Welcome therapists and group practice owners! I’m Nicole McCance, a psychologist turned business coach for therapists. I know firsthand what it feels like to be stuck in the weeds juggling clients, admin tasks, marketing, and trying to grow a business all at once. When I scaled my solo practice to a group practice with 55 therapists and multiple seven figures in just three years, one of the biggest shifts I made was learning the 95/5 rule. AKA, learning to focus only on the work that actually moved the needle.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, overworked, or like you’re doing it all (and then some..), the 95/5 rule is something you should start practicing right away.
In this blog article I’m going to walk you through how to apply the 95/5 rule to your therapy practice so you can reduce burnout, step into your zone of genius, and finally build a business that gives you more freedom!
P.S. Not a huge fan of reading blogs? (I’m more of a podcast girl myself) You can listen to my podcast episode all about this topic by clicking here!
Step 1: Identify Your Zone of Genius
This is my favourite part! But I know you’re probably asking “Sure Nicole, sounds cool and everything but what does that even mean!?”. So let me tell you.
Your zone of genius is made up of three things:
- What you’re really good at
- What you genuinely love doing
- What grows your business
I want you to think about the one thing that lights you up AND moves the needle in your practice. For one of my coaching clients, that thing was teaching. So what did we do? We turned that into a growth strategy by recording masterclasses for local doctors that doubled as a marketing tool.
For me, it’s speaking! When I’m podcasting, creating content, or hosting live events, that’s when I’m really in the zone.
Ask yourself this: What’s the one thing you do that no one else can? That’s your 5%.
Step 2: Time Audit to Find Your 95%
Before you can start to delegate, automate, or eliminate, you need to know where your time is actually going.
The reality of being a therapist is that 95% of what you’re doing in a day could be handled by someone else or handled automatically. These are things like repetitive admin tasks, email threads, billing follow-ups, or marketing logistics that eat away at your energy without moving the needle.
Your job now is to figure out exactly what those tasks are so you can free yourself up to focus on that 5% that actually grows your business.
I want you to try this: For one full day, set a timer to go off every 10 minutes and track what you’re doing. At the end of the day, do a time and energy audit. Highlight everything that drained you or didn’t grow your practice.
You’ll be shocked at how much time you spend answering emails, chasing intake forms, or doing tasks that should be handled by an admin. (Hot Tip: Check out this post on Instagram to get my free admin checklist!)
Step 3: Delegate (Yes, Even If You’re Still in Solo Practice)
Now that you’ve completed your time audit, it’s time to delegate (yay!). Even if you’re a solo practitioner, think of this as planning ahead.
There are so many things you can delegate, including (but definitely not limited to):
- Responding to new client inquiries
- Managing your email inbox
- Booking appointments
- Invoicing and receipts
- Screening candidates during hiring
- Coordinating with referral sources
If it’s not your zone of genius, hand it off. Bye!
And if you can’t hand it off yet, start creating Loom videos and standard operating procedures now so that when you do hire support, they’re ready to hit the ground running.
Step 4: Automate What Doesn’t Need a Human
We’re truly in the golden age of automation. And if you’re still manually sending appointment reminders or chasing people to book consults, you really need to take a look at what you can automate.
Here are just a few ways to incorporate automation into your therapy practice:
- Online booking with automated reminders
- AI note takers that draft SOAP notes and progress reports
- Waitlist management
- Social media scheduling
- Email marketing sequences that nurture new inquiries
Hot Tip: JaneApp is my absolute BFF for automating online booking, sending reminders, billing and invoicing, AI notetaking and so much more. Click here to try it free for a month!
Bonus Hot Tip: Click here to check out my Instagram post that gives away one of my fav JaneApp hacks to remove friction in your online booking process!
Step 5: Eliminate What No Longer Serves You
Ok maybe THIS is my favourite step.
Eliminating tasks, subscriptions, or meetings that don’t need to happen is seriously liberating. Some examples:
- Meetings that could be Loom videos
- Unused software subscriptions
- Intake bottlenecks that could be replaced by online booking
- Long emails that could be systemized or turned into templates
At the end of the day, every task you eliminate frees up brain space for growth!
Scaling Your Therapy Practice with the 95/5 Rule
When you’re spending most of your day doing work that energizes you, that you’re uniquely great at, and that helps your practice grow, your therapy business can actually scale sustainably.
It’s like the saying goes, work smarter not harder.
Whether you’re still solo or already leading a growing group, applying the 95/5 Rule will help you:
- Reduce overwhelm
- Stay in your zone of genius
- Scale faster and sustainably
And if you’re truly ready to stop doing all the things and start focusing on what really moves the needle, your next steps are to:
- Do a time audit
- Highlight your zone of genius
- Delegate, automate, or eliminate everything else
