Time Management for Therapists in Private Practice | Monotasking

Time Management for Therapists in Private Practice | Monotasking

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It seems like there’s an endless amount of stuff to do to get your private practice off the ground and running, but how do you stay afloat in the midst of it all? We’re gettin into the good stuff today and talking about time management. Stay tuned to the end for my number one tip on how to leverage your productivity in private practice.

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This video is geared for therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field.

Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

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This video is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

When I meet with other therapists in private practice often one of the first questions people ask me is how I arrange my schedule and divide my time. I ask others the same question too! It seems we all want to know: how do you get all your stuff done and manage to keep it together?

My main takeaways from my interactions with others are:
1. It’s important to find the schedule that works for YOU, rather than looking for a one size fits all approach. Just because something works for someone else, it doesn’t mean it’ll be best for you.
2. So many therapists are working more than they need to. It’s tempting to believe that working more means better outcomes, but this couldn’t be further from the truth! I’ve done it too - overworking myself thinking it’s going to make my practice fuller faster. But let me steer you away from this, because it’s not helpful to you or your business.

Let’s talk about how to work smarter, not harder. 

When you’re first starting out in private practice, it’s tempting to try to do everything all at once: build a website, go to networking meetings, blog, get your social media presence going, attend trainings, etc. 

This is a completely overwhelming approach!

I remember when I first started learning to play guitar, my teacher made me practice learning how to make one chord shape at a time. To me this seemed completely useless - I can’t play a song if all I know is how to make a shape with my fingers!

I think you know where this is going. In the end, this strategy paid off. When I finally had mastered enough technical skills. I could string them together proficiently to play a song. If I tried learning all the techniques at once, I might not ever be successful learning guitar.

Starting private practice is the same!

So here’s that number one tip for managing your time in private practice: MONOTASKING.

Try to focus on just one item at a time and really master that item before moving on to something else. You can create a schedule where you break it down monthly. For example, maybe this month you’re focusing on addressing your website’s SEO. Then maybe the following month you’re going to start an IG account and focus your strategies there. As you allow yourself to focus on just one thing at a time, it benefits you in several ways:
-it gives you a chance to truly master a certain aspect of private practice and integrate it smoothly into your routine.
-it allows you to avoid being overwhelmed by doing it all at once
-it allows you to see what changes are making the biggest impact on your practice. If you do everything at once and your business grows, it may be hard to pinpoint which of those efforts was most helpful. It’s possible you tried 5 things but only one of those changes was fruitful. 
-it gives you a chance to see what kind of efforts are most intrinsically enjoyable for you and to then pick and choose a schedule that fits best fits you.

Remember: Don't multitask! It will get you nowhere fast and you’ll feel totally overwhelmed while you’re at it. Monotasking is where it’s at!

Hopefully you found these tips helpful to manage your time better in private practice. Until next time, from one therapist to another, I wish you well.