Action steps cHecKList Preplan your time off at a yearly planning meeting. Aim for a minimum of four weeks off. Meet with your locum and have them shadow you and meet with your patients. Debrief about what happened in the office and make necessary changes for next time. tell you, not one patient left my practice or suffered as a result of my being away from the office. If this appeals to you, let’s take a look at how you can do the same. First, it is important that you develop and maintain a great staff and a solid system that can run properly even when you’re away. If patients are pre-booked and know you are going to be away, they will gladly wait until you return to have their next adjustment. Make arrangements for a colleague to take care of any acute patients or emergencies while you are away. It will ease your mind knowing that people will be taken care of. Another option is to have a locum or associate take over if it is a longer vacation (two weeks or more). If you have a high volume practice and patients on a schedule, this would be the best option for you. This way, patients get their regular care on schedule and when you return, your days are not over-filled, which makes for a more relaxing return. It is important to make sure the practitioner coming in to take over while you’re away has the same technique and personality as you. It would be of high value for this prac-titioner to shadow you before your holidays. This will allow them to see your style and meet some of your more sensi-tive patients. When you return, it is always a good idea to debrief with the staff, patients and the locum so you can make any changes or adjustments, if needed, for your next time off. Lastly, vacations, for the most part, should be preplanned. Our office uses this time of year to plan our yearly office activities. This is when I will preplan my time off, plug it into the calendar, make the staff aware and notify our lo-cum. This organization helps to break up my year and al-lows me to replace times of energy expenditure with energy renewal. Hopefully, I have provided some ideas and inspiration in order for you to take the leap and increase your time away from the office. I recommend you take charge and design your life instead of allowing it to run you. Your time away will give you the energy to be fully present in your practice, which in turn will allow you to be ready to serve more people. What more can you ask for? Remember: when it comes to your practice, work from the inside out. For more on practice management, visit www.canadianchiropractor.ca. www.canadianchiropractor.ca Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College September 2013 Canadian Chiropractor 23
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