Accountants are, by professional disposition, optimisers. We find inefficiencies, close gaps and improve returns.

We do this reliably, methodically and—if we are honest—often at the expense of everything else.

The irony is striking. We are the people least likely to apply rigorous analysis to the most important balance sheet of all—our own.

So here, without sentimentality or jargon, is a practical framework for doing exactly that.

Treat sleep as a performance input

Matthew Walker, author of Why We Sleep, presents unambiguous research: fewer than seven hours’ sleep per night impairs cognitive function at a rate directly comparable to that of moderate alcohol consumption.

Yet, the culture of professional services quietly celebrates exhaustion as a badge of commitment. It is not.

It is a slow tax on judgment, memory and emotional regulation—three things accountants cannot afford to get wrong.

Fix sleep before you fix anything else. You need consistent bedtime, a dark room and no screens in the final hour. Sleep costs nothing and compounds immediately.

Move your body to boost your mind The evidence linking physical exercise to cognitive performance is, at this point, overwhelming.

Aerobic exercise increases blood flow to the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for complex reasoning, planning and impulse control. In other words, the part of the brain you use all day.

A brisk 30-minute walk, five days a week, is sufficient to produce measurable cognitive improvements.

You do not need a gym membership, a personal trainer or a Lycra wardrobe. You need shoes and resolution.

Manage your attention, not just your time

Time management is a red herring. We all have the same number of hours. What differs is the quality of attention we bring to them.

Cal Newport, a professor of computer science at Georgetown University, introduced the concept of “deep work”— long, uninterrupted blocks of focused cognitive effort—which is particularly relevant to accountants.

The nature of our work demands sustained concentration: reviewing complex structures, stress-testing assumptions and drafting nuanced advice.

Yet, we have allowed our working days to be colonised by email, instant messaging and the reflexive checking of notifications.

Schedule two or three protected blocks each day—calendar them as you would a client meeting—and watch your output quality transform.

Audit your inputs

Many of us watch our diets, careful not to consume too much junk food, yet we are at risk of consuming masses of junk information.

If your information diet consists primarily of outrage-optimised social media and rolling news, you are essentially poisoning the analytical engine you rely upon professionally.

Swap one hour of passive scrolling per week for one substantial book, one long-form essay or one genuinely challenging podcast. Over the course of a year, the compound effect on your thinking could be significant.

Reconnect with people, not networks

LinkedIn is not a social life. Neither are client dinners. Loneliness is a public health crisis, and professional high achievers are far from immune.

The research shows that the quality of close personal relationships is the single strongest predictor of life satisfaction and long-term health outcomes. Not income. Not status. Relationships.

Schedule time with the people who matter to you with the same seriousness you schedule a board presentation. This is not soft; it is strategic.

Define what “enough” looks like

Here is a question most accountants have never formally answered: what level of income, security and achievement would constitute genuine sufficiency for you?

Without a clear answer, the profession has a ready-made substitute: the next target, the next promotion, the next billing milestone. It is an escalator with no top floor.

This is not an argument for complacency. It is an argument for intentionality. Know your number. Know your horizon. Work backwards from a life, not forwards from a career.

The accountant who sleeps well, moves regularly, thinks deeply, reads broadly, maintains real friendships and has a clear sense of what they are building towards will, eventually, outperform the one who does none of these things.

The only question, as always, is whether you will act on it.

*Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column, published in the June/July 2026 issue of Accountancy Ireland, are the author’s own. The views of contributors to Accountancy Ireland may differ from official Institute policies and do not reflect the views of Chartered Accountants Ireland, its Council, its committees, or the editor.

CORMAC LUCEY IS AN ECONOMIC COMMENTATOR AND LECTURER WITH CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS IRELAND