Freedom for Your Practice: The Priority of the Important | GP 301

Grow a Group, practice essentials, practice freedom, practice philosophy, practice priorities, to do list, urgent vs important

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Do you feel lost in your to-do list? Is everything seemingly trying to get your attention? How do you distinguish between what is urgent and what is important?

In this podcast episode in the Freedom for Your Practice series, Brandon Shurn discusses “the priority of the important” | Part 2.

Podcast Sponsor: Headway

I want to thank Headway for sponsoring this episode. If you run a group practice, you know that accepting insurance can be overwhelming. Between credentialing, billing, and payroll, the admin side can easily take over your week.

Headway was built to help you handle this — and they’re the only platform designed specifically for in-network group practices. Whether you’re growing your team or running an established practice, Headway makes the business side easier with faster credentialing, higher per-session rates, and biweekly payments your team can count on. They work with therapy, psychiatric, and hybrid groups — and there are no subscription fees. Just the support you need to run your practice with ease.

Run your best group practice with Headway — trusted by thousands of group practice leaders to simplify insurance admin and reach more people through in-network care.

Curious how Headway can work for you?

In This Podcast

Urgent versus important
The cost of being reactive instead of intentional
Tips to reduce reactivity and scheduling stress
Your action step

Urgent versus important

Whether your private practice is in its infancy phase or already established, as Brandon discussed in the first episode of this series, there will be times when you need to make a call.

As a business owner, you need to develop the skill of discerning between what needs your attention now and what needs your attention most.

Brandon suggests using the Eisenhower Matrix, a time management tool that helps you categorize tasks based on urgency and importance into four quadrants:

Urgent
Not Urgent
Important
Not Important.

Inside of this matrix, it’s simple and it’s profound, because it helps you decide what you need to do, what you can put off doing later, what you can delegate, and what you can get rid of. (Brandon Shurn)

The cost of being reactive instead of intentional

When you never take a moment to sit with your schedule and plan what you will do and when, it can seem like everything needs your attention all at once when you do finally get to work.

This causes you unnecessary stress and can lead to additional burnout, reactivity, and even avoidance when it comes to doing what needs to be done.

That is the cost of reactivity.

That strategic growth, that intentional growth … Gets stifled, because now you’re unable to sit and use your brain power [due to interruptions]. (Brandon Shurn)

Constant interruptions take an emotional toll and lead to reactivity. Therefore, you can time-block your work, and that takes planning.

Therefore, being intentional and proactive about planning your schedule provides you with freedom, awareness, and the opportunity to do your work with more peace than protest.

Tips to reduce reactivity and scheduling stress

1 – Time blocking

2 – The Eisenhower Matrix

3 – Create weekly plans that are in alignment with your long-term goals

4 – Delegate and automate anything else that you do not need to do personally

5 – Complete check-ins with yourself quarterly or monthly to make sure that you are on track with your short-term schedules and your long-term vision

Your action step

I want you to block out a two-hour time window this week, and I want you to begin to do some important work. Do the things: maybe it’s getting a sense of using Eisenhower’s Matrix to decide, or to get a big-picture view … Because remember, you want to do the things that are urgent and important. (Brandon Shurn)

Take one step forward and implement one of the steps!

Once you begin to strategize with your time, you notice the freedom and peace that will come with doing the work, rather than unnecessary stress.

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Curious how Headway can work for you?

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Meet Prof. Brandon Shurn

Brandon Shurn, Ph.D., LCPC, LMHC, AFC®, NCC, is a licensed clinical professional counselor and the founder of EmPower Me Holistic Counseling, a fully virtual Maryland-based practice. He’s also a full-time professor in Seattle University’s online Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. With extensive experience launching and directing university training clinics, Brandon now focuses on helping therapists design and grow impactful, sustainable practices.

Outside of his work, he enjoys fitness, yoga, Wing Chun, golf, reading, and spending time with his family and dogs.

Visit Empower Me Counseling, and connect with Brandon on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Email him at: [email protected]

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Freedom for Your Practice: The Priority of the Important | GP 301

Podcast Sponsor: Headway