The Perils of Email

I have been on a “mission from God” to divest my life and my work from those BSO’s (bright shiny objects) and time-wasters I have talked about here before.

One of the worst offenders, I’ve found, is email.  I love to put in my email address and get a “free” newsletter from some guru.  Or I order online and receive acknowledgements (“your order has been shipped”) and then offers for more.  I also have lots of emails from people I work with, some of which are that cute stuff (painted cats for $15,000) or inspirational stuff or email “chain letters.”

They are all going out!  No more!  I can’t afford the time.  Sure, I still want to keep in touch with relatives and friends, but I am really not missing anything by avoiding those free offers and most of the newsletters.

I also found a great tip in an audio I listened to recently – have your assistant answer your email.  Scary?  Why?  I have three email accounts – one for my correspondence with clients, one for my business, and the third for personal stuff.  Since I am cleaning out most everything that’s nonsense, my assistant should be able to answer most of the client email (in my name, of course) and deal with customer service issues.  I am also going to move much of my business email over to another business account so she can deal with bills and accounting and bookkeeping stuff.

If you think it’s impossible to have someone else answering your email, here’s an example:  My husband and I sold our home a year ago and bought a new home.  The sale was handled in large part by email with oiur real estate agent.  We found out afterwards that all of the emails were sent by his assistant!  As long as the two people have great communications, this can work well.

So, my mission continues.  What about you?

Keep an eye on my website (www.dcpracticesuccess.com) for some exciting news about new products and services!

It’s about balance

If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule
to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once a week.  Charles Darwin

I recently interviewed a youn chiropractor for a story in Chiropractic Economics and I asked him about success.  Here’s what he said:  “Success to me isn’t about a number of patient visits; its about balancing practice management and patient management and being able to spend quality time with my family.”

Someone else once said, “Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”

If you have the greatest practice in the world, making the most money possible, and you have no family, no free time, no joy, why bother?

One final quote on this subject:

“No one on his deathbed ever said,  ‘I wish I had spent more time at the office.’”

To save time and energy (and keep in balance during startup), do two things:

1. Read my newsletter every week for useful information and advice (clickHERE to sign up)

2.  Buy Planning for Practice Success and start working toward your successful practice!