Skip to content

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer. Some are essential to make our site work; others help us improve the user experience. By using the site, you consent to the placement of these cookies. Read our privacy policy to learn more.

Close
AICPA-CIMA
  • AICPA & CIMA:
  • Home
  • CPE & Learning
  • My Account
Journal of Accountancy
  • TECH & AI
    • All articles
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
    • Microsoft Excel
    • Information Security & Privacy

    Latest Stories

    • Incorporating prompt engineering into the accounting curriculum
    • Create a dynamic to-do list with Excel’s checkboxes
    • Another way to manage authentication texts
  • TAX
    • All articles
    • Corporations
    • Employee benefits
    • Individuals
    • IRS procedure

    Latest Stories

    • Treasury posts preliminary list of jobs eligible for no tax on tips
    • Taxpayer’s circumstances do not warrant equitable tolling
    • When does debt become worthless?
  • PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
    • All articles
    • Diversity, equity & inclusion
    • Human capital
    • Firm operations
    • Practice growth & client service

    Latest Stories

    • Treasury posts preliminary list of jobs eligible for no tax on tips
    • California issues draft guidance for climate risk disclosure
    • Business outlook brightens somewhat despite trade, inflation concerns
  • FINANCIAL REPORTING
    • All articles
    • FASB reporting
    • IFRS
    • Private company reporting
    • SEC compliance and reporting

    Latest Stories

    • SEC accepting Professional Accounting Fellow applications
    • SEC names new chief accountant
    • SEC ends legal defense of its climate rules
  • AUDIT
    • All articles
    • Attestation
    • Audit
    • Compilation and review
    • Peer review
    • Quality Management

    Latest Stories

    • AICPA unveils new QM resources to help firms meet Dec. 15 deadline
    • 8 steps to build your firm’s quality management system on time
    • Auditing Standards Board proposes a new fraud standard
  • MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
    • All articles
    • Business planning
    • Human resources
    • Risk management
    • Strategy

    Latest Stories

    • Business outlook brightens somewhat despite trade, inflation concerns
    • AICPA & CIMA Business Resilience Toolkit — levers for action
    • Economic pessimism grows, but CFOs have strategic responses
  • Home
  • News
  • Magazine
  • Podcast
  • Topics
Advertisement
  1. newsletter
  2. Cpa Insider
CPA INSIDER

A 4-point plan for reducing stress

Investments in a sound mind and body can pay dividends at work.

By Amy Vetter, CPA/CITP, CGMA
September 23, 2019

Please note: This item is from our archives and was published in 2019. It is provided for historical reference. The content may be out of date and links may no longer function.

Related

August 12, 2019

6 tips for decluttering your digital workspace

June 24, 2019

How to say ‘no’ at work (without harming your career)

January 7, 2019

Why accountants need to learn mindfulness

TOPICS

  • Professional Development
    • Communication

Accountancy has long been a stressful, high-stakes profession. Ensuring that a client’s books are in order is a task that comes with great responsibility. In today’s age, that sense of stress is compounded by reams of discourse about how the rise of advanced technology will forever alter the way we do our jobs, if not replace them altogether. We have to deal with innovation happening at an ever-increasing rate, which can induce a feeling of stress akin to whiplash.

Stress isn’t all bad. Internal pressure, after all, signifies that your work matters to you, that you care about doing a good job. If you are lax and carefree at your job, you’re probably just going through the motions.

Far more common than too little stress, though, is too much of it. Stress shouldn’t be so constant or overwhelming that it leads to sleepless nights. When you find yourself in a harried mood 24/7, it’s time to make a change — and fast.

As counterintuitive as it sounds, the way you live outside the office may contribute to your stress inside it. These external stressors, while not directly related to work, compound our sense of frustration. If you’ve ever been to work without enough sleep, you know how difficult it can be to focus on the job when your body and mind are not at their best. When we treat ourselves without care and consideration, we are, in a certain sense, coming to the office without a fresh perspective every day. To avoid that fate, ask yourself how you measure up in the following four crucial wellness categories, each of which is essential for you to perform at a high level .

1. Get regular exercise

Our minds and bodies are connected. Ignoring the health of one has negative effects on the other. “Studies indicate that our mental firepower is directly linked to our physical regimen,” wrote Ron Friedman in Harvard Business Review. As such, maintaining a healthy exercise routine can help you feel more alert and energized at work.

Unfortunately, most of us simply don’t exercise enough. When I speak about this at conferences, it usually comes down to most saying they don’t have time. According to a recent National Health Statistics Report issued by the Centers for Disease Control, only “22.9% of U.S. adults ages 18–64 met the guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities.” That means that roughly 4 out of every 5 accountants could stand to work out a little more.

It can seem like a burden to expend energy after you’re finished working, but that initial outlay of effort will reap huge benefits in no time. It can take as little as one week of working out to begin to see and feel benefits, and those will compound over time.

Advertisement

Exercise also can be worked right into your day. Walking has always proved to be one of the most beneficial exercises you can do. So rather than meeting with one of your co-workers in the office, ask him or her to take a walk and meet instead! Then you can get a workout while getting work done.

2. Develop good sleep habits

“The shorter your sleep, the shorter your life,” writes Matthew Walker, Ph.D., in his best-selling book Why We Sleep. “The leading causes of disease and death in developed nations — diseases that are crippling health-care systems, such as heart disease, obesity, dementia, diabetes, and cancer — all have recognized causal links to a lack of sleep.” It’s not a stretch to say that what happens when we sleep informs how we act when we’re awake.

What does good sleep look like? Adults should aim to have at least eight hours of quality sleep per night. Quality is the operative word here. Eight hours spent tossing and turning, trying to sleep, is not eight hours spent sleeping.

If you struggle to get enough sleep, try creating a regular sleep schedule, eliminating blue light in the hours before bedtime, and disconnecting from electronic devices (one of the main sources of blue light) before getting under the covers.

Accountants tell me all the time that they work right up until going to bed. I have found that it’s important to find a way to disconnect before going to sleep. One activity that has helped me is doing a sleep meditation using a guided meditation app to have a better night’s sleep. When you can’t get a good night’s sleep no matter how hard you try, you should consider consulting a doctor.

3. Embrace a healthy diet

The fuel you put into your body is just as important as your rest and exercise. If you’re familiar with the term “hangry,” you understand how much our food intake impacts our mood. But the links go beyond even that. A study from the University of Gothenburg found that hormones released during hunger adversely affect our decision-making skills.

It’s not just about how much we eat, but rather the nutritional profile of the foods we consume. Binging on sugar and caffeine may give you a jolt of energy, but it will leave you feeling burned out in a hurry. Instead of relying on cheap pick-me-ups to get you through the day, stay hydrated, eat well, and pack healthy snacks for when you’re getting weary. Review what food you are putting out in the office as snacks or assess your eating rituals when you are on the road visiting clients. It’s important that what we are putting into our body isn’t always processed, sugar-packed foods. Make an effort to eat fruits, vegetables, and proteins that you know where all the ingredients came from. It will do wonders for evening out your energy throughout the day.

Advertisement

4. Practice mindfulness techniques

I’m a huge proponent of teaching mindfulness in the workplace. Taking time to put ourselves in the present moment and reflecting on our surroundings helps us stay centered and calm in even the most chaotic of times. We can’t always change the circumstances of our day, but we can change how we respond to them.

Simply taking 10 minutes a day to step away from the grind and practice some guided meditation can make a world of difference. Apps like Calm and Headspace allow you to practice mindfulness no matter where you are or how much (or little) time you have.

At some workplaces, I have seen mindfulness breaks built into the morning and afternoon. During these times, employees can go to a designated area to meditate, read, or listen to music, so that they can reset, reduce stress, and be present.

If you’re resistant to mindfulness practice, I urge you to put those preconceived notions aside and give it a try, or instead of meditating, listen to music, read, or get up from the desk and take a walk. You will find when you give yourself mental breaks, you will actually be more productive and probably get more done than less.

As with anything, trying something once isn’t enough to know whether you truly like something or not. Dedicate 10 minutes a day for 30 days, and then assess how you are feeling and whether you are better for the people around you as well.

Bringing it all together

While each of these practices has benefits in its own right, they really begin to work wonders when you apply them in concert. We could all stand to improve our wellness outside of the office in at least one of these areas, however; as you can see, many of these areas can be accomplished right within our workday for optimum mind and body health.

You may be surprised to learn that success in the four areas not only can improve how you feel on the inside, but it also can possibly have a positive impact on those around you as well.

Advertisement

You can’t just flip a switch and begin attacking all of these areas at full speed. Start piecemeal and try to improve a little bit in one or two places, beginning with those that are most in need of an upgrade. Don’t get discouraged. Building new habits takes time, but the results you’ll see both inside and outside the office will make it more than worth it.

— Amy Vetter, CPA/CITP, CGMA, is the CEO of The B3 Method Institute, a keynote speaker and adviser, Technology Innovations Taskforce leader for the AICPA’s Information Management Technology Assurance (IMTA) Executive Committee, and the author of the book Integrative Advisory Services: Expanding Your Accounting Services Beyond the Cloud, published by Wiley. Learn more at amyvetter.com. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Jeff Drew, senior editor, at Jeff.Drew@aicpa-cima.com.

Advertisement

latest news

September 4, 2025

Treasury posts preliminary list of jobs eligible for no tax on tips

September 4, 2025

California issues draft guidance for climate risk disclosure

September 4, 2025

Business outlook brightens somewhat despite trade, inflation concerns

September 3, 2025

New: Digital assets practice aid addresses auditing of lending, borrowing

August 29, 2025

Guidance on research or experimental expenditures under H.R. 1 issued

Advertisement

Most Read

The No. 1 risk to retirement – and one way to guard against it
Tax provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Billy Long out as IRS commissioner after less than two months
Calculating AI’s impact on CPAs: New study quantifies time savings
AICPA unveils new QM resources to help firms meet Dec. 15 deadline
Advertisement

Podcast

September 4, 2025

Summing up economic sentiment and concerns about inflation and tariffs

August 29, 2025

Take a bold leap instead of a tentative step

August 28, 2025

Mark Koziel Q&A: Talent, sense of community, profession opportunities

Features

Calming nervous clients nearing retirement
Calming nervous clients nearing retirement

Calming nervous clients nearing retirement

7 retirement tips for small firm CPAs
7 retirement tips for small firm CPAs

7 retirement tips for small firm CPAs

Building a better CPA firm: Stepping up service offerings
Multi-colored plus signs

Building a better CPA firm: Stepping up service offerings

2025 tax software survey
Smiley, frowney, and neutral faces for Tax Software Survey.

2025 tax software survey

SPONSORED REPORT

Smart Strategies in Data Security and Risk Management

In an increasingly digital profession, data security has become one of the most critical challenges facing finance and accounting professionals today. Stay up to date with practical guidance to help you mitigate these risks and strengthen your security posture.

From The Tax Adviser

August 30, 2025

2025 tax software survey

August 30, 2025

Are you doing all you can to keep the cash method for your clients?

July 31, 2025

Current developments in S corporations

July 31, 2025

Paid student-athletes: Tax implications for universities and donors

MAGAZINE

September 2025

September 2025

September 2025
August 2025

August 2025

August 2025
July 2025

July 2025

July 2025
June 2025

June 2025

June 2025
May 2025

May 2025

May 2025
April 2025

April 2025

April 2025
March 2025

March 2025

March 2025
February 2025

February 2025

February 2025
January 2025

January 2025

January 2025
December 2024

December 2024

December 2024
November 2024

November 2024

November 2024
October 2024

October 2024

October 2024
view all

View All

http://JofA_Default_Mag_cover_small_official_blue

PUSH NOTIFICATIONS

Coming soon: Learn about important news

CPA LETTER DAILY EMAIL

CPA Letter Logo

Subscribe to the daily CPA Letter

Stay on top of the biggest news affecting the profession every business day. Follow this link to your marketing preferences on aicpa-cima.com to subscribe. If you don't already have an aicpa-cima.com account, create one for free and then navigate to your marketing preferences.

Connect

  • X Logo JofA on X
  • facebook JofA on Facebook

HOME

  • News
  • Monthly issues
  • Podcast
  • A&A Focus
  • PFP Digest
  • Academic Update
  • Topics
  • RSS feed rss feed
  • Site map

ABOUT

  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Submit an article
  • Editorial calendar
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & conditions

SUBSCRIBE

  • Academic Update
  • CPE Express

AICPA & CIMA SITES

  • AICPA-CIMA.com
  • Global Engagement Center
  • Financial Management (FM)
  • The Tax Adviser
  • AICPA Insights
  • Global Career Hub
AICPA & CIMA

© 2025 Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. All rights reserved.

Reliable. Resourceful. Respected.