We’re firm believers that there comes a time when finding success means you need to work less at some things, not more. It’s counterintuitive, I know, but sometimes the most important things are.

Here’s are 6 reasons why cutting your hours might just take your practice to the next level:

1. You’ll Be More Efficient

Parkinson’ s law states that “work expands to fit the time available.” You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can get through things if you don’t have unlimited time to do them. You’ll also be surprised at how punctual your appointments can be if there’s someone else waiting.

If your scheduled hours aren’t consistently 70+% booked right now, then you need to carve back your available patient hours until they are.

If you’ve just started up, or have very few patients, you might find yourself carving back too much – use a minimum of 12-15 hours a week, spread over 3 days. That will give your patients more options then just one 8-hour day. You can adjust for your own market and comfort level, but remember:

Being available to see patients all the time isn’t growing your practice.

Really – it isn’t. Providing incredible service is (for one), but you don’t have to make all your kick-ass incredible-ness available 50 hours a week. Putting in all that non-patient face time at the office isn’t helping. So stop.

2. You Can Solve The Staff Dilemma

The natural medicine professions are plagued with staff problems. More accurately, the problem is that small offices and solo practitioners don’t have staff. I know that this works for some modalities, and certain types of practices, but we see far too many practitioners who don’t have any help, and it’s driving them into the ground – personally and professionally.

This is not a case of “easier said than done.” Staffing really can be scalable. One of the scariest things about staff is having them kicking around a too-quiet office. However, if you’ve got an effectively booked schedule, you can cover just those hours that are booked, without falling into the trap of hiring full-time staff to cover a part-time gig.

3. You’ll Create Scarcity

If you’ve ever traveled, you may have discovered that the best food is often the stuff made out on the street. The good traveler’s rule of thumb, though, is always eat at the cart with the lineup. Why? It’s probably safer and better than the vacant street-meat-mobile.

This applies to your office, too. Things that are in demand send a message: there’s something here – you should check it out. We’ve touched on this in scheduling discussions: being perceived as “busy” or “in demand” can be good marketing, and booking patients effectively helps create that.

4. Your Practice Will Become More Profitable

Why pay for a host of expenses during hours that you don’t really need? If you can see more patients in less time, you can reduce your overhead, or even share your space (and costs) with additional practitioners.

That in turn leaves a little extra money each month that you can use during your new-found time off. 🙂

5. You Can Find Balance

If you’re on the road to burnout, then less is most certainly more – particularly when we’re talking about working less and earning more. If you’ve got slack in your schedule, then scale back your hours a bit and enjoy it while you can. You can always work more when demand justifies it.

If your schedule is jam-packed, though, you can still cut your hours, find balance, and…

…6. You Can Continue the Shift from Practice to Business

Working less creates an interesting challenge in your practice:

If you’re going to work less, how will you continue to earn the same income, or more?

The answer is in the shift from practice to true business – in finding ways for your practice to generate revenue in other ways besides selling only your time. That generally means involving more people – other practitioners and professionals who can add to your revenue without strapping you tighter to the grindstone.

Working less is a simple way to force this transition, and that’s a good thing.

Objections

You’re going to hear the complete opposite of this advice at times, and that’s fine. Here are a few common objections we hear to working less:

“My clients need me to be open all those hours.”

No they don’t. What they really want is for you to be open 24-7 so they can come in anytime they feel like it. Are you willing to cater to that?

Patients want the most convenient appointment they can get, but they’re flexible – we all are. You can’t meet everyone’s timeline or you’ll be running a 24-7 CAM drive-thru. Pick some manageable, sensible hours, book them effectively, and focus on being remarkable in other ways besides your ability to work super-human hours.

“What about staff? No one wants a part-time job.”

Sure they do. That’s a myth, and with our current demographics, there are all kinds of people who want part-time work. Just look for them.

“I can’t take the pay cut.”

This isn’t about pay cuts. It’s about the same money (or more) in less time. But if you’re booked solid, and worried about cutting your hours, then it’s time to start making the transition from practice to business by bringing in someone else to work some of those hours.

If you’re not booked solid, then just cut back your hours until you are. You can always add them as needed.

Another plea for work-life balance from the good folks at AlternativeHealthPractice.com. 🙂