In Real Life
About a year ago, a client of mine, Mary*, came to see me because she was stressed and exhausted but didn’t really understand why. A successful massage therapist for about five years, she just felt she needed extra help in managing things. She explained to me that she was feeling quite "stretched" all the time. We sat down together and carefully examined how she was spending her time. While doing this exercise, what became almost immediately apparent is how much work she was taking on beyond caring for her clients.
Mary was in the middle of renovating her house while also keeping up with her busy massage practice. As we mapped out how she was spending her day, Mary was surprised to see that working with the various contractors doing the work on her home was taking nearly two and one-half hours per day. This work included activities that you might not think to count, such as making and fielding phone calls, and returning home quickly to meet with workers when they arrived.
She questioned why she hadn’t been able to see this imbalance before, and I explained that filling out a time-table simply gave her a bird’s-eye view of where her time was going. Nobody plans for their time to slip through their fingers unnoticed, especially when they own a business. People often underestimate, however, how much time can be spent doing simple tasks. The old saying goes: “Time flies when you’re having fun.” But you could also easily say: “Time flies when you’re absorbed in day-to-day activities.”
For example, Mary made all the arrangements for work to be done at her home. Add to this job the hourly massage appointments she kept with clients of her massage practice, as well as answering phone inquiries, bookkeeping, marketing and managing her staff. For Mary-and nearly everyone else in the world-the list of everyday activities goes on and on and on, but we don’t often account for how much time each task is taking from our schedules. Many of these items are placed under the generic heading of “getting things done.”
In order for Mary to slow down and work productively on her massage practice, a goal she set when she first came to see me, she needed to learn how to manage her time more effectively. I could see that she was indeed working very well as a massage therapist. She was highly productive in the hands-on work.
But some of the other work at her practice could be handled by someone else. For example, I suggested she hire a bookkeeper and enlist the help of current staff members to answer phone calls and book new clients. Letting go of some of these simple jobs would free up at least two hours a day for Mary to do other things.
To help Mary learn how to better delegate some of the work she’d been doing herself, I suggested she create a working list. On this list, I asked her to write down the tasks that needed to be delegated so she could have two hours of her day back. Beside each task, I asked her to write how much time she spent completing the activity. As she successfully delegated a task, she crossed it off of the list. With every successfully delegated task, she also made note of how much time she was able to add back to her own schedule. Noting her progress gave her a daily update on the time she was gaining from delegating things she didn’t have to absolutely do herself.
The very same week we worked together, Mary hired a bookkeeper and asked a staff member to take calls when she was out. She previously forwarded the clinic phone to her cell phone so she wouldn’t miss a call. Though a seemingly small change, Mary was now able to move through her day without being tied to the phone every second, giving her the freedom to focus some of her energy on the temporary project of renovating her home.
The beauty of the time management exercise was that Mary began to understand where she was spending her time. Being able to take back some of her time by delegating a few tasks gave her a sense of achievement and increased her confidence. She felt better, both personally and professionally.
In the few months following our session, Mary’s clinic began growing faster than ever. She was feeling more energy and more motivation, a result of her newfound time management skills. She continued making positive changes that helped free up more of her time, including hiring a part-time massage therapist to work in her clinic at night. A win-win situation, as the massage therapist needed the experience and Mary wanted to spend more time growing her business.
Taking a close look at how you are spending your time offers you a unique view of where you’re expending your energy, as well as the places you might be able to regain some of your control. Mary valued her business immensely, and yet also valued a quality home environment. You too can apply these things to your life, giving you a better look at your working methods and making changes where necessary.
* not client’s real name
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American Massage Therapy Association®
