It is 8:51 a.m.
You have T-minus 9 minutes before you will open the door – refreshed, alert, prepared – for you next client.
T-minus 7 minutes: Oh shit! You just spent two minutes just staring off into space, decompressing from your last session, without even realizing it.
T-minus 6 minutes: Quick to the bathroom! You do your best to appear serene as you step out of the office hoping your client isn’t in the waiting room yet. All clear. Internal high five!
T-minus 4 minutes: You type out a quick process note!
T-minus 2 minutes: Your stomach growls. You look at the clock. Almost 9 a.m. and you realized you forgot to eat breakfast. Again.
Damn, DAMN! You do a quick calculation. You neglected to pack lunch last night, imagining that you’d somehow breezily stroll across the street between your noon and one appointments (“10 minutes, that’s enough time, right?”). Your next real break isn’t until 2 p.m.
Four hours until your next decent break. “Yeah… Yeah, I can make that,” You mumble to yourself as your stomach, once again, growls in protest.
Oh! You suddenly remember that there were Hershey’s Kisses at that party two weeks ago. You jam to the closet, open your purse and begin rifling through it. Come on, come on…. ah HA! There it is! Slightly crushed, the foil turn, some bottom-of-the-purse-sand pressed into the chocolate – beautifully necessary in all it’s caloric glory. You tear the wrapping off, pop it in your mouth and chew. You close your eyes. Mmmm. A warm flood of relief washes over you.
You open your eyes, all blissed out, congratulating your two-week ago self for thinking ahead by popping that chocolate into your bag – and then your eyes fall on the clock.
10:01 a.m.
T-minus -1 Minute: fuck FUCK!
You shove your bag back in the closet, rinse some saliva over your teeth – no time for water – and rush out to pick up your client, kicking yourself for your negligence. You open the door, feeling disheveled, anxious about having chocolate between your teeth and, once again, vow to be more prepared tomorrow.
The #1 Obstacle to Actually Building Your Practice
I am all about helping therapists develop the business of their private practices. It’s fun to talk all about the networking, website, niche development and creating the overall marking strategy.
BUT, when I actually get on the phone with ya’ll, I discover the truth – you already know what you’re supposed to be doing.
So, why don’t you do it?!
Because you’re overwhelmed and stressed out and exhausted and hungry.
Even when you do get a break in your day, you’d rather spend it walking to the coffee shop and trying to get your buzz on so you can cultivate some kind of high – even if artificial – to keep your eyes open for your looooOOOoong day ahead.
It isn’t that you don’t know what to do. It’s that you don’t know how to create time and space in your day to day to actually put those business strategies to use.
Don’t fret!
I’m going to step back a bit and do a short series that I like to call:
“The Get Your Shit Together Series for Therapists”
I’ll spend the next few articles writing about lifestyle design. Lifestyle design is all about intentionally creating a structure around you thus making taking action as simple as pie.
(Well, more simple than pie. Because pie is hard.)
Today’s Lesson: Batch Cooking
Dude, this one seems too easy to be true, but it will make SUCH a difference in your weekdays.
- No more scrambling between clients, running down to the corner store to grab a bag of chips.
- No more coming home after a long day and having to choose between taking time to making a healthy meal or eating that (entire) pint of B&J’s.
- No more sitting in sessions, starving, wondering if your client can hear your stomach growl.
Some of you have heard of batch cooking. In fact, maybe you’ve even tried it once or twice, but you’ve failed to make it a habit.
The idea is simple: By setting aside a few hours one day a week to prep all of your meals, you will be saving yourself a TON of time throughout your work week.
- No more time spent trying to figure out ‘What’s for lunch?’ when you’re all worn out and frazzled.
- Leave behind the, “What do you want for dinner?/I don’t know, what do you want for dinner?” convo after a long workday.
- Spend your evening relaxing, rather than worrying about what food to pack for the next day.
You ready?!
Step One: The Plan
Pull out your phone right now and schedule a date with yourself on Sunday.
I’m serious! No, really. Pull out your phone and schedule this shit. Set aside 3 full hours for shopping, chopping and prepping this coming Sunday.
Step Two: The Recipes
Here are THREE healthy recipes that you can mix and match over the next three weeks:
Southwestern Quinoa Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing : I made this week and it is Mmm, Mm good! I added some Apple Cider Vinegar to the dressing because I like the extra ZING and it has tons of health benefits!
Vegan Chili with Homemade Sour Cream Sauce: I have yet to make the Sour Cream Sauce, as I’m all about efficiency and quickness. I like to spend my time writing to ya’ll instead of adding tasty toppings, but I’m sure it’s delish. Of course, if you’re not vegan, you can also make it super easy by buying regular sour cream!
Vegan Corn Chowder : I make this one ALL THE TIME! I add brewer’s yeast, as it’s chock-full of B-12 and shit PLUS it makes your soup thicker. I also chop up a bit of tarragon to throw in.
For ease, I don’t do the whole blend it up part. I keep my soup chunky and cut down on prep time. It still tastes amazing!
Step Three: Prep
Come Sunday, it’s time to prep! Throw on your favorite podcast (or try one of mine faves: Mind Boggling, Shocking, Crushing) and begin chopping.
Toss all your ingredients into the pot and voila!
Once it’s all done, portion out your meals into lunch and dinner sizes. If you don’t already have containers, get some here and have them delivered ASAP (Amazon Prime is a lifesaver!).
And done!
That’s it!
I’ve created some bonuses to make it even easier. I’m a big fan of working less and enjoying more!
You’ll get:
- A Quick Download Grocery List for each of the recipes above!
- My own recipe for my favorite protein-packed breakfast batch that I eat all day long.
- Snack Hacks: My personal Quick-Easy-Healthy snack list that I use to get my nutrition on between clients.
Taking the time to create a system around your meal plan will can save you up to 5 (even 10!) hours during the week. You’ll eat healthier and have more energy to put towards the building your practice (or hanging with people you love!).
Do you have a favorite batch recipe?! Share it with the class in the comments below!
Photo Credit: Barnaby Norwood
Hi Tiffany! I love your blog. I’m a speech language therapist but am soaking up so much from your website. I recommend it to everyone. I eat vegan and love making a ton of chickpeas and then mash them up, add in Dijon mustard, tahini, lemon, a little salt, diced onion and celery and pickles and voila- I’ve got something delicious and healthy to put on lettuce wraps, sandwiches, etc.
This is AWESOME, Becky!! My stomach was ALREADY growling before reading this, but now I am ready to make that chickpea magic RIGHT NOW. Do you soak the chickpeas and do it raw or do you soak and cook?!