subject: Handling Multiple Demands and Competing Priorities as a Practice Owner [print this page] Handling Multiple Demands and Competing Priorities as a Practice Owner
In your day as the owner of a physical therapy practice, how often have you said to yourself, "I just wish I had more time"? If you are like many others, your day is filled with more than can be accomplished. While most of us enjoy being busy, few of us enjoy feeling controlled by the tyranny of the urgent. In this article I'd like to explore strategies that will help you handle multiple demands on your time and competing priorities.
Taking on the easiest and smallest tasks first usually causes you to feel more and more stress.
It may seem like a good idea at first to take on the easiest and smallest task first, so you can check them off your "to do" list. And you get the immediate feeling that you are accomplishing something! But working on small task or low priority items actually causes you to feel more stress. You get no feeling of satisfaction or accomplishment, even if you finish a dozen or hundreds!
Instead, block out larger blocks of time in your weekly calendar to tackle the big priorities, and make yourself inaccessible during those times.
That's right. Lock the door and hold your calls. Better yet, leave the office and find a location where you can really focus on the task at hand. Most of our important tasks take more time than we estimate to accomplish, especially if they are new tasks or involve deeper thinking.
The real benefits of setting clear time priorities and maintaining focus is that the very minute you do, you will begin to feel a tremendous sense of control and well-being.
As you finish something that is relevant and significant to your business and to yourself, you get a burst of energy. You have a wonderful sense of making measurable progress toward greater success. You feel like you are making a difference.
Ultimately, as your major initiatives are advanced and accomplished, these more intangible benefits of confidence impact the bottom line of your business too.
