Productivity is essential for successful physical therapy. However, most therapists feel unproductive in their role at one time or another. Do not worry. Here are some productivity tips to change your mindset and help you get more done in less time.

Plan to be Productive

It’s rare to have excessive free time while working as a PT. Be ready to work when you walk in the door of your practice. Being more productive might mean cutting out that first leisurely cup of coffee or chatting with coworkers. An excellent way to spend your commute to work is by creating your plan of what will be the first things you take on as soon as you arrive to work.

Get Ahead Early

Try to get ahead as soon as you arrive to work. Do you know what equipment, tools, or paperwork you will need throughout the day? Your arrival at work is a terrific time to have them ready to go when you need them. It prevents the need to go searching for the items later and wasting time in the process.

Set Realistic Productivity Goals

Try to set realistic goals. Keep them simple, but make sure the goals align with your standard of work. You might want to ask yourself questions such as these:

• What is my productivity goal for the day?
• What is the limit of working hours?
• How many cases of documentation and management can I complete today?

You can take the productivity goals a step further by writing down your goals so you can measure your goals and gauge your progress.

Turn Off Email Notifications

If your email notifications are on, you can expect a distraction whenever you get an email notification. You might even get carried away with it and soon realize that you have stopped working on your current task. Worse, you might constantly be checking emails that might not be important at the moment. Turn off the notifications and focus on your patients.

Maintain Productivity Between Patients

There is a strong chance that you will have gaps in your work day resulting from multiple reasons. Do not waste this valuable time in-between patients. Let us say you have a client working out on a machine leaving you five minutes to spare. You can take this time to get another patient started on an exercise, or you can work on documentation. You can always do something between patients and crucial billable tasks.

Avoid Multi-Tasking

Not multi-tasking when trying to be more productive might sound counterintuitive, but multi-tasking is switching tasks, which is ineffective. You waste valuable time trying to refocus on your original task. To be a productive PT, you must focus and concentrate on a single task. Reduce interruptions and distractions for better patient care.

Create a Plan at the End of Every Workday

At the end of your workday, take a few minutes to review your to-do list and prioritize your tasks for the next workday. Remember, however, to remain flexible and be ready if plans change.

Let myPTsolutions help you find your next physical therapy job.