Is the secret to a more efficient accounting firm... working less? 🤔
In a recent episode of my Earmark Podcast, I spoke with John Briggs about his "3.3 Rule" for productivity.
In short, the 3.3 Rule is: Work up to 3 hours at a time, followed by a 30% recovery period. So, if you crush it for 3 hours, take a full-hour break. If you work for 1 hour instead, take a 20-minute break.
Simple, right? Here's the tricky part – for this to work, you have to be OK with only working 6 hours per day. Because if you use this method, that's the most you should be working. But if you do it right, you won't have to work much more than that.
John's team has averaged just 42 hours a week during tax season for the past three years. You read that right. 42 hours. In busy season. How? Well, it's partly about hiring more people. As John put it, "We're accountants, but somehow we don't translate the numbers game to the way we run our business."
The other part is about being more efficient in the time you do work. By making time for mental and physical health, you'll get the same quantity of work (or more) done in less time. And quality goes way up because you aren't exhausted.
The truth is, most people grinding away for 8 hours or more aren't really doing 8+ hours of productive work. In fact, a study in the UK found that your average office worker only gets 3 hours of real work done in a day.
This got me thinking about my first career as a musician.
Musicians don't practice 8 hours straight - that's a fast track to injury. When I was studying the cello full-time in college, 4 to 6 hours of focused practice was a good target.
So why do we expect accountants to work non-stop 12-hour days? The old model of grinding out endless hours is broken. It's time for a new model.
Listen to Episode 71 of the Earmark Podcast for the details and how to implement the 3.3 Rule for yourself and your team.
