FIVE TIPS FOR FINDING YOUR WORK-LIFE BALANCE

The business of building a successful naturopathic practice can be tough.  Providing services to your patients, building new relationships, marketing your practice, managing staff, it’s all demanding of your time. Many of  the practice building activities must happen outside of your standard practice hours.

As naturopathic doctors you are attracted to practice natural medicine because you are intrinsically motivated to make the world a healthier place. In light of this larger goal, it is easy to let your personal needs get lost in the demanding lifestyle of a growing medical practice.

As leaders in the naturopathic world, you owe it to yourself, your family and your staff to build cultures that allow for the appropriate work-life balance. Sadly, many of you learn this the hard way with a life experience that forces you to learn the prioritization of a home life outside of your practice. Unfortunately, for some, a lifetime of precious personal memories with family and friend are lost when this happens.

Establishing a work-life balance requires thoughtful attention on two fronts: Increasing your productivity during your practice hours and protecting personal time away from the office.

TIP  #1 SCHEDULE A NO MEETING DAY

Time spent in scheduled or  unscheduled meetings in the office can kill productivity during a workday. To-do lists tend to grow and the time to complete them shrinks. Give yourself and your staff additional time to complete the duties assigned during the work-day by blocking out a day of the week where no meetings can take place. If you are using a time scheduling program in the office send out recurring n0-meeting request on your calendar so that your staff don’t inadvertently interrupt patient time for something that can wait.

TIP #2 LEARN TO SAY “NO” … OR “NOT RIGHT NOW”

The world is full a great ideas. When a staff member, or even a patient, suggest a new task or way to get something done, evaluate the idea against the priorities you have already set for yourself. If this new “great” idea is going to take time away from patient care, or delay the way you work, the saying “no” might be the most important way you can protect you or your staff’s time. As a leader, the additional work that a new idea that you approve may fall on the shoulders of staff. Keep in mind the workload of your staff when you agree to trying something new in the office.

TIP #3 DEFINE A CONSISTENT TIME THAT YOU WILL LEAVE THE OFFICE

Sometimes this lifestyle change may be mandated by family considerations, or the commute from your office to home. By establishing a consistent time to head home, you are giving yourself time in the evening to live your life. You are also communicating to your staff that you respect their time and it’s OK for them to head home in the evenings as well.

TIP #4 TAKE YOUR VACATION TIME

Although this seems like a no-brainer, in a study completed in 2014, 40% of Americans forfeited vacation time. As a private-practice doctor working in natural medicine where your income is solely based on patient visits, sometimes this seems impossible.  Stop thinking about how much money you will lose while on vacation and create a strategy to improve your patient hours throughout the year to make up for your perceived loss of income while you are out of the office. Once this is implemented, when you take a vacation, you can do it with the confidence that you have covered the perceived lost revenue.

TIP #5 GUARD YOUR TIME AT HOME

One way to accomplish this tip is to establish ground rules for how and when work may be allowed at home. For some it is as easy as committing that from the minute you get home until a set hour, say you arrive home at 6:00 p.m. then until 8:00 p.m. nothing from the practice that you may want to work on at home is done. This basically translates to a two hour work-free zone in your home where you can focus on dinner and family, spending quality time together.

Creating a work-life balance is important. Once you commit to the practice of personal and family time, you can get involved in non-work related hobbies or activities, or even go on a date. Clearly, it is easier said than done, and as many of us are workaholics, it’s hard to stay away from even simple work tasks like checking emails, but make the commitment and you will find your practice will grow and your commitment to a home life will be recognized by family and friends.

Q/A How do I Structure My Practice

Q: I am getting ready to launch my own private practice, but I’m not sure of the best business structure.  Some say LLC, others PLC, and still others a corporation.  I’m confused what is the best structure?

NE:  Naturopaths often struggle with this question.  Naturopathic Economics recommends that when considering opening a new naturopathic practice you first consult with an attorney who specializes in healthcare practices to guide you to the right business structure.  To help you determine if an attorney is right for you, here are four things to look for in an attorney.

1.  Look for someone who works in the healthcare or private practice arena.  You want someone who is familiar with the issues that commonly come up for business owners operating in your space.

2.  Since you are forming a new business, make sure the lawyer customarily handles entity formation.  This familiarity with the process will lead to efficiency, which should result in saving money.

3.  If your start up is discreet as the attorney if they can offer a flat rate for this service.  Many attorneys will be willing to do so if the scope if work is clearly defined at the outset.

4.  Hire an attorney you like talking to who is will to spend some time off the clock getting to know you and your business.  As your naturopathic practice grows so may your legal needs and you want to continue your legal relationship with someone who knows you and that you can trust.

Check out the Resources Tab on our site for a healthcare practice lawyer who may be able to assist you further.

Got a question.  Email naturoeconomics@gmail.com

Your Practice Management Questions Answered

Regardless of the school you attended to get your naturopathic training, countless numbers of highly trained professional seem to struggle with the business of running a successful medical practice, unless they were specifically trained in this area.

Do you have a question about running your practice?  Naturopathic Economics is building a database of professionals to answer your questions FREE of charge in areas like:  practice start-ups, partner negotiations and buy-ins, purchase and sale of professional practices, practice management, electronic patient records, advertising, marketing and development of a patient base, billing and staffing.

Naturopathic Economics is adding professionals from every field; legal, accounting, marketing, insurance, staffing, billing, etc. who are graciously offering to respond to your business questions to create one of the finest FREE resources for naturopaths to acquire quality business information.

If you have a specific question you would like answered; legal, accounting, leasing, electronic medical records, medical billing, marketing, staffing, etc., just email your question to: naturoeconomics@gmail.com . 

Your question will be forwarded to one of our professionals specific to your inquiry and the answer will appear on the blog post once we have a response.  You will receive an email confirmation that your question has been answered when it appears on the blog post.

NOTE: All posts at this site are for information purposes only and are not designed to be construed as legal opinions or professional advice to be acted upon without the reader consulting with their own professional advisers including but not limited to: attorneys, accountants, banking contacts, insurance agents, real estate agents, marketing and public relations consultants, and staffing specialists.