How-To: Prevent Burnout (Part One)

Hello everyone, I'm Joel Duncan with Therapist Consultants. Today let's talk about preventing burnout in your practice. Now this one's so important, we've divided it into two parts. Here's part one. As therapists, we dedicate ourselves to helping others, but too often we do that at the expense of our own wellbeing. Burnout is not just exhaustion, it's emotional depletion, decreased motivation and even in physical symptoms like headaches and fatigue. And when left unchecked, burnout not only harms you, but it impacts your patients, it impacts your business, it impacts your personal life. So how do you prevent it? Or how do you recover if you're already feeling it? Let's break this down. First, set boundaries with your work hours. One of the quickest ways to burn out is to work too many hours in a day and continue late into the evening, trying to accommodate their patients, but this leads to exhaustion. Instead, decide, are you an early riser or a night owl? Pick one. You can go in early and finish by late afternoon, or you can start late and work into the evening, but don't do both. Your patients will adjust. Number two, cluster your appointments. Instead of spreading clients out throughout the entire day, cluster book. This means scheduling clients in blocks, perhaps mid-morning to early afternoon, rather than having gaps between sessions. Number three, reduce your work days. Most therapists hesitate to cut back on work days fearing a financial hit, but reducing from five days to four, or four days to three, often has little impact on your practice but greatly improves your quality of life. Because a well-rested, energized therapist attracts more clients, does a better job, and generates more revenue in less hours. Working less can lead to making more. Lastly, schedule time off in advance. Most therapists wait until they feel exhausted before they take that vacation. Don't do that. Instead, plan your vacations well in advance, even if it's just a long weekend. Studies show that simply anticipating a break reduces stress and increases happiness. I myself play golf with a men's group every Thursday. And I can tell you, just having that scheduled time every week gives me something I enjoy to look forward to. And that benefits my life and it benefits the life of my patients too. Now, when you take that time off, don't pack your scheduled activities. That just leaves you as exhausted as you were before. Instead, plan a slow, restorative break. Remember, avoiding burnout isn't just about you, it's about your patients too. When you're exhausted, you can't serve patients effectively. Preventing burnout is not selfish, it's necessary for maintaining a thriving, impactful practice. Now if you're a therapist consultant's client, review your schedule and burnout prevention strategies with your consultant and make sure you're running your practice effectively. If you're not yet a client, now is the perfect time to join us. No matter where you find yourself, today is the perfect time to start seeing growth. And Therapist Consultants gives you a complete, customized roadmap to success from startup to retirement. I'm Joel Duncan and together we can take your practice to the next level. We'll see you next week for part two of preventing burnout in your practice.