with the term “balance.”  We prepare Balance Sheets and we balance budgets.

But when it comes to work-life balance, that’s where things get tricky.  All of a sudden it becomes like delicately balancing the scales of justice, with all the same drama as a Court TV episode. 

Whether we want to admit it or not, having some semblance of balance is crucial for our mental and physical health, relationships, and overall well-being. 

While the idea of work-life balance can be unique for every accountant, I want to offer you a few strategies that might help:  

Prioritization: While we all have a lot of work to do, we also need a better way to prioritize everything that needs to be done.  When I teach prioritization, I teach my clients to identify high-impact tasks and focus on them first, helping them to get more done in less time and have time for the things and the people they love.

Set Boundaries: The next skill you need is to be able to set and stick to boundaries.  Clearly defining working hours, communicating them to colleagues and clients, and sticking to them is one of the cornerstones to the ability to have work-life balance. Establishing boundaries also creates a structured work schedule. 

Take Breaks: Lastly, you must incorporate regular breaks during work hours for productivity and preventing burnout. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this or not, but the optimal amount of time for your brain to focus is 90 minutes.  This will not only improve your productivity but will also help you prevent burnout as well.

Bottom line – you can be a dedicated accountant and still prioritize work-life balance.  In fact, I would argue that the people in your life professionally and personally need you to focus on your well-being so that you can sustain the career you’ve worked so hard for. 

Exploring Work-Life Integration

While you’re probably much more familiar with the concept of work-life balance, the concept of work-life integration can be a potential game-changer. Unlike the traditional balancing act inherent in work-life balance, work-life integration is more fluid.  

Think of work-life balance like a seesaw, with work and personal life on opposite ends needing equal weight. Now, imagine work-life integration as a Venn diagram, where work and personal life overlap, finding common ground and synergy.

The interesting thing is that you may already be incorporating work-life integration and not know it.  Here are some examples of Work-Life Integration:

Flexible Work Hours: This is when you adjust your work hours to fit personal commitments, like starting early for school drop-offs.

Remote Work: If there’s one positive effect that came from the pandemic, it’s showing the accounting industry that remote work can actually work.  With remote work options, it allows you to be present for family obligations while meeting work deadlines from home.

Just in case you still need some convincing, here are some of the benefits of work-life integration:

Reduced Stress: By being able to break free from rigid schedules, this can allow for lower stress levels and feeling more in control of your time.

Increased Flexibility: This is an important benefit because work-life integration allows you to adapt to professional and personal demands for a more sustainable and fulfilling lifestyle.

Enhanced Well-Being: Lastly, if we want to be accountants for the long-term, we need to be able to have our work and our life contribute to our overall well-being, not create lasting issues physically, mentally, and relationally.

I don’t want to overlook the fact that challenges do exist, such as the risk of overworking or struggling with boundaries.  So, whether you prefer work-life balance or integration, the key is finding what suits you, your accounting career, and your personal life best.

Pros and Cons: Work-Life Balance vs. Work-Life Integration

As I mentioned before, both work-life balance and work-life integration offer their own unique set of advantages and challenges. Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of each approach.

Work-Life Balance

Pros:

Clear Boundaries – If you can set effective boundaries, setting clear work hours allows you to create structure, helping separate work and personal time.

Prevents Burnout –  The accounting profession is in big trouble if they don’t address the issue with burnout.  Maintaining a separation between your work and your personal life can reduce the risk of burnout, offering a mental break.

Cons:

Rigidity –  Sometimes a strict 9 – 5 just isn’t going to cut it.  Strict schedules may not accommodate unexpected personal needs or work demands.

Limited Flexibility – As we all know, life can be unpredictable, so one of the cons with work-life balance may be the struggle to adapt to unpredictable work scenarios or personal activities during traditional hours.

Work-Life Integration

Pros:

Flexibility – If flexibility is important to you, work-life integration might be your best bet.  It offers high flexibility, allowing the blending of work and personal activities.

Enhanced Well-Being – In my experience, the better I feel, the more productive I am.  That’s why I think it’s important to point out that integrating well-being or self-care into the workday creates a more sustainable accounting career.

Cons:

Risk of Overworking – Unfortunately, without clear boundaries, there’s a risk of overworking and difficulty disengaging from work responsibilities.  If you’re not careful, it can seem like you’re never punching out from work.

Potential for Distraction: Another issue is if you’re not skilled at being able to focus, then integrating personal activities during work hours may introduce distractions, affecting productivity.

While some of us thrive in the structure of balance, others find freedom in integration. Either way, you want to be open to looking at both approaches.

The truth is that what works in one season of life may change over time. The goal is to find an approach that suits you professionally and personally, rather than conforming to a rigid model.

Becoming a Smarter Accountant: Strategies For Achieving Either Work-Life Balance Or Work-Life Integration

Since I’ve incorporated various aspects of work-life balance and work-life integration into my career over the years, and have helped my coaching clients do the same, I want to offer you some practical and easy-to-implement strategies.

Let’s start with some simple strategies for achieving work-life balance as a Smarter Accountant.

1. Effective Time Management

• Prioritize Tasks: Use “The Decision Matrix” to focus on high-impact tasks first.  Even though your brain will want to do what it considers urgent, you have to intentionally decide what are the high-impact tasks.
• Batch Similar Activities: Group similar tasks to streamline workflow.  When you work on the same type of task, even if it’s for different clients, you reduce the cost of task switching.
• Time-Blocking Techniques: I teach a time-blocking process that combines brain management and time management, but make sure you’re planning your time and not trying to manage your time from a to-do list.

2. Set Better Boundaries

• Define Working Hours: Hands down, setting and sticking to boundaries is one of the biggest issues my coaching clients have.  You need to learn how to effectively communicate your hours to colleagues and clients and honor your own boundaries.
• Limit After-Hours Communication: For work-life balance to be sustainable, you need to designate specific times for checking emails.  This has been a game-changer for myself and my coaching clients.
• Set Realistic Deadlines: No matter how valuable you want to be to your company or your clients, you need to learn to set realistic, achievable timelines and deadlines to manage stress.  Even though we have a lot of deadlines as accountants, self-imposed deadlines are incredibly helpful.

Now, let’s dive into strategies for embracing work-life integration:

1. Effectively Use Technology:

• Mobile Accessibility: For work-life integration to work, be open to using mobile apps and cloud tools to make it possible to work from anywhere, but don’t become some dependent on having access that you never stop being plugged into work.
• Collaborative Platforms: Another important thing to consider when making work-life integration work for you and everyone you work for or with is embracing real-time communication tools for efficient collaboration like Microsoft Teams or Slack.
• Automation: Lastly, by automating repetitive tasks, you make it possible to get more done in less time which then frees up time for personal activities.

2. Be Mindful Of Task Switching:

• Transition Rituals: Something that often gets overlooked in our busy days is developing habits marking transitions between work and personal activities.  Make sure you have a way to let your brain know that you’re stopping your focus on professional things or vice versa, you’re stopping your focus on personal things.
• Sequential Planning: Arrange tasks in a sequence that complements your energy levels throughout the day.  Since I’m a morning person, I’m always looking to plan the most mentally taxing work earlier in the day, allowing for more mindless activities to happen towards the end of the day.
• Purposeful Planning: And speaking of planning, you have to learn how to plan your day intentionally.  As I tell my coaching clients all the time, “If the math doesn’t work with your time management, you have to be even more intentional when you plan your calendar.”

Remember, with work-life integration it’s about finding a flow that supports both professional and personal aspects of your life without exhausting yourself. It’s always going to come down to choosing what works best for you in the long run.

Hopefully you now have a better understanding of the difference between work-life balance and work-life integration.  Whichever one you choose, be open to trying different strategies until you find the best way to have a sustainable accounting career.

As I shared in my book, “The Smarter Accountant,” the world needs Smarter Accountants; not burned out, stressed out, frustrated accountants that dread going to work, who are overwhelmed by everything happening both professionally and personally, and who are considering walking away from the profession.  

Hopefully, you can see how either work-life balance or work-life integration can help you.  Whether you choose one of these or not, just know that an easier accounting career is possible.

Well, that’s what I have for you.  Thank you for joining me as I discussed the difference between work-life balance and work-life integration.  I hope you’ve gained valuable insights and practical tools.

Here’s what I want you to know – embarking on a fulfilling accounting career shouldn’t be an uphill battle.

Imagine a professional life where stress and overwhelm take a backseat, where long hours and tight deadlines no longer define your days. If you’re ready to regain control, the 5-minute Smarter Accountant Quiz is your first step towards a more balanced and sustainable accounting career.  

This quiz isn’t about debits or credits – it’s about you.

You’ll be able to uncover the obstacles holding you back and unlock the key to a more rewarding professional life. Fortunately, your career doesn’t have to be overshadowed by burnout and frustration.

Simply go to the www.thesmarteraccountant.com to take The Smarter Accountant Quiz. 

If you are struggling with any aspect of being an accountant, you can simply go to www.thesmarteraccountant.com/calendar and book a free session with me.

Also, I would appreciate it if you could get the word out to other accountants about this podcast.  The more accountants find out about it, the more we can begin to change the narrative in the accounting profession.

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