How to keep your sanity during a startup
By Jean Murray, MBA, PhD

Starting a practice is crazy. Once into the process, you begin to think this was the worst decision of your life.

But you are committed; you can’t back out. You are finalizing your business plan; the bank is in the process of approving your loan; and you have found an office to lease. People begin to ask when they can make appointments.

You have so many decisions to make, you just don’t know which way to turn.

You are stressed, no doubt about it. Someone once estimated that starting a practice involves about 10,000 decisions, most of which must be made in a short time. The time and financial pressures are extraordinary, and this is something you have never done before.

But you can keep from going crazy in this very difficult situation. Most of these tips are information you already know, but just in case you’ve forgotten, here’s a refresher:

1. Find a mentor. This is someone who can be a sounding board to help with decisions or just listen and sympathize.

The person might be another chiropractor, such as a classmate who has already gone through the startup process. It might be your spouse or significant other, or a practice management consultant, or it might be someone you can e-mail every night.

The mentor will be able to tell you that you are not going crazy and that you will get through this in one piece.

We all need mentors and coaches to help us through life, particularly when we hit those rough patches — and practice startup certainly qualifies.

2. Take mini-breaks during the day. A 15-minute power nap can bring you significant benefits. A NASA study showed that short naps can temporarily boost memory and mental acuity.

Some people take five- or 10-minute breaks for meditation. Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, author and meditation guru, says that meditation lowers your blood pressure and increases memory and creativity. Meditation also calms your mind and lets you focus.

3. Sing. Singing increases oxygen levels; exercises your mouth, neck, and chest; and makes you more optimistic. A study from the University of California at Irvine revealed that singing boosts immune cells by 240 percent. Another study at the University of Frankfurt found a significant increase in anti-stress hormones while singing. Just close the door or get in the shower and let go with your favorite happy tune.

4. Laugh. Laughter has many benefits, including releasing tension and taking your mind off the stress in your life.

Author Kurt Vonnegut said, “Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion  … I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.”

Watch a favorite old comedy video. Find an online joke site and enjoy. Or read a funny book. (Check out audio books from the library to enjoy while you’re driving around town.)

5. Exercise. As a doctor, you certainly know the benefit of exercise. But you’re probably saying right now, “There’s no way I have time for that.”

Find the time. Even one 20-minute walk a day can be beneficial. Or, a short stretch or yoga video can be just what you need.

6. Eat right. Fueling your body boosts your metabolism as much as 25 percent and keeps you energized.

If you don’t have time for meals, try protein bars as an alternative to fast food. Keep apples and other fruit on hand. Avoid caffeine and sugar, which can give you artificial highs and bring you down just as quickly.

You get the idea: Take time for yourself when and where you can while you are in the midst of startup.

NOW, THE PRAGMATICS

In addition to these tips to keep you sane, you can do some very practical things to deal with the multitude of tasks and decisions involved in starting a practice.

• Get organized. Get a notebook and make a list of things you must do. Get folders and a portable file carrier to carry with you as you go from bank to build-out to home.

Until you have an office location, you need everything with you all the time. The bank will ask for your leasing documents; the leasing agent will ask for your building permit; and your insurance agent will want to see receipts for smoke detectors. Having everything in one place and with you will minimize tension and time.

• Work on a must-do list. At the end of each day, before you go to bed, list the three most important things you need to do the next day — your must-do list.

If you do this at night, you won’t toss and turn, worrying about what to do the next day. When you are ready to start working the next day, focus on those three things, taking them one at a time.

If you finish all three, make a list of the next three things you need to do. Put any you don’t finish at the top of your list for the next day. If other tasks come up during the day, write them on a to-do list and don’t think about them again until you’re ready to decide on the next three things.

Working on only a few tasks at a time is a great psychological trick to help your mind focus and keep you from overstressing.

• Make decisions. Don’t think you have to do everything yourself. In Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, author David Allen suggests that you separate tasks into those that are actionable (can be done right now) and not actionable.

If it is not actionable, dump or file it for future action. If the item is actionable, do it yourself or delegate it.

In startup, the “delegate” option may not be realistic, but you quickly learn to find others to make some of the decisions. One chiropractor found an assistant at a temporary employment agency and paid her to take care of his paperwork during startup. He found he could get more meaningful work done with her help, and he was able to start more quickly than if he had done everything himself.

He said it was the best money he ever spent. If you don’t think you can afford an assistant, enlist family and friends and spread the work among them. As long as you don’t ask too much of any one person, most will be willing to help.

• Don’t forget your focus. Keep visuals around to remind you of why you are working. Create a “vision board” with photos of what your office will look like when it’s done, the vacation you plan to take with your family, and maybe even the car you want.

Symbols are important and visualizing success keeps you refreshed and focused. For example: Purchase a lucky bamboo plant, keep it in indirect sunlight, tend it, and watch it grow. The bamboo plant is also a feng shui symbol for luck and success because it grows quickly and has strength and resilience.

Whatever symbol you use, make it meaningful and something that gives you strength and energy when you see it.

• Take time for your family. Take one day a week to do something fun with your spouse or significant other. Take the children to the park or read to them. Remember that they are the reason you are working so hard. Reconnecting with your family is a “refreshment” that will keep you going all week long.

Sigmund Freud said, “One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.”

Although it might not seem very beautiful, your new practice is a work of art, like a painting or a book. Stop and see the beauty in your creation of your successful chiropractic practice. It will happen, if you keep working. But don’t get so busy creating a living that you forget to create a life along the way.

Jean Murray, MBA, PhD, is a business professor at Palmer College of Chiropractic and principal of Planning for Practice Success (P4PS). She can be contacted at 866-940-7526 or through her Web site, www.dcpracticesuccess.com.