Change Isn’t as Good as a Holiday But it’s Still Good

By Sharon Livingstone

After 3 months of not massaging, I could have simply tucked my air purifier into my axilla, re-entered my treatment room and picked up where I left off.

But how dull would that be when there was an opportunity to change things up?

Recognising that change can be scary and discombobulating for anyone, including me, I wanted to start with small changes that weren’t costly. Only a couple of people have noticed but how I feel about the changes is overwhelming positivity.

Here are the 3 things I changed:

1. I increased my prices from the day I re-opened.

It had been over 12 months since I increased my pricing. In the weeks leading up to re-opening, I’d had a look at the costs associated with providing treatments and knew there was a rent increase where I work. I felt it was better to pre-empt that increase and start with pricing that included all the additional costs in my hourly rate rather than either waiting or having 2 price changes.

The number of clients I informed before raising my prices? Zero.

The number of clients who have commented on my new pricing? Two.

Both were encouraging – “I’m glad you’ve done that” and “It’s about time”. I remember the olden days when I worried about increasing my prices because clients would abandon me. I am as busy and, at times, busier than before the price increase. I’m happy I’ve changed my mindset on price increases.

2. I changed my intake form to use more inclusive language and remove unnecessary questions

Some months ago, I was filling in an intake form at a health facility and bristled at several of the questions – such as “marital status”, “job”, “health fund” – none of them were relevant to the treatment I was there for. It reminded me of a client who bristled at the questions on my intake form – why did I need to know so much about their personal life? Well, I don’t need to know and I realised my intake form needed some amendment.

An article by Liz Sharkey earlier in 2021 started me questioning the inclusivity of my forms and Egan Magee’s talk at the AMT conference this year was the final encouragement I needed. I took out a lot of questions that weren’t relevant or could be discussed during the treatment, if necessary. I changed the way I asked for a client’s name and I now ask for pronouns instead of gender. I’d actually made an effort a few years ago to amend how I asked about gender but it was clunky.

I might need to amend the form further but, like all change, it’s subject to more change.

3. I use the ventilation break between clients to write up my treatment notes

I know a lot of therapists already do this. They’re the sensible ones. I used to wait until the end of the day to write all the notes up at once because I’d be going straight from one client to the next and didn’t have time. On a busy day, I’d keep a notebook handy with each client’s reason for attendance, which helped remind me what to put into my notes.

The problem with this method is manifold. Chief of which is my propensity to procrastinate, which anyone who has received a message from me at 9pm can attest. I will do anything to delay actually putting pen to paper (yes, I’m old-school and keep handwritten notes).

On top of completing notes straight after each treatment, I move away from my desk to write them. I stand away from my phone or other distractions. I position myself so that I can see when a client has arrived. Amazing what I can achieve when I focus on a task.

The benefit to me is time. Instead of it taking me up to 90 minutes to get out the door at the end of the day, I’m leaving work 30 minutes after I’ve farewelled my last client, with the room clean and packed away.

It doesn’t always work out because I have other admin responsibilities between clients and sometimes a client will arrive early or I’ll work over the allotted time for the previous client or I get chatting to my colleagues but for the most part, it’s successful. It also allows me to earn a higher hourly rate because I’m getting my work done faster for the same amount as when I was dillydallying at the end of the day.

What Else Needs To Change?

These three changes haven’t cost me any money. Changing my intake form did take time but improving my time management with note writing saved time.

The best thing about positive change is that it encourages more change. Change in our treatments doesn’t have to be a new modality or new tricks and tools. It might be the way we explain our treatments or even shifting the furniture. I’ve been considering other ways to change my work routine and business for the better. Maybe start planning regular days off, having my website re-done or a new logo.

What about you? What have you changed in your treatments or business?

What have you been considering changing?

What changes have worked for you, what changes didn’t work?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

About the Author

Sharon Livingstone is a Sydney based massage therapist, bushwalker and bird nerd who believes that water dragons understand everything she says and regularly scares wallabies, who definitely don’t understand a word.

Cover image by Ben Kerckx from Pixabay