Dan Henn CPA

Every morning, you wake up, grab a cup of coffee (or whatever your morning gogo juice is), and open your task list for the day. It’s a mile long.

• “Call Bob about his tax lien.”
• “Finish that Offer in Compromise.”
• “Email or call Sally to get the final pieces to finish her tax return.”
• “Reply to 27 emails.”
• “Figure out why Susan still hasn’t sent her documents.”

The moment you see that overwhelming list, the stress kicks in. Your mind starts racing with all the things you need to do, and before you know it, you’re bouncing from task to task without actually finishing anything substantial.

The problem?

Your to-do list is lying to you.

It feels productive, but in reality, it’s draining your energy before you even start. Instead of helping you, your endless task list is keeping you stuck.

Why Traditional To-Do Lists Don’t Work

Most people assume that productivity is about checking off as many tasks as possible. But here’s the truth: Your brain is not designed to focus on 25+ different things at once. When you write down everything you need to do, your brain doesn’t see priorities—it sees an avalanche of demands. This leads to:

📌 Decision Fatigue – You waste time figuring out which task to tackle first.

📌 Task Hopping – You jump from one thing to another without deep focus. Then before you know it, you have 5 or more things open that are not all done and distractions mentally.

📌 A False Sense of Productivity – Checking off small, low-impact tasks feels good, but they don’t actually move your business forward. So, how do you fix your to-do list and actually get meaningful work done?

The “Three-Task Rule”: A Simpler, More Effective Approach

If your to-do list is making you feel stuck, it’s time for a better system. Every morning, before you check emails or dive into work, do this:

1️⃣ Pick ONE Revenue-Generating Task This should be something that directly contributes to growing your business—not just maintaining it. Examples include:

• Following up with a potential client (i.e. a prospect) that you talked to within the last 3 months (or less).
• Working on marketing your firm.
• Setting up a new service or revenue stream. Like IRS Collections and/or Exam representation.
• Optimizing your pricing or create packages.

2️⃣ Pick ONE Stress-Reducing Task This should be something that, when completed, makes the rest of your day … Continue reading

As a tax professional, you juggle multiple responsibilities—casework, client meetings, IRS notices, and administrative tasks. But have you ever stopped to ask yourself: What’s the biggest productivity killer in your business?

Not the IRS. Not a lack of clients. Not even your own procrastination.

The real problem? Context switching.

Every time you bounce from an IRS notice to a client email to a half-finished tax return, your brain has to reset. And that mental “loading time” isn’t instant—it takes an average of 23 minutes to fully refocus after switching tasks.

The Cost of Context Switching

Think about that: 23 minutes lost. Every. Single. Time.

Most tax pros don’t even realize how much time they waste jumping from one unfinished task to another. It feels like you’re being productive because you’re constantly busy—but in reality, you’re not making meaningful progress on the work that truly matters.

Some of the biggest time-wasters caused by context switching include:

• Interruptions from email and phone calls – Breaking your focus for small client requests eats away at valuable work time. Never take phone calls immediately. Have someone answer the phone and schedule a call back time that is convenient for you.
• Jumping between unrelated tasks – Switching from tax prep to client calls to marketing means you never get into a deep workflow.
• Multitasking – Studies show that multitasking reduces efficiency by up to 40% because your brain has to repeatedly adjust to different types of tasks.

At the end of the day, you’re exhausted—not because you’ve worked hard, but because your brain has spent the entire day trying to refocus.

The Power Hour Method: The Fix for Context Switching

Instead of letting distractions and interruptions control your day, try this strategy: The Power Hour Method.

Here’s how it works:

1️⃣ Block off at least 60 minutes for deep work. No distractions, no checking emails, no answering client calls. Put your phone on silent or vibrate.

2️⃣ Pick ONE type of task to work on. Client calls, marketing, casework, tax return review—just one. Sticking to a single category of work helps your brain stay in flow state.

3️⃣ Set a timer and commit. Work as if your business depends on it—because it does. Once the timer starts, stay fully engaged in your task. Consider using a Pomodoro time (you have to Google it)

4️⃣ Schedule separate time blocks for emails and calls. Instead of constantly reacting to emails, set aside … Continue reading

Mornings set the tone for the entire day. If you start off overwhelmed, distracted, and already feeling behind, the rest of your workday follows suit. And if you’re like most tax professionals, your mornings don’t start with calm focus—they start with chaos.

You wake up, check your email, and—bam—your inbox is on fire. Clients “need” something immediately. A client finally responds to an email from three weeks ago—with 15 follow-up questions. That one annoying client has sent yet another last-minute panic message.

And just like that, your real priorities take a backseat. This leads to the “what the heck did I do today!” moment at the end of the day.

The truth is, this reactive cycle is not sustainable. It’s mentally draining, kills productivity, and ultimately leaves you feeling stuck. But there’s a way to reclaim control of your mornings—and your business.

Why Your First Hour of Work Matters

Here’s the hard truth: Your first hour of work determines your entire day.

If you start your day reactively, you will spend the rest of the day putting out fires, responding to demands, and feeling like you’re constantly playing catch-up. If you start your day proactively, you’ll make real progress toward your goals and business growth.

Too many tax professionals wake up and immediately dive into emails, client messages, and administrative tasks. It feels like work, but in reality, it’s just draining your time and energy before you even get started. You’re reacting to problems rather than setting the direction of your own day.

The Cost of a Reactive Morning

When you begin the day in a reactive state, several things happen:

• You allow external forces—phone calls, emails, notifications—to dictate your day.
• You get pulled into solving problems that could have waited.
• You burn through your best energy in the least productive way.
• You train clients to expect immediate responses, making your workload even heavier.

This is why so many tax pros feel exhausted before lunch. They spend their mental bandwidth on low-value activities instead of business-building work. So how do you break the cycle?

Try This: The “No-Reactive Work Before Noon” Rule

If you want to regain control of your workday, implement this simple but powerful rule: No-Reactive Work Before noon. For most people, this is your most productive time of the day.

For the first part of your workday, do this:

✅ No checking email. Your … Continue reading