You might be reading this wondering why on earth an accountant is making suggestions to therapists and private practice owner’s about avoiding burnout! What could a number nerd possibly know?!
Well, if you’re new around here, and you don’t know me (Alicia) yet, you wouldn’t know that I operate your not so average accounting firm. We don’t just ‘classify transactions’ and ‘reconcile bank accounts’ and ‘prep taxes’ – I see your eyes glazing over already with that stuff! We create a really strong relationship… no.. relationship isn’t the word I’m looking for here. Community! That’s truly a perfect way to describe my team and clients.. we’re a community.
We talk to each other… and I mean actually talk, and listen, and learn, and grow, and struggle together – because the reality is, we’re all humans, business owner’s, parents, aunts, uncles… you get the point!
Is it all ‘warm & fuzzies’ with no business talk or number dissection or analysis? Heck no – we get shit done for sure, and we’re really good at what we do. But we do make time for the real you as well – that person you are outside of the boss babe mode.
So my point is, I listen. I listen to all my therapists who are #bossbabes I have the pleasure of working with. We celebrate the wins and push through the tough times… together. So you see, I’m not just an introverted accountant with my head down crunching numbers all the time (although often). After many absolutely amazing conversations with my clients who are therapists and private practice owner’s – I can confidently say WE have collaborated on many ways to avoiding the inevitable burn-out you’ll feel at some point (and if you never have, then we need to connect STAT and chat about your secrets).
From what I’ve found in discussions with therapists, burnout tends to sneak up on you a bit.
You’re spending a lot of your time working through things with your own clients, celebrating their own growth and successes, figuring out ways to help them even more, and you can easily forget about yourself! And that’s not even mentioning the fact that outside of being an amazing therapist, you also have your own life!
But you can’t pour from an empty cup. (yes, I know I know it sounds cliche, but it’s a cliche because it’s true!)
Experiencing burnout as a therapist and private practice owner
We all know being burnt out doesn’t discriminate by profession. And it doesn’t mean a full-on breakdown either. It can be small things like feeling overwhelmed with all the admin work, missing appointments, lots of cancellations or no-shows, having a giant wait-list but finding a talented clinician to take clients is exhausting, or no longer enjoying your work – dare I say you could even resent it a bit? Resent how much time you’re spending away from home, family, friends, hobbies, etc?
And as you know better than anyone when it comes to emotional and mental health, it’s better to be preventative than try to deal with it after the fact!
Preventative – keep that word in mind every day, as this is the #1 thing that comes up in conversations with therapists, clients, team-members, and my colleagues when we have these conversations about being burnt-out.
How can you – as a therapist – be preventative in avoiding the slow burn of burnout? Here’s what we’ve come up with.
#1 Turn off the noise.
You probably already know what I mean here. The noise being the phone, the email, the laptop – whatever you have that can create the ‘work noise’. ‘Ping’ – “oh that was my work email”. While you may not physically open the email – you heard the ping and now you’re thinking about work.
I call it unplugging, as I’m sure you’ve heard it called that before as well – I’m super original, I know!
I personally use to struggle with this a LOT – my phone could literally be in another room, I’d be in the kitchen mid conversation with my husband, and I hear the ‘Ping’ of a work email – and I’m instantly not listening to what my husband was saying or stop saying what I was saying, mid-sentence, and think to myself ‘That could have been a client or a team member needing me. I better go check it’ – as if my business is just going to absolutely burn down if I don’t drop everything I’m doing!
The solution; Turn off that damn racket. Better yet – remove the apps and or notifications from your phone – instant access, instant gratification, whatever you wanna call it, right at your fingertips- is a dangerous thing! Probably the number 1 piece of advice I ever received from a business coach was ‘Alicia – you really need to remove the Gmail app from your phone’. I was very resistant at the time because I had an infant that nursed like I was a 24/7 diner, and a not even 2 year old exercising her ever growing need for independence in every life threatening way she could think of like climbing up stairs or onto the kitchen counter – so sitting down in the office was very difficult. Or so I thought. Once I removed the app from my phone, and didn’t have the constant ‘Ping!’ it really opened up my headspace and allowed me to STRUCTURE a plan of managing both Momming and office time.
I didn’t stop with the Gmail app either – I removed Facebook messenger from my phone. The biggest noise cancellation for me and the biggest one – I keep my phone on silent almost 24/7. Game changer for me! On the weekends, I literally keep my phone on silent and it stays in my bedroom. Out of sight, out of mind!
#2 Manage your time & calendar!
You might be thinking “I already have a scheduler and calendar” – No, this isn’t what I mean.
Literally manage your time by scheduling events on your calendar and then setting a timer for said event when you start it.
For example, Friday’s are my CEO days. I block off my schedule so people can’t book meetings that day. I don’t see clients, I don’t schedule meetings with my team, and my work IN the business is minimal. This is my scheduled time to work ON my business.
Another great example that just so happens to involve Friday’s, is, I have a client that does ‘Finance Friday’s’. Similar to what I do, she blocks that day off so she doesn’t see any clients, and she works on her finances, reviews the weekly reports we send her, etc.
And the timer aspect of it? I easily get carried away for far too long on a task that I’m really into, or feel like ‘just 5 more minutes’, but again and again. So I set the event on my calendar for the amount of time I want to spend, so say 1 hour. Then when the event comes up, I’ll make sure I set a 1 hour timer on my watch. When that timer goes off – the work goes off, too, and it’s time to be done! Works well for me!
Managing your time and calendar is NOT only for work related things.. it’s so important to follow this same model for yourself personally as well. Which brings me to the next tip!
#3 Make time for the ‘other you’!
You’re an amazing therapist and/or private practice owner.. but that’s not all you are! Sometimes it’s so easy to be ‘working’, even when we’re not working, because our thoughts are still about work, but you must also find the time for yourself to be 100% off of work, and more importantly, find time for your interests and hobbies, too.
Everything that you may suggest to your clients, you can apply to yourself: paint, cook, write, find a sport that’s interesting, read books, knit, whatever makes you feel good.
It truly will help YOU be better all around! Like I mentioned, literally schedule in ‘you time’ on your calendar so you actually commit to it! Believe me, it works! Otherwise it’s far too easy to continue to let you go by the way-side.
#4 Don’t skip your vacation.
Having your own private practice often means you won’t have paid vacations, particularly if you’re just establishing yourself. Losing money, am I right?! But not taking a break is exactly what leads to burnout.
Instead of looking at it as a financial loss, think of your vacation as an investment in your own mental well-being. It doesn’t have to be an all out “I’m going to the Bahamas for 2 weeks” either. It could be as simple as a weekend mini-getaway where you book a hotel only an hour or 2 away, and hang out in the pool and hot-tub all weekend! You just do you!
#5 Lean on your network & delegate!
Don’t be afraid to reach out to your own network; when you find yourself with challenging, complex, or otherwise draining cases, support from your colleagues and other professionals in your network can give you a fresh pair of eyes on a situation and support when you need it. Even if you can’t discuss case specifics you can be pointed in the right direction and it gives you the mental push you need! Or book in an appointment with your own therapist!
As for delegating; I’m going to assume that 80% of your ‘to-do list’ doesn’t need to be done by you. And I imagine it can be done quicker, and more efficiently by someone else. Anndd… I imagine those 80% of things are actually costing you more money when you do them because it’s removing you from the money making parts of your practice, the CEO tasks.
Write a list of everything you do in a day, week, month, and year. Professional and otherwise.
Now go through the list and take everything off of your plate that you don’t need to be doing. Why make your life harder? Whether it’s hiring the assistant you need in your practice or handing off bookkeeping & taxes (obviously going to get that one in!) Unburden yourself with the mundane things, free up your time and energy for the CEO tasks and just…life!
Ultimately, none of us are immune to burnout, no matter what profession – and for therapists it tends to creep up! You’ll find when you can turn off the noise, manage your time and calendar around what works for you, focus on the things you love, and have a COMMUNITY you can lean on, you’ll be less susceptible to burnout and feel more passionate about what you’re doing in the moment!
