As a financial professional, the workload can feel endless. Client meetings, market research, emails…and just when you think you’re done for the day, there’s more.
But what if I told you there’s a way to work less and see both your productivity and income grow?
Today, you’ll get the steps to master time management for financial advisors and bankers.
Read on!
💡Key takeaways:
- Financial professionals often feel pressed for time — but you can create more of it with the right approach
- Better time management lets you handle the tough parts of your job while still having time for yourself and your family
- Most finance experts work long hours, but these strategies help you streamline your work and make more room for what matters
How do you manage your time as a financial professional?
As a financial professional, you probably work…a lot. But you can get more done while working less by being intentional with your time and focusing on high-value tasks.
Here’s what fills a financial professional’s day:
- Tracking cash flow
- Preparing financial forecasts
- Managing risk
- Gathering and analyzing data
- Presenting research to clients
- Building and nurturing long-term client relationships
When you’re handling all this, good time management isn’t just nice to have — it’s CRUCIAL.
How do I know?
Because I’ve lived it myself…
I started on Wall Street, clocking 80-hour weeks until a stress-related illness forced me to rethink everything.
This wake-up call led my wife Carey and me to start the Lifehack Method, where we’ve since helped over 50,000 professionals get their time (and their lives!) back. I was able to reduce my weekly hours to just 2 hours, while getting promoted.
Let’s take a look at what implementing this system could mean for you.
Benefits of time management for financial professionals
Imagine wrapping up your work day — inbox cleared, client tasks done — and it’s not even 6 PM. You’re heading home with the peace of mind that everything’s under control.
Better time management gives you much more than “just” stress relief, though — it also means:
- Higher productivity: Give yourself an edge in this competitive industry by nailing high-impact work in less time
- Better work-life balance: Free up time for family, friends, and yourself
- Smarter decision-making: With less mental clutter, decisions become clearer
- Freedom to pursue passions: Get that weekend back, start a side hustle, or finally book that vacation
Want this for yourself?
Then keep reading, because these exact strategies on time management for financial advisors and bankers helped me work less, earn more, and feel happier than ever.
Top 10 time management strategies for financial professionals
👉 Good news: There are ALWAYS ways to optimize your current system.
But you have to know what works for you.
Take my student Mike Mackens, for example. After three decades as an executive and Wall Street investor, he started his own consulting agency for more flexibility.
But to his surprise, going from managing hundreds to only himself was super tough.
When Mike discovered our free Winning The Week webinar, he saw a way forward and joined our program Lifehack Tribe to take back control of his schedule.
Within three weeks, he landed over $1 million in projects while cutting his work hours down — all by getting intentional with his time.
Want results like Mike’s? With these time management strategies for financial professionals, you’re on your way.
Let’s dive in.
1. Set goals and plan ahead
Goals turn your day from chaos into control. And one of the most powerful goal-setting techniques is the SMART method. 🧠
SMART stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
Here’s a SMART example for finance experts: “Land five new clients this quarter.”
Contrast that with a vague goal like “Get more clients soon.”
See the difference?
With a SMART goal, you know exactly what you’re working toward.
But vague goals are more like guessing games. They’re hard to track, making it tough to know when you’ve succeeded.
In turn, this completely kills your motivation.
Pre-planning is extra work, but it’s also your best ally — especially when things get hectic.
It helps you:
- Anticipate challenges
- Manage workload
- Maximize every hour
Because Carey and I know how powerful pre-planning is, we even wrote a book about it to help others.
Unfortunately, so many new clients tell me they skip this step, and it always kills me to hear it!
📚 Ready to learn the ins and outs? I’ll show you how to set up your week for success in this guide.
2. Prioritize tasks
Rule number one in time management for financial advisors and bankers? Not every task is urgent, even if it feels that way.
Sure, emails and smaller tasks need to be done. But the real impact? That comes from focusing on the bigger picture.
So, how do you decide what needs your attention first?
Also called the Urgent-Important Matrix, it’s a powerful tool for prioritizing tasks.
Here’s how it works:
Split your tasks into four boxes:
- Do First: Urgent/important
- Schedule: Important/not urgent
- Delegate: Urgent/not important
- Delete: Not urgent/not important
Besides helping you prioritize, writing down your many to-do’s frees up mental space.
💡 Tip: Limit each box to eight tasks, and finish the most important one before adding another. It’s about completing tasks, not piling them up.
3. Leverage technology
Technology can significantly help you improve your time management…if you use the right tools. Here are some of my top picks to free up more of your time:
- Asana is a versatile task manager that lets you streamline your projects with visual boards, comments, reminders, and more. It’s perfect for tracking workflows from start to finish. (Check out our course to learn how to get the most out of Asana!)
- Toggl Track tracks your time and helps you spot and reduce wasted hours.
- DocuSign streamlines the document signing process, making it secure and paperless.
- CRM software (like Salesforce) keeps all your client data organized and accessible in one spot.
- AI is great for automating reports, analyzing trends, and generating insights. Of course, you’ll want to review the outputs, but the potential time saved is incredible. For example, in our business, we use it to automate tedious tasks, like creating SOPs (standard operating procedures). Plus, each month, we ask our team to find one way AI can help them do their jobs better and faster.
4. Delegate work
How often do you find yourself doing things that someone else could handle?
Here’s the thing: You’re one person — you don’t have to do it all.
So, my advice? Let go of some of your responsibilities.You see, delegation isn’t about giving up control — it’s about focusing on what only YOU can do.
Anything else? Outsource it.
Start with one small task, see the benefits, and go from there.
💡 Pro tip: Outsourcing isn’t just for work. You can delegate personal tasks like home management or laundry, too. 🧺
In this video, Carey shows you how to delegate like a pro:
Want to dive even deeper? Then check out our Outsourcing Mastery course.
5. Use time blocking
Do you try to get more done by multitasking? Here’s the truth: Several studies have shown that multitasking doesn’t work.
In fact, it tanks your productivity by as much as 40%! That’s because “multitasking” is really just quick task-switching.
So, what can you do instead?
Start time blocking so you can go all-in on each task without constantly changing gears.
Two popular time-blocking strategies include:
- The Pomodoro Technique: Work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break
- Timeboxing technique: Set a fixed amount of time in your calendar for a specific task
Want to get the most out of time blocking? Then align it with your productivity peaks.
For example, I save mornings for deep work and handle lighter tasks in the afternoon.
This is how my time blocks look 👇
Now, what are the best tools to help with all this scheduling?
Here’s my top three:
- Motion for automated time blocking
- Google Calendar for getting started with time blocking
- Clockwise for smart calendar optimization
6. Manage emails and meetings
Emails and meetings can easily eat up half your day. So, let’s look at some practical hacks to handle these sneaky time thieves.
Email boundaries
Don’t be chained to your inbox! Here’s how to keep emails from running the show:
- Set specific times to check emails
- Turn off email notifications
- Unsubscribe from unnecessary emails
- Use templates for frequent replies
- Sort emails by priority
Meeting boundaries
We all know how meetings can stretch on forever. Time to tighten them up and make them work for you, not the other way around:
- Limit the number of daily meetings
- Always set an agenda
- Schedule “No-Meeting” days
- Batch similar meetings together
- Cap meetings to 30 minutes
7. Eliminate distractions
Ever been deep in the flow, only to be pulled out by a notification? You’re not alone. Even if it doesn’t seem like a big deal, research says otherwise. A recent UC Irvine study found that it takes us up to 23 minutes to regain focus after just one short interruption. 😳
Keeping in mind that we’re interrupted about 60 times a day on average, those lost minutes quickly become hours…
Want to protect your focus and stay in the zone?
Here are some ways to create a distraction-free workspace:
- Use the Freedom app to block distracting websites
- Put your phone in work mode
- Share your schedule so others know when you’re in “deep work” mode
8. Learn to say “no”
53% of people in finance experience burnout and poor work-life balance.
Learning how to say “no” helps you avoid that trap. 🛑
Because instead of overloading yourself, you get to focus on what truly matters.
Here’s how to get started:
Check every new opportunity. Does it align with your goals, values, and priorities? If not, politely decline.
Remember, saying “no” isn’t selfish — it’s strategic and an important tool to reach more personal freedom.
Ready to get comfortable with saying no? Check out how Demir does it in this quick video:
9. Systematize and document
This tip will save you countless hours in the long run: Systematize anything repetitive.
Why?
Because a solid system means you’re not reinventing the wheel each time.
Take client onboarding, for example. At first, it’s time-consuming as you figure out what works. But to scale, you need a streamlined process.
The best part?
It’s a win-win for everyone! 🙌
Clients get clarity, and you spend less time on repeated questions.
Other things you should systematize ASAP are:
- Client follow-ups
- Lead tracking
- Email templates
- Expense tracking
- Compliance checks
- Training materials for new hires
10. Take breaks
Think breaks are a waste of time? Think again! Research shows that regular breaks are actually productive.
They keep you sharp, energized, and ready to tackle the next challenge. In high-stakes finance jobs, where the pressure is always on, this is key.
So, here’s a simple hack: Every 57 minutes, take a 17-minute break (or try the Pomodoro technique from tip #5.)
Now, how you spend your breaks matters.
Good options are stretching, taking a walk, or grabbing a coffee. ☕ These small resets boost your focus and help prevent burnout.
Scrolling through social media, on the other hand, overloads your brain. This drains your mental energy and makes it even harder to refocus.
FAQ: Time management for financial advisors and bankers
How do financial professionals spend their time?
The typical financial advisor spends 45% of their time on behind-the-scenes tasks, like preparing for client meetings, running financial planning analyses, and managing investments. They spend 20% on client meetings, 35% on business development and other administrative tasks. However, the most productive advisors only spend 10% of their time on client meetings. They leverage back-office support to add 4 hours a week on high-value tasks.
How many hours a day does a financial advisor work?
The specific number of hours a financial advisor works depends on where they work and their roles. Personal financial advisors work full-time and at least 40 hours a week with client meetings in the evenings and on weekends. The average working hours at most banks are between 50-85 hours, with less than 50 hours being the average. However, some financial professionals put in 100-hour weeks.
Next steps
Now you’ve got the top tips for time management for financial advisors and bankers!
I recommend starting small. Pick two or three of these strategies and try them for a week. Notice what happens to your productivity and mood — odds are, you’ll feel more in control.
However, if you’re tired of figuring it out on your own and finally want a system that works, I have good news for you. Our Winning the Week worksheet helps you take that first step towards being free of overwhelm, getting clear on your priorities, and moving towards a lifestyle you design.
And it’s a simple strategy that takes less than 30 minutes a week. Grab it for free right here and start seeing results today!
Read more:
How to Write Incredibly Effective To-Do Lists (+Template)
