A better working day does not necessarily require a complete overhaul. Tom Dalton’s approach starts with identifying the small habits and priorities that make the biggest difference to how you work.

When client calls, meetings and deadlines fill the calendar, it is easy to spend the working week reacting.

In his recent webinar, Tom Dalton encouraged accountants to approach the problem differently. Rather than immediately searching for another productivity tool, start by examining what a good working day actually looks like for you.

His practical exercises focus on four connected areas: your ideal day, deliberate thinking, advance planning and the habits that support performance.

1. Define your ideal working day

Start with a blank sheet of paper and describe your ideal working day from beginning to end.

Think beyond your task list. What time would you start and finish? When would you handle client calls? When would you have lunch? Would you include exercise, a walk or time away from your desk?

The important question comes next: how much of that ideal day are you actually doing?

Review your list and identify the one or two activities that have the greatest effect on your working day. They might involve movement, protected focus time, finishing at a sensible hour or something else entirely.

You do not need to introduce everything at once. Choose the elements that matter most and look for realistic opportunities to include them during your week.

That turns an abstract idea of “working better” into something specific you can act on.

2. Make time for deliberate thinking

Much of a working day can run automatically. You answer familiar emails, move between meetings and deal with recurring tasks without stopping to reconsider how you are working.

Tom describes the alternative as “System 2 thinking”: slowing down and giving a problem your deliberate attention.

For an accountant or practice owner, that could mean stepping away from routine work to consider a difficult client issue, examine how the week is structured or decide which priorities genuinely deserve attention.

The practical lesson is straightforward: create some space to think rather than spending every available hour doing.

That could happen daily, weekly or monthly. What matters is making deliberate reflection part of the working routine instead of waiting until something goes wrong.

3. Plan the week before it starts

One of Tom's strongest practical recommendations is to plan your working week in advance.

His own routine is a 15-minute planning session before the week begins. Rather than examining every calendar entry in detail, he identifies his three highest priorities for the coming week.

Those priorities are not necessarily all work-related. A personal commitment can affect the rest of your schedule, so it belongs in the planning process too.

The exact timing is less important than the habit. You could review the coming week on Friday afternoon, Sunday evening or Monday morning.

During that review, ask:

• What are the three most important things I need to achieve?
• What commitments are already fixed?
• Where will focused work need protecting?
• What personal commitments could affect the working week?

Dalton also recommends checking those priorities again around the middle of the week. If something has slipped, there is still time to adjust.

4. Do not fill every gap in your calendar

A completely full calendar can look organised. It can also leave very little room for reality.

Client requirements change. Meetings move. Family responsibilities appear unexpectedly. A task takes longer than anticipated.

Tom's approach is to plan around 70% of the available week and leave some capacity unallocated.

That figure comes from his own working method rather than a universal rule. The underlying principle is more widely applicable: avoid planning your working week so tightly that one unexpected event disrupts everything else.

Leaving space gives you somewhere to move work when circumstances change. It can also create opportunities for deeper, uninterrupted work.

For accountants dealing with changing client priorities, that flexibility can be particularly useful.

5. Keep evidence of what you have already achieved

Productivity was only one part of the session. Tom also introduced an exercise he calls “inner evidence”.

Write down several things you have achieved that required significant effort. These could include gaining a qualification, changing roles, completing a difficult project or overcoming a challenging period.

Then identify the achievement that required the most from you.

The purpose is not simply to create a list of past successes. It gives you something concrete to revisit when a new challenge feels difficult.

Instead of focusing only on the immediate obstacle, you can remind yourself of situations where you have already persisted, adapted or completed demanding work.

Tom also uses a simple numerical exercise to demonstrate how quickly attention can settle on a single mistake while overlooking everything that went correctly.

For a busy professional, that is a useful prompt: when something goes wrong, examine the wider picture before allowing one error to define your assessment of the entire day or project.

Start with one habit

Creating a better working day does not mean redesigning your entire routine tomorrow.

Start by writing down what your ideal working day looks like. Compare it with what actually happens. Then identify one or two changes that could make the greatest practical difference.

You might introduce a 15-minute weekly planning session. You might protect some empty calendar space. You might schedule a midweek priorities check or create time for deliberate thinking.

The common thread running through Tom's session is habit. Better working practices become useful when they move from good intentions into the normal working week.

Frequently asked questions

How can I create a better working day?

Start by defining what your ideal working day actually looks like. Consider your start and finish times, focused work, client calls, breaks, exercise and personal commitments. Then compare that ideal with your current routine. Instead of changing everything, identify one or two realistic habits that would make the greatest difference to your focus, energy or performance.

How should I plan my working week?

Set aside a short period before the working week begins to identify your three highest priorities. Review fixed meetings, client commitments and important personal responsibilities at the same time. The webinar suggests a 15-minute weekly planning session, followed by a midweek check to see whether priorities have changed or important work needs to be rescheduled.

Should I fill my entire working week with scheduled tasks?

Leaving some capacity unallocated can make your working week easier to manage when priorities change. In the webinar, Tom Dalton describes planning around 70% of his available week rather than filling every gap. The 70% figure reflects his own approach rather than a universal rule. The broader principle is to leave enough flexibility for unexpected work and changing commitments.

How can I improve focus during the working day?

Create deliberate periods for thinking rather than spending the entire day responding to emails, meetings and routine tasks. The webinar discusses “System 2 thinking” as a way of slowing down and giving more attention to difficult problems or important decisions. Protecting some uninterrupted time can help you examine priorities instead of simply reacting to the next task.

What is System 2 thinking?

System 2 thinking refers to slower, more deliberate and effortful thinking. In the webinar, it is used to distinguish focused consideration from the more automatic thinking involved in familiar or routine activities. In practice, this could mean creating dedicated time to examine a difficult client problem, reconsider priorities or think carefully about how you structure your working week.

How can accountants manage unexpected work without losing their priorities?

Avoid scheduling every available hour. Keeping some space in your calendar gives you somewhere to move work when client requirements, meetings or personal responsibilities change. It also helps to identify your most important priorities before the week starts and review them again during the week, rather than allowing new demands to automatically replace planned work.

What should be included in an ideal working day?

An ideal working day can include more than work tasks. Consider when you want to start and finish, when you work best on demanding tasks, how client calls fit into the day, when you take breaks and whether you want time for exercise or other personal priorities. The purpose is to identify the conditions that help you work effectively, then introduce realistic elements into your existing routine.

How often should I review my weekly priorities?

The webinar recommends setting priorities before the week begins and checking them again around the middle of the week. A midweek review gives you an opportunity to identify anything that has slipped, respond to changing circumstances and decide what still needs attention before the week ends.

How can past achievements help when work feels difficult?

One exercise from the webinar involves creating “inner evidence”: a written record of achievements that required significant effort. Reviewing those experiences when facing a new challenge can remind you of situations where you have previously persisted, adapted or completed difficult work. The exercise focuses attention on concrete evidence from your own experience rather than the immediate difficulty alone.

What is the simplest way to start improving my working routine?

Choose one practical habit rather than trying to redesign your entire working day. That might be a 15-minute weekly planning session, protecting some unscheduled calendar space, introducing a midweek priorities review or setting aside uninterrupted thinking time. Once the habit becomes part of your normal routine, you can assess whether another change would be useful.

The contents of this article are meant as a guide only and are not a substitute for professional advice. The authors accept no responsibility for any action taken, or refrained from, as a result of the material contained in this document. Specific advice should be obtained before acting or refraining from acting, in connection with the matters dealt with in this article.