So, your accounting job is repetitive and boring and you are completely unfulfilled? Or, you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed and anxious due to continuous reports and deadlines. I know all those feelings… I’ve been there… several times.
It didn’t always start as boring. When I was fresh out of university… I was keen and ambitious and thought that my future was now sorted. This was the pathway that I had chosen and this was the ticket to my future success. There was lots to learn… but after I mastered the learning curve, I found the work repetitive and boring, the deadlines stressful and overwhelming.
Then there was the workplace. I was working with people that I was forced to work with. People I didn’t always like or respect. Also, bosses that didn’t allow any of us to talk during working hours and watched our every move.
I was bored with the repetitiveness of the routine monthly reports. I expected a certain amount of routine at an accounting job, but when the days just started blending together and feel like they’re repeating, then something needs to change.
Then there is the lack of freedom and flexibility with your work hours. You work 5 days per week 9-5pm or longer with a 2-4 weeks annual leave which you have to seek permission to take. You take ill or your family has an illness and you still have to turn up at the office as you cannot take the time off.
A recent study was conducted by Monash Business School on practising Australian accountants. The study measured their levels of current stress and wellbeing. They surveyed 260 professional Australian accountants who have a professional membership and, or at least five years of accounting experience.
The study revealed those working for a law or consulting firm report significantly lower wellbeing scores…and the highest levels of stress.
The research, by Monash Business School also revealed the highest reported stressed age groups are 30 – 50 years old, with those between 30 – 34 years reporting the highest level of stress. These years are often deemed ‘mid-career’ and come at a time when family responsibilities are also demanding.
Monash also examined if wellbeing and stress according to where accountants worked. Those working for a law or consulting firm report significantly lower wellbeing and high levels of stress compared to other groups.
Young or female accountants who work for a consulting or law firm suffer the most stress, according to a university survey.
The complexity of accounting work is increasing especially with the amount of information that is available online, to accountants and to the general public.
The pressures for accountants have increased due to the pressure of working with deadlines, increased legislation and regulation. The impact of this has led to very high levels of stress.
Are you bored doing your accounting work? Yeah… I felt the same… I’ve been there. It didn’t always start as boring but after I got over the learning curve, then I would get completely bored, especially if I wasn’t learning something new on a regular basis.
Anyone would expect a certain amount of routine as an accountant, but when the days feel like they just get longer and longer, then something needs to change.
As an accountant you are responsible for reconciling transactions, preparing monthly and annual financial reports, record and process journal entries, complete budgets.
These tasks can be considered tedious and monotonous especially when you are doing them week after week, month after month.
Accounting tasks can be very repetitive and considered boring. If you get bored easily and is someone that needs change and challenges, then this profession might not be for you.
Research conducted by ICAEW Economia discovered that “consulting and accounting rounded out the top five with 67% of accountants reporting they are bored. The same percentage of financial services and banking professionals admitted they find their jobs boring.”
Have you reached your careers goals however, you still feel completely unfulfilled? You feel that your success is empty.
You’ve invested tens of thousands of dollars and years on your training, education and professional development, and you feel guilty for being so unfulfilled. Outsiders think you are living the dream life; but they are unaware that so many professionals spend their days reminding themselves of the reasons they pursued their career. You are afraid to walk away from everything you have worked so hard for, but you are feeling burnt out.
Are you spending 40-100 hours per week at work, whether it is doing or thinking about it? Do you spend more time working than you do with their friends and family; however, you stay in a job you hate. Why is that? The possible answer is that you are afraid, afraid to face the truth, afraid of finding a new path, or afraid of being viewed as a failure.
If you are ambitious you could be so busy chasing “success” that somewhere along the way, you’ve lost the meaning of success. You find every Sunday gradually building with anxiety in anticipation for Monday morning, as that gut-wrenching feeling tells you that there must be more out there.
Many professionals are feeling unfulfilled because their careers are unrelated to their passions. No matter how hard they try to love their job, it just doesn’t seem to feel right. The reason… their careers are not aligned with their values; without this connection, these high-performing professionals are feeling stuck in a career that is someone else’s dream.
For more information on making the change on a career change for accountants then check out the FREE webinar where you will see that there are many other options and an alternative career for accountants.
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