Ever feel like you’ve got so many things you “should” be doing to grow your practice but you don’t really know what they are? And your schedule’s not fully booked (hence why you’ve got so much to do) but yet you don’t really know when you’ll find time to do it all?
If so, you’re definitely going to want to check out this strategy.
This was totally me for years too. My days were always busy but month after month when I looked at my income it wasn’t growing in proportion to the effort I was putting in. WTF?!
When I started using this strategy to organize my calendar, I can’t believe how things transformed. I stopped feeling like I was in survival mode, barely keeping my head above water. And I stopped going round in circles without making progress. Every day I was super clear on exactly what I needed to do (and I still rely on this strategy now).
Sounds amazing but seriously, it was a game changer for my productivity and my outcomes.
Ok enough talk… let’s just jump right in to an exercise to get you clear on what you need to do each week and when you’re going to do it so you can start building a fully booked practice!
STEP 1: BRAINDUMP EVERYTHING YOU DO IN A WEEK
Grab this worksheet and braindump all the tasks you do in a day and week in your business. Everything from reviewing a patient file before they come in to posting on social media, re-ordering retail stock, checking emails etc…get it on paper.
If there’s anything you’ve been wanting to do (maybe like running a workshop or emailing your community regularly) add that to the list too.
Take this a step further and write down the approximate time it takes beside each task.
**If you have no clue how you’re spending your time, I suggest you do a 24-hour time audit. Set your timer for 60 minutes and start it once you get to work. Every time it dings write down what you did over that hour. The results can be pretty shocking!
STEP 2: ORGANIZE IT INTO CATEGORIES
Now, take a look at your list of tasks and divide them into categories of similar tasks. Here are the basic categories I see most practitioners needing (yours may differ).
CLIENT/PATIENT WORK
This is everything that it takes to work with your clients/patients. Tasks like:
– Prepping and doing your appointments
– SOAP notes
– Follow-ups, answering questions
MARKETING + SALES
This actually incorporates 2 very important categories. Marketing is everything you do to get your name out there and sales is telling people about what you do and how they can work with you (FYI you need both)
– Creating content (videos, social media, blogs etc)
– Creating + leading workshops
– Free consultation calls
– Executing your referral strategy
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
These are tasks that move your bigger picture forward. Most practitioners I see do not set aside time for this and so they’re always just staying in “maintenance” mode.
– Taking courses or learning
– New projects
– Strategy + audits
ADMIN + ENGAGEMENT (A+E)
This includes daily routines tasks needed to maintain your business
– Responding to emails
– Lead follow-up
– Posting + engaging on social media
Most times, if you don’t know what to be working on, we can tend to spend our time in this last category to make us feel like we’re busy. This should be where we spend the least amount of time (1 hour per day max)
STEP 3: ADD THOSE CATEGORIES TO YOUR CALENDAR
Take a look at your calendar and see where you can schedule your categories in based on how much time they’ll take. Ideally this time is blocked off in your calendar so if it’s time for marketing and content creation, patients cannot book in.
And unless you’re fully booked you should have time in your week to devote to these tasks.
STEP 4: FOLLOW YOUR SCHEDULE
Part of feeling in control and like you’re the CEO of your health business is actually doing what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it. Being accountable to yourself and actually following the calendar you laid out for yourself (sometimes the hardest part).
Because I’m telling you, when you organize your calendar in this way, you gain that control. You add structure.
And when you add structure you have clarity so you actually know what to be working on and when.
Trust me, you’ll blow your freakin’ mind with how much you actually get done now AND it’s the stuff that actually moves you forward. So next time you look at your monthly numbers you’re not sitting in the exact same place.
And if you haven’t already grab the calendar strategy worksheet to help you organize all this into one productive calendar!