As a busy clinical practitioner, I used to feel there was rarely any time to think beyond my immediate moment to moment decision making. My clinic days would be full of assessments, treatments, calls to owners and bookings, team meetings, resource development, note taking and then there was the disinfection and biosecurity for the centre and hydrotherapy suite.

Organising a time to think ahead and be proactive about my CPD plans and business management, was something I didn’t put in place formally for years. My reason was I felt I was just too busy and honestly, I spent most days firefighting, trying to achieve a work – life balance and rarely doing so.

TOP TIP – Do not wait until you catch up with everything, to then decide to engage in formalised thinking time. You may have had experiences of a business closure, for example due to Covid restrictions or ill health, or a slow month with reduced referrals sparking a worry about meeting bills. This may force you to stop and think more deeply about your business, which is a reactive approach and to do with business survival. This is very different to “proactive thinking time” which is productive and necessary for long term success, your own wellbeing and to being an effective practitioner, innovative clinical educator and efficient business manager.

I clearly remember a good friend of mine, who stepped in and organised a day away from clinic with me to do just this, which was unheard of then! He organised a safe and quiet space with facilities to enjoy and use thinking time which included, business brainstorming, planning and creative thinking. It was an incredible experience and I learnt so much from this inspiring opportunity and am forever grateful to Alan, my business mentor at the time.

Successful canine therapy businesses require multi-dimensional skill sets. These include clinical skills dovetailed with great solution making skills, professional development and productive and innovative healthcare business management.

“To sustain business success in the long term, you need to establish and maintain a really good work – life balance.”

Canine therapy is an art and a science and interlinks to your specific practice ethos. This integrative approach aims for your business to provide a consistently high quality health care service.

What is a practice ethos? General businesses use a mission and vision statement, not so in healthcare services. Therapists define their practice ethos which shares their ethical and professional beliefs and sets their moral principles about the service they provide the public.

Therapists are not selling products or commodities and their practice ethos defines their professional commitment which actively aligns their therapeutic practice. The practice ethos is viewed as a professional compass that keeps the whole team on target to deliver a high quality and caring service to the dogs they see and the owners who choose them over other services.

The art of thinking is being lost in our busy world as we often make work decisions reactively, hoping they lead to good results. With the advent of AI, even less thinking and creative time is independent of technology and coding, so even more important to protect.

We know that therapists have developed reflective thinking skills as part of their problem solving abilities and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) commitment, to be able to effectively deliver their unique services.

I’m suggesting to develop these reflective skills proactively for business and centre management too. I used to say I was too busy to block out time, how mistaken I was, as since using formal thinking time and protected time, my productivity and successes soared. An added bonus is I now feel well balanced and in charge of my time and have a plan on how to evolve for the future to fit me!

Practice of Regular Thinking Time

Experience has shown me how to optimise and future proof my own business pathway. I always schedule “time to think” into my calendar, or else I find it just doesn’t happen! This is a pre-booked time that is set aside and never cancelled or stolen for other work, personal or home life needs. I also protect time that is strictly personal and never snatch this away for work matters.

For me, 30 minutes once or twice a week and an hour each month (towards the end of the month) is the time I actively review my work progress and actions. This is so much more than just following a checklist and is reinforced by my formal quarterly review, where I put my my updated action plan into place for the next quarter.

To maximise both my business and personal productivity this dedicated thinking time is used to evaluate business progress, plan ahead, engage new ideas and recognise trends and changes in the canine health industry. I also build in a small reserve for those unexpected time consuming events that suddenly hit out of nowhere.

Since introducing this formalised process, my work productivity has noticeably increased and I have a greater overview of my current and future business goals and wishes. I am able to accurately track the trends and needs of the canine industry and as an influencer and educator, this leads to more active engagement in areas I am currently focused on and really passionate about.

“Reflection is a clinical skill and also a business method to engage and advance professional and business success.”

I am continually amazed this proactive analytical, creative and evaluative process has such a significant impact on my business productivity. I use to have a list based on my specific SWOT analysis, converting this to a proactive needs list. After a positive thinking course in the 1980’s, I replaced strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats with strengths, needs, opportunities and limitations. This was my first step for me to optimise my critical thinking skills and processes, rather than follow the flow presented at the time.

In the last few years I have engaged with the WOOP method and this has significantly empowered my business productivity, achievements and engagement.

WOOP has helped me really reduce work stress, increase my work engagement and creative ideas, plus solve problems and find solutions to problems or challenges. My time management overall is so much better and life feels balanced and working for me, rather than feeling like I cannot keep up!

To explore more about the WOOP method, I have added a couple of videos below for you to check out. I hope this helps you optimise your time management, increase your business productivity and support a well balanced work approach along your own canine career journey, to ensure you feel inspired, have fun and achieve your life goals.

 Produced, owned and copyright to Barbara Houlding – K9HS Courses