In part one of this two part series, we will discuss why there is no better time to invest in improving your personal time management, goal setting and planning skills as an aesthetic nurse or clinic owner. We will look at the key benefits of time management and review some surprising statistics about UK productivity performance and the distractions facing many workers. We will then signpost some general misconceptions and highlight the daily challenges practitioners might face due to poor time management and low productivity.
In the second article, we will review and discuss useful steps you can consider to improve your productivity and reduce stress. We will also touch upon a useful daily habit that has the potential to transform the way you work and help you achieve impressive results in considerably less time.
» Good time management can lead to increased wellbeing and a positive mental attitude, enhanced efficiency, better business results, improved work-life balance, reduced stress, better decision-making, increased quality of work, and a decrease in procrastination «
Let us begin by reviewing why aesthetic nurse practitioners face more significant challenges regarding personal time management than ever before and what this could mean for their productivity, business results, patient outcomes, and personal lives.
Moving towards stricter regulations
The UK is experiencing a solid drive for stricter regulations, including a new licencing scheme to raise standards within the industry to ensure safety and professional accountability. Staying informed and compliant means more time spent learning, training, reviewing and updating standard operating processes within the aesthetic practice. The dynamic nature of the sector means competition is higher than ever. As a result, adapting to new patient demands and improving the marketing of services with solid ethical considerations are also core requirements. As the industry moves towards more regulation, nursing professionals are at the forefront of maintaining the highest patient safety standards and belong to one of the leading healthcare professions, raising the bar for aesthetic practitioners across the medical aesthetic industry. The British Association for Cosmetic Nurses (BACN) strongly focuses on helping nurses unlock their true potential by developing their leadership skills and prioritising continuing professional development. Given these development trends, how can nurse practitioners optimise thier time and focus on the most critical tasks to drive results for thier patients, team and practice, without feeling overwhelmed?
Optimising personal time management
A key area to consider is to focus more on understanding and becoming proficient in optimising personal time management. Developing excellence in this foundational leadership skill can significantly boost your individual and team productivity as you master this critical skillset and coach your team members. We will review this in more detail in the second part of this article series. Making good personal time management a high priority can reap multiple benefits. It can lead to increased wellbeing and a positive mental attitude, enhanced efficiency, better business results, improved work-life balance, reduced stress, better decision-making, increased quality of work, and a decrease in procrastination. These are not a series of empty promises. Mastering time management best practices delivers tangible outcomes that can transform your professional and personal life.
UK businesses are plagued by stress
Another UK research study by Simply Business (2023) involving 749 small business owners, revealed that 56% of small business owners in the UK have experienced poor mental health over the past 12 months. Given the challenges and changes happening in the UK medical aesthetics industry, this is likely to apply to nurse practitioners too
The majority of workers do not have a time management system
Recent workplace studies illustrate that most workers do not have a time management system they consistently reference and use. A study published by Zippia (2022) illustrated some surprising statistics. Employees only work 4 hours and 12 minutes in a typical working day. Only 12% of employees plan all of their work, 51% spend every day on low-value tasks, and only 20% feel their workload is under control.
Numerous studies across various industries have found similar trends. Imagine how investing in an effective time management and priority-setting system could transform your performance, the business you work in, and the other critical priorities in your personal life.
Why are there currently low rates of investment in this area?
Why don't more people don't invest in this essential and potentially most impactful leadership skill? Ironically, in today's aesthetic practices, practitioners feel overwhelmed and time pressured. They see that attending development programmes takes time which they do not have to spare. In my experience over the last 21 years operating as a business consultant in the medical aesthetics industry, I have observed that many clinics are perpetually firefighting and stuck in a crisis mode of thinking. This can lead to cognitive overload and impair business judgement if it persists for long periods. The cliché ‘can't see the wood for the trees’ comes to mind.
Other practitioners are understandably sceptical because they might have attended one-off training events before and experienced limited benefits post-session. Many practitioners are unaware that development programmes that focus on spaced repetition over a series of months, with continual follow-up and application on the job, are more likely than any other type of training to adjust attitudes, dispel limiting beliefs and result in long-term behavioural change.
Creating new productive habits and changing attitudes is hard, but it can be achieved with the appropriate help and support. In a fast-paced world, you can appreciate that most people's default level of thinking is that a quick one-off investment to gain maximum results is required. Unfortunately, experience shows that one-off training events focusing on content delivery rather than attitude and behavioural change do not impact much. Transformational results flow when new habits are formed and reinforced over weeks and months, with spaced repetition, on-the-job application, coaching, reflection, and self-assessment to track progress.
Some practitioners are, of course, put off by the initial cost outlay. This type of thinking is understandable when running small businesses.
Having a close eye on expenses and ensuring cost containment is a principle to be applauded. The challenge here is that adopting a very stringent attitude to cost containment across the board means you miss out on training and upskilling, which is essential in business. For practices to remain competitive in the long term, attract top talent, and reduce staff attrition rates, investing in your skill development and your team is critical, now more than ever. A recent market research report produced by City and Guilds in their Training Trends report (City Guilds, 2023) states people are ‘increasingly willing to invest more in training and recognise the link between skills development and business growth.’
Additionally, there are those practitioners who become increasingly mindful that when they become highly proficient at prioritising their time, focusing on the significant impact/payoff activities, the return on the cost outlay is relatively insignificant compared to the newly introduced benefits and ways of working, which are now embedded for the long term.
Learning from mistakes
Earlier in my career, I lacked self-awareness in regard to managing my time and prioritising projects and tasks. Before investing in personal development, I was unsure of the highest pay-off activities. The Pareto Rule (Guy-Evans, 2023), is often quoted as 80% of results being driven by just 20% of one's actions, is a valuable yardstick to judge my time management effectiveness. Reflecting on my early days of work, I realised that I would spend a lot of time addicted to my busyness. I thought I was being productive and efficient and would spend most of my time doing things and little time planning things. This meant I was more inclined to spend less time in areas that generated transformational results. I would have achieved considerably more in less time if I had appreciated the importance of adopting an effective time management system. Parkinson's Law (Harvard Business Review, 2018) plagued me. This principle posits that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. It suggests that the time you have to perform a task is the primary determinant of how long it will take. In theory, if you give yourself a week to complete a two-hour task, the task will inflate to occupy the whole week, potentially becoming more complex and timeconsuming. In the real world, this might not be strictly true in today's medical aesthetics practices, but it makes a clear point. Not setting goals and specific timeframes for completing tasks means drifting towards unnecessary perfectionism and a focus on low-priority details. This can often lead to inefficiency and a lack of productivity. More time is filled with work that is not necessary or productive. It was a beneficial and painful lesson to learn.
What are the distractions?
In today's medical aesthetic practices, there are multiple distractions. A research survey and article published by Voucher Cloud (Ward, 2018) polled 1,989 UK office workers to discover the online habits and productivity of employees in the UK. The top 10 distractions were revealed. Each participant could select more than one distraction.
The results were as follows:
- Checking social media: 47%
- Reading news websites: 45%
- Discussing out-of-work activities with colleagues: 38%
- Making hot drinks: 31%
- Smoking breaks: 28%
- Text/instant messaging: 27%
- Eating snacks: 25%
- Making food in the office: 24%
- Making calls to partner/friends: 24%
- Searching for new jobs: 19%
Busy aesthetic practices are not the same as modern offices. However, I believe these are interesting statistics to reflect on.
The reason to highlight this is not to assume that employees will always default deliberately to these distractions. The intent is not to squeeze every ounce of work out of every employee. This is often another misconception about insightful discussions about increasing productivity. We are discussing this to showcase that when employees or aesthetic clinic owners do not have a robust time management system, the human mind is distracted by activities that give us a short dopamine boost.
In the concluding article in this series, we will discuss some tools you can adopt to be more productive. Of course, at the top of the list is taking regular breaks to recharge or considering activities that require less cognitive focus at appropriate times.
Summary
I hope you are more curious about optimising personal time management to drive transformational results for your patients, team, business and personal life.
Part two of this series will also include a checklist of questions about what to consider when selecting a personal development training partner.
Finally, consider this: if you were to master the art of effective time management fully, you could gain one extra month a year in efficient time use. How would you spend this time, if given the opportunity?