Category: Big Mistakes Tax Pros Make

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

If you handle IRS Representation, you already know: not all clients are created equal.

Some are reasonable, responsible, and pay well. Others? Well… they make their emergency your emergency, argue about your fees, disappear for months, then suddenly demand immediate help. These clients suck the life out of your business—and your sanity.

The good news? You don’t have to keep them. In fact, the sooner you fire your worst clients, the sooner you free up time for better clients, higher fees, and a life outside of tax season.

So, let’s talk about how to politely (but firmly) show bad clients the door—and what to say when you do.

Why You Need to Drop Time-Wasting Clients

The tax professionals I work with are overworked, underpaid, and exhausted. They tell me:

“I work 80+ hours a week, but my worst clients still complain.”
“I’m constantly stressed, but I can’t afford to lose any clients.”
“I haven’t taken a real vacation in years.”

Sound familiar?

Here’s the hard truth: Every minute you waste on a bad client is a minute you could spend on a better-paying client… or, you know, actually enjoying life.

Your worst clients are holding you back. Drop them, and suddenly you have:

✅ More time for clients who respect you
✅ Higher profits because you’re working with better-paying clients (and they will pay you more)
✅ More energy for the things you love—family, gardening, woodworking, golf. Netflix, or even gasp sleep

How to Identify Time-Wasting Clients

If a client matches two or more of these traits, it’s time to cut them loose:

❌ They argue about your fees (“Why do you charge so much?”)
❌ They ignore your deadlines but expect immediate help (“Can you call the IRS for me today?” or “I need to get this to a Revenue Officer tomorrow!”)
❌ They send you half the documents, then expect magic
❌ They constantly demand answer to “quick questions” (which are never quick) and they don’t want to pay for that “quick answer”
❌ They “ghost” you until they get a scary IRS letter and even then, wait until the last minute to give it to you

Recognize anyone? Yeah, I thought so.

How to Fire a Client: 3 Scripts You Can Use

Once you’ve decided to part ways, keep it short, professional, and final. Here are three scripts you can use:

👉 For the Ghosting Client Who Comes Back Only in Emergencies… Continue reading