Saturday, February 11, 2017

A Day in the Life of a Private Practice Dietitian

I have been getting asked a lot lately how I structure my day and what does a day looks like for me now that I am full-time. Pretty much no day is ever the same for me since I never know who is going to call for an appointment, what important email comes through, or what last minute change in my schedule needs to happen. I broke down my day into two options: seeing clients/having classes and a "work" day so you can see what it looks like to be me all day long :)

A Day With Appointments (My Wednesday)
6:45am - Get ready for the day, eat, make coffee, pack my bag, check emails
8:00am - Head over for a committee meeting that I am Vice-Chair for, send out committee emails
9:30am - Chat with a fellow entrepreneur post meeting
10:00am - Leave to head downtown for my cooking class
10:45am - 1:45pm - Prep, have class, clean-up, chat with staff in the building, etc
2:15pm - Home. Eat lunch, check emails, log class information/expenses.
2:30pm -4:00pm - Make any insurance-related calls before offices close. Call back voicemails (if any). Work on posts for FB & IG. Follow-up with clients for paperwork needed for appointments.
4:00pm - Gym
5:30pm - Make and eat dinner. Usually, I take this time to also clean the kitchen.
7:00pm - Follow-up on emails. Work on committee related minutes/events. Prep for the next day. Sometimes I will have a late-night appointment at 6pm. If so, I will bill and write the reports right after.
8:30pm - Continue working on business-related items (could be accounting, billing, lesson plans, blogs, handouts, etc) or watch Netflix or read a non-business book.
10:00pm - Bed

If there is one thing I have learned while being in private practice it is to not overbook yourself. Even the days where I don't see clients I try not to overbook. Something always comes up to rock the boat! Going along with this, I have learning to go with the flow a lot more. Appointments change. Classes get rescheduled. Things in life just happen. If I get all stressed out and worked up about something, it just makes my day chaotic and negative. I take things as they happen and simply move on.

A Day Without Appointments (My Monday or Friday)
8:30am - Get ready for the day, make coffee, check emails, make pancakes (because why not), make my to-do list (prioritize)
9:30am - 1:30pm - Followed-up on calls. Booked a new class so I had to submit an invoice + signed contract. Write lessons for the new class. Follow-up on unpaid insurance claims. Follow-up on missing paperwork for upcoming appointments. Chat with another RD about insurance issues. Plan blog and social media posts. Brainstorm ideas for business. Input any paid claims into my accounting software. Usually Fridays I do laundry and vacuum in the midst of all of this.
1:30pm - 2:00pm - Make and eat lunch. Some days, this ends up just being a smoothie for convenience.
2:00pm - 5:30pm - Follow-up on more insurance-related issues. Chat with other RDs about insurance. Send appointment reminders to clients. Prep for appointments/classes for next week. Answer emails. Follow-up on patient calls. Schedule appointments as they come + send initial emails with paperwork. Mondays are my food shopping day normally so I also hit the food store mid-day too.
5:30pm - May go to the gym or if not eat dinner a bit earlier. Usually, prepping dinner involves emptying the dishwasher, putting dishes/groceries away, cleaning, etc, all while cooking.
7:00pm - Follow-up on emails. Work on committee related minutes/events. Prep for the next day.
8:30pm - Continue working on business-related items or watch Netflix or read a non-business book.
10:00pm - Bed

My days where I don't see clients usually end up being the "busiest" since I push everything office-related off until then. Sometimes, checking my emails takes 2-minutes and other times I end up back and forth about something for 10-minutes. As I mentioned earlier, I never really know how a day is going to go. Some days, I get through everything I needed to and can relax by 3 or 4pm. Other days, I work until 7 or 8pm, eat a late dinner, and pretty much go to bed right after. There are some days that I need a mental break so I will go out for a mid-day walk or watch a show. Again, just going with the flow really helps my sanity and productivity.

If you are in private practice, what does your day look like? Anyone reading this surprised at what I do all day?

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