Create an Ideal Schedule

Most of us became business owners for the freedom and flexibility.  However, many of us also end up giving too much to our business without designing it in a way that we can healthily sustain.

If we as therapist entrepreneurs don’t consider our personal self-care, how we best work, or continue to work in ways that are incompatible with our own happiness we end up burnt out!

An ideal schedule should be a balance between your dream schedule and what is practical for your client base.  Your ideal schedule can change whenever you desire!

Creating a schedule you love is easy if you consider your personality and preferences. Personally, my ideal schedule fluctuates seasonally.  I work less in the summer and more in the winter. I am totally NOT a morning person and prefer not to start my work day until after 10am.  I love having Fridays off and enjoying longer weekends.  I love hybrid work between my business and home offices.

Tackle Your Top Three Priorities

Sometimes we are simply not productive because we lack focus to our efforts.  Too much multitasking can actually be inefficient and create feelings of overwhelm.

The idea of focusing on just three priority tasks each day means we are faster to execute and see the task to completion.  The three priorities should be tasks you can execute and complete.  That requires you to get specific with larger projects getting broken down into more approachable pieces.

You can use best judgement on what you’d like your top three to be.  Areas may include important business tasks like catching up on accounting, writing up that no-show policy, calling insurance to resolve claim issues, or figuring out how to market a new psychotherapy group.  I also highly encourage sprinkling in self-care priorities regularly!

Create Systems and Workflows

As therapist entrepreneurs, we make our own rules for how we want tasks accomplished in our private practice.  An important part of saving time and being efficient is creating systems and workflows.

Once you create systems and workflows it allows you the freedom to outsource as your private practice grows.  Here is  a short list of areas where systems and worflows come in handy:

• Phone Systems-who answers phone calls?  Is a script used to provide prospective clients with needed information?
• Client On-boarding-how do clients receive your paperwork and consent documents?  Is the process easy to use, do you have all the forms needed for your practice?
• Email Communications-is your email solution HIPAA compliant?  In what circumstances do you use email to contact clients or exchange communication?
• Canceling and Rescheduling Sessions-when you are out of the office unexpectedly or your staff therapists call in sick, who handles notifying clients of appointment changes or cancellations and via what methods?
• Money Management-how do you stay on top of expenses and bookkeeping?  Do you have a set schedule for paying yourself out of the business?  How do you determine your paycheck?

These are simply a few considerations and there are so many other areas left unmentioned!  The more you document and systemize, the easier it is to scale your business and trade less time for dollars as your practice grows.