Last year I didn’t take any vacation. Only bridging days were free, nothing more was possible. Although I had planned weeks without appointments, something still had to be checked, completed and submitted later. My desk never became empty and I felt obligated to get everything done.
The work in tax consulting has increased enormously in recent years, and more and more changes are occurring at an ever faster pace. Sales tax: reduced, increased, now partially reduced again. The minimum wage: increased nine times in five years. Tax legislation is becoming more detailed, more complex, and new topics are coming our way: How e-invoicing works, for example, is a technical question, but of course our clients call us and want answers.
Something is always changing, I need to know everything. Our law firm has subscribed to several specialist magazines. Six of them are sitting next to my desk right now, waiting to be worked through. There are also around 20 newsletters in my inbox. Some days I read specialist literature until ten in the evening. I go to bed around midnight and the alarm goes off again at six o’clock.
Check emails – every day, even on weekends
I don’t want to complain. I like working, I earn well, I’m young and I can do it. I’m not aboveburdens, but beis already weighing on you. Pressure also comes from the expectations of clients. We don’t have any emergencies and nothing is so urgent that I have to take care of it on the same day. But for the people who contact us, their concerns can still have great urgency. If you send me an email with “high priority”, you expect a quick response. And ultimately I have to make sure everyone is happy.
I always check my email inbox, even on weekends and weekends. If I don’t do it, the emails pile up, which I find worse. Then it can take three days until I’m up to date again, as new emails are added every day. I don’t know what’s more strenuous: always being available or switching off sometimes and then fighting against this mountain. So far I’ve mostly opted for accessibility. The mountain can’t get too high, otherwise I’ll suffocate under it.
Responsibility for the family business
I’d rather let Sunday evening be ruined than start the week unprepared or find a complaint on Monday morning. Before I open the email inbox, I’m tense because people have time on the weekend, something comes to them, they have questions, they want something explained. I keep a to-do list on my phone that I constantly update.
If I were employed it might be different, but the firm is a family business. My father founded and built it up, and I joined as a partner seven years ago. I feel obliged to continue it well. It’s not just a job, it’s my future. That’s why I’m particularly responsible. When my father had to go into the hospital last year, I took over his work and also redirected his emails to my inbox. They still run there.
Five new tasks within ten minutes
My everyday life often looks like this: I’m working, a client calls and interrupts me, as soon as I hang up, an employee comes into my office with a request, while my email inbox pings and pings, within ten minutes I have five new tasks and I have to think back to what I originally did. Sometimes I don’t know what to start with because everything is urgent and important. Then I take a piece of paper, list all the tasks and start with the top one, just to get a start.
I often have the feeling that my head is too full. I can’t remember everything. The innovations, inquiries and employee issues have to come out again, otherwise my thoughts will go on and on even at night and I’ll lie awake in bed.
The office diary relieves you
My strategy is to write a lot of things down. My father already kept a law office diary and I have adopted this tradition. Using a nice fountain pen or fineliner, I enter legal innovations, references to important texts or ideas for the law firm. For example, I’m thinking about setting up fixed processing times for emails. The diary helps me remember, and I enjoy writing by hand, even if it takes more time.
My private diary clears my head and my thoughts. I also find it interesting to read about what I thought and felt in a certain situation. I always notice how much memory changes. After a while, events seem completely different to me than when I experienced them. I forgot details; What worried me no longer matters or I reassess it with some distance.
Even little things are good for me: otherwise the stack of specialist literature was lying on the dining room table at home. At some point the sight bothered me and I carried everything into the office. It stays there now and I only take home the texts that I can read in one evening.
We are now in the transition phase, my father will withdraw more and then I can distribute tasks differently and hopefully it will be easier.
As a child, I grew up with my father often only coming home when I was already in bed. Today my little daughter asks me if I will be home on the weekend. But I want to do it differently and be there when she grows up. This year I have planned a vacation again. Work can’t be so important that I don’t even take a week off. Things cannot continue like this.
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