I had the great good fortune to head over to In Good Company a few weeks ago to talk shop with their group of lovely holistic ladies. As we were chatting, one of the women mentioned that she’s always had a thriving practice, and yet a few months ago- with no changes at all to either how she builds her practice or practices her practice- business dropped waaaaaay off. Specifically, she went from having 70% of those who did a free consult become clients, to about 10% now. Because the economy tanked long before her practice did, and because this isn’t a standard, ‘how can I best [insert strategy idea here]?” question, I had to ponder for a couple of days.

As I combed through what had changed in her life right around the time things got quiet, the culprit was clear: she had started a retreat center. Oh that’s all! Just launching a whole other demanding, screaming, crying newborn baby of a business. Because she had managed to devote just as much time to her private practice while taking on this new enterprise, she couldn’t understand why her practice had suffered.

It’s about energy units people. When something new comes along and fills all available energy units, there’s no room for new clients. Even though as you speak with a potential client you’re thinking consciously that you want this person to work with you, on a subconscious level your quivering little energy units are screaming, “Noooooooooooo! Not another thing- when would I have time!!”

It’s as if you’re stranded in the ocean, treading water, and hoping that a rescue boat will show up on the horizon. When you find yourself in this situation it’s impossible- and ridiculous- to think about swimming to shore. You’re trying to conserve energy because you don’t know how long you’ll be adrift, how far you even are from shore, or where the hell shore is- not to mention the unknown challenges that might crop up (hungry sharks, dehydration, leg cramps- good times). When you feel this way internally, your subconscious self is in full on conservation mode. Your potential clients’ subconscious selves can smell said mode, and they go elsewhere looking for the practitioner who they feel can devote full attention to them. Who can blame them?

This doesn’t mean that you can’t take on new things, even if they’re big, bold projects-I’m pro big, bold projects. The world needs more of them. There’s one simple equation that will help to navigate those times when your energy units are feeling like they’re treading water: multitasking = that stranded in the ocean feeling.

Set clear boundaries on your time for each endeavor. In this case, I’d make clear boundaries on “retreat center” time and “private practice” time. When doing anything at all related to her private practice, there shouldn’t be any tinkering with thoughts or actions related to the retreat center. Likewise, when working for the retreat center, there is nothing at all happening related to her private practice.

It takes some getting used to- trust me I’m no pro. Think of it as you would a meditation practice. When meditating, you bring your wandering thoughts back- gently- either to your mantra or by simply noticing and letting go of the thought. When clarifying your time boundaries, you’re noticing when your energy units start to wander over to the other Thing when it’s not the time allotted for that Thing. When that happens, just gently bring them back, and turn your full energy to whatever Thing you’re currently focusing on.

Clarify what projects you have brewing and write them in your calendar with specific blocks of time- and don’t forget to add non-work time! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go take my own advice and write up a clear schedule for each of my Things. I see a rescue boat on the horizon- who’s with me!

*don’t forget to evaluate the passive energy unit suckers too- piles of bills, that dentist appointment you keep putting off making, your train wreck of an email inbox: Set aside whatever time you may need to clear out the clutter so you can focus fully on what matters.

Tags: holistic businesses, In Good Company, multitasking, practice building, time management

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 3:38 pm and is filed under For When You Feel Like You Can't Keep On Keeping On, Practice Building in the Tangible World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.