Amber, my Online Business Manager and I giggled at ourselves this week. It seems that we often forget to plan for the most repetitive tasks. Every week we want to get the newsletter out to you and it seems that the day before we rush around and hustle to get it done! We have vowed (yet again) to document our tasks and create systems that support us.
But since this is a recurring problem, I think we have to step back, and look at the bigger picture. Here is the question we asked ourselves this morning. I invite you to give it a thought.
How well does your environment support you?
Your environment can fill you with energy and enthusiasm for your life and your work. It can make your work more fun and profitable. it can make your time off more enjoyable. Or it can drain you and make it difficult to get moving effectively.
Consider for a moment the places that are the most important to you. How do you feel when you are there? I am speaking about the sacred spaces where you do your work… where you meet your family… and where you relax at the end of the day.
Just as your skeleton supports your body, your environment needs to sustain and fortify you. Too much clutter can drain most of us. Having things in your environment that you don’t love just doesn’t make sense. A light and easy read on this is “Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui” by Karen Kingston.
But there is more.
What about how you work? Are there ways you can rework what you do to support you better? For example, do you have office hours during part of the day that isn’t your personal favorite? Have you thought about changing that? Many people think that if they change the hours or days they work, they will lose clients. Personally, I think this is something that needs to be tested. I know that I can easily book 5pm sessions. I also know I am a morning person. My 5pm clients don’t get me at my best. They get better input from me and I tend to keep clients longer if I see them at my personal peak times.
What about your systems? If you do repetitive tasks, can you batch them together so that you are not pulled in too many directions? For example, do you devote a fair amount of time checking your email throughout the day or updating your Facebook page? These can be huge time drains and make you feel like you are working although it may lead to little income coming in. (Maybe I will do a whole article on managing emails. What do you think?)
Take a moment this week and view your environment with new eyes. Ask yourself:
1. How do I feel when I enter this area? Do I look forward to coming in here?
2. What is the function of this space? Is it to relax, to work, to be creative? Is it meeting that objective?
3. Based on the answers to the above questions, what is the first (or next) action step I need to take to make my environment more supportive and conducive to my life, work, relaxation and play time.
(By the way, when I asked myself that question two days ago it led to a serious decluttering of my bathroom. It is amazing how much old makeup and lotions one can collect!)
Just imagine how much more pleasant and productive your life and work could be if you set up your environment to fully support you.
Amber and I are working on our systems now – to make our work more streamlined, effective and well… more fun. And having more fun in your life can actually lead to more business. But that is an article for another day.
I look forward to your comments below!
As always, wishing you great success!
Love and blessings,
Casey
P.S. I am so excited! On Sunday I will be sending you some BIG news about the Practice Building Conference. We are working out the details so I can’t share it all yet but here is a hint: CEUs!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for this, it was encouraging. Having recently become an MFT Intern, I have spend the summer working on ways to make my office more inviting. Working for a non-profit allows me to become creative to collect what I needed. I prayed for a couch and recently a local church donated a comfy couch and overstuffed chair as they became aware of our office needs. As I have begun the process or reorganizing, I was also blessed with a large bookshelf which I have just finished painting this morning. I love that decluttering/reorganizing doesn’t need to cost anything and I have appreciated the way that my community wants me to succeed as a counselor and has become part of the process by providing for our non-profit, as well has become a significant referral source as I have been able to share our needs with them. I am amazed that as I have invited others into my life my needs (our practices’ needs) are met, I am challenged and our practice continues to grow. May our clients do the same: share a need, allow another to come alongside, and be amazed at how they grow!
I almost think it’s essential to choose your schedule so that you can be effective with clients. Like you said, you’re not your best at 5pm. I’ve noticed that when I take clients really late, I find myself not as happy because I’d rather take clients earlier. I should have a positive attitude and be happy I have clients!! I’m wondering how it shifts from long days and late hours to choosing when I want to work? I have a busy practice and have been doing well, but what IF I stop taking clients late at night? There is that part of me that worries. I’m sure there are other practitioners that feel the same way. Feeling comfortable with that transition can be a big step!
This is a great article! I realized that my office is a very supportive environment, with pictures on the walls that I love and orchids seemingly everywhere. But I realized my home is actually quite cluttered, and not conducive to relaxing after work as much as I’d like. My schedule is very comfortable, though — I attribute my lack-of-burnout in my 17 years of practice to what I call “my ‘always’ and my ‘nevers’”. I only see clients Monday-Friday, I always take lunch 12-1, I take a “coffee/phone calls” break 4-5, I don’t start before 10:00 and I don’t go past 8:00 p.m. I tell my interns that our careers are a “marathon”, not a “sprint”; you have to pace yourself. You can “sprint” for a while, but if you burn the candle at both ends, you’ll just burn out. I have a couple of colleagues who work seeing 12-15 clients per day, but they have no “life” and I don’t think that’s healthy or even ethically possible to do good therapy working that long per day. Like the airlines say about the oxygen masks, “put your mask on first, then help others put on theirs” — we can’t help others if we aren’t taking care of ourselves first. We have to model good self-care. I’ve had a thriving practice for a long time and I’m not burned out or bitter; I must be doing something right. But I really need to de-clutter some areas at home — we can always strive for growth!
Hey hey hey Casey! This is such great news. Thank you!
glad you brought this issue up Casey! I used to be a software engineer and have created a database system to track everything about my practice. No little pieces of paper floating around, immediate updates of my website (its all integrated). Smart application of technology has been key to making my environment work for me not against me. I also do tech consulting to help other therapists with systems and websites. Work smarter not harder!
I agree with Casey! You do have to think about structuring your workday around who you are. I realized many years ago that I am a not a morning person. I stopped trying to force myself to work in the morning. I am very blessed to have a very successful private practice that allows me to do this. I see clients beginning in the early afternoon and go through the evening. I now enjoy my work and my life so much more. I have not lost clients due to not having morning hours.