Add to your Calendar to be More Productive
Happy December 1st!! As you make your way through the holiday checklist and realize there are never enough strategically placed outlets for your Christmas decor, open your calendar (Google, Outlook, old fashioned kind that you have to manually move to the next month) and start adding key dates and “rhythms.”
Begin with special dates like Birthdays (family, close friends, staff), Anniversaries (wedding, dog adoption, staff employment). If any of these involve a gift or physical card (I buy my greeting cards on Amazon-you can read them inside and out and purchase months in advance), set a reminder one week ahead.
Next, add in “Personal Time.” This includes school vacations, planned travel, family events, and mental health days. If you don’t know when you’ll be vacationing, add a calendar reminder to “choose vacation week” by a specific date. You should also add conferences you plan on attending. If you change your mind you can always take it out later. Make sure ALL events that require you to be out of the office are blocked in your clinic appointment scheduler.
Now is also the time to schedule “Marketing Rhythms” for the year. These should be planned and carried out by your marketing vendor and marked on your calendars (personal and clinic).
Example: 1 newsletter/month, 1 promo/quarter, 2 social media posts per week.
Admin/CEO time should also be blocked for at least 2 hours a week for charting, billing/collections review, finances, and strategizing. This will allow you to stay focused on practice goals while being more present while not at work in the new year.