4 Time Management Traps for Therapists

Perhaps you feel the pressure of a time crunch as you prepare to take some time off from your practice for vacation. Or maybe you feel overwhelmed by the increased personal and professional demands you have right now.

Regardless of what’s causing the time crunch for you, here are some tips to help you avoid some known time management traps and build your time management skills as well.

Time Management Traps and Tips for Therapists

Here are four common time traps that practitioners in private practice can fall into, along with a corresponding  time management tip to help overcome it.  

Time Trap #1: Treating Everything as Equally Important

Think of a typical to-do list. I picture a piece of paper with a list of items on it. The items are in the order that the tasks came into my brain, and there’s no indication of what is most important or urgent, or even an estimation of how long each task will take. And it almost never includes items that are related to my personal self-care. If your list also looks like this, we end up looking at a daunting list that doesn’t provide us much guidance. 

Time Management Tip #1: Prioritize Your Tasks

Learning to prioritize is a skill, and it takes some practice. But there are some tools that can help along the way. One tool is called the Eisenhower Matrix. The Eisenhower Matrix creates four quadrants so that we can categorize tasks by their urgency and importance. That way, we can choose tasks that are of higher priority to complete first. 

If that doesn’t feel like the right time management tool for you, consider simply approaching your list in a different way. Instead of putting everything you might need to get done on a list, come up with 3-4 items that are the most important for today. If you finish those by 10am, feel free to make another 3-item list. You’ll feel more productive and it naturally forces you to edit down to what matters most. 

Time Trap #2: Feeling “Too Busy”

“Busy” and “tired” have seemed to replace “fine” as the stock answer to “How are you?”

In fact, it seems we’ve almost become competitive about how busy and tired we are. 

Time Management Tip #2: Create a Time Budget

Consider implementing a “time budget” into your daily work.

In college, I caught myself competing with my peers on who was the busiest. So I decided to treat time the same way I treat money and put it in a budget. 

This is how it works: First, start by looking at a week, not just a day. A full week has 168 hours. Next, identify your fixed time expenses. This often includes work, a commute if you have one, sleep, meal prep and consumption, household tasks, personal care, childcare responsibilities, etc. Write down the number of hours per week that you typically spend in these areas. I always encourage people to overestimate, especially when it comes to something like sleep. If you tend to not get enough sleep, put the aspirational amount of sleep, instead of the actual amount you get. 

Then, take the total of those fixed expense hours and subtract it from 168. The remaining number is your flexible or free time. Many people are shocked by the amount of flexible time they have in a week. If that’s the case for you, it’s good to consider how you can be more intentional with that time, so you can get the most out of it. If you find when you do the budget you have very little flex time, go back to your fixed tasks, and see if there is anything you can trim a bit (not sleep!) or even delegate to someone else. 

Time Trap #3: Underestimating Time

I talk about this a lot because it’s a trap I consistently fall into.

Essentially, I think my tasks will take less time than they do, or I assume everything will run smoothly and distraction-free. I literally laughed out loud as I wrote that.

How is it possible that I’ve been on the planet for nearly 40 years and still assume that’s going to be true?

Time Management Tip #3: Build Time Buffers Into Your Schedule

A simple problem calls for a simple fix.

Always assume that everything will take longer than you think it will. I like to think of these as schedule buffers. And if you’re particularly bad at this part of time budgeting (like I am), add way more buffers than you think you need to.

There’s no harm in finding that you’ve allotted too much time for a task, especially during a time of year such as the holiday season where there are more demands on your time.

If you have extra time in your day as a result of over-buffering, enjoy the surprise gift of time. 

Time Trap #4: Discounting Nature

When I was growing up, I would get frustrated with my mom. She seemed to blame my shifting moods or energy levels on my hormones or the weather.

As I age, I’m seeing the wisdom in some of those connections.

To assume that each day we are going to have the same amount of energy and motivation fails to consider the natural shifts in our bodies and our environments.  

Time Management Tip #4: Be Aware of Seasonal and Personal Changes

Most of us are aware of seasonal changes, but then we don’t do anything to adjust for the shifts. Many of us live in areas where there is a distinct drop in temperature in November and December, and at the same time the amount of daylight also lessens. Our bodies respond to this and naturally seek more rest. It’s common to fight against it. 

All year we look at a week or two of vacation at the end of the year as a light at the end of the tunnel, and we struggle through until we get there. But what happens for many people is that by the time that vacation comes, they are so depleted they don’t fully enjoy it, or they even get sick. If it’s possible, look at your year, and find the times that tend to be busiest for you.

What can you do to anticipate the time crunch and add in some preventive self-care?

Time management is a challenging task at any time of year. Consider trying out some of these time management tools, and be mindful of the impact on your stress levels.

Then, incorporate the ones that work best for you into your routine, so you can make the most of your time, all the time.

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