Many of you might think that “time management for chiropractors” is all about getting notes done on time or keeping to the appointment schedule. While those things are important, the chiropractor needs to think at a higher level when it comes to creating and operating a chiropractic business. In this passage from my forthcoming book on starting a chiropractic practice, I explain how chiropractors can manage their time and work strategically on their business.
If you have not read my post “Think Like an Entrepreneur”, check that out first since some of the concepts we mention in this article are covered more there.
Here’s the excerpt:
Time Management for Chiropractors
“I don’t have time…” is resistance at its finest, especially when your time is filled with responsibilities and work. It sounds so legitimate, and we can fill our schedules, day in and day out with so much busywork that the entrepreneurial work gets kicked down the road indefinitely. Know this, to achieve success in the practice that fulfills your will to meaning you must think strategically, as an entrepreneur. Everything else is following a path that belongs to someone else. It may be the path that you created, but with someone else’s map. Persist and resist.
Take a careful look at your day and your week. How are you spending your time? Let’s be objective about this. Starting today and for the next two weeks record how you spend every minute of your workday. For every activity, write down the time you start and note the duration. Describe the activity and categorize it with a few basic categories like patient treatment, documentation, email, social media posting, research, etc. Also, consider whether that activity is technical work or strategic work. Be honest! Remember to know yourself, be objective and understand that how you spend your time is absolutely within your circle of influence. This is an exercise in getting to know your habits and only through absolute honest analysis can you achieve this understanding. At the end of two weeks, analyze the time log.
Analyze Your Time Management
Consider how much time you spend doing “reactive work” like taking phone calls, answering emails, and dealing with questions from your staff. Look at the duration of your tasks. Are you getting interrupted? Are you doing work that could and should be done by someone else?
Now, start adding one hour per day to work “on” your business instead of “in” your business. One hour of strict strategic work. Much of what we will cover, and the exercises that we’ll do will be part of this hour. Analyzing your time log is strategic work. In time we will begin to add more strategic work to your day. You may be doing some of these things now, and you’ll find out with your time log. Writing business systems, planning, and analyzing results are all strategic work. Determining the message and direction of your social media campaign is strategic work but posting on social media is technical work.
Now that you have retroactively recorded your time log, start to proactively plan your days. If you don’t already have a daily and weekly planner, get one now. The planning tool isn’t as important as the way you use it. You want to make sure that you can plan your day, including your strategic work hour. Jot down some priorities for the week, things that will be minor or major victories for that week.
In the next chapter, we’ll analyze your values and goals. This will help you understand what is important and what deserves your time and attention. For now, just get in the habit of planning your week proactively.
