Work Life Balance for Speech Pathologists: Mindful Time Management Tips for Therapists, Clinicians, & Private Practice Owners

60. Big News! What You Need to Know

Theresa Harp

In today's episode, I'm unveiling some big news about the podcast! I'll share with you what you can expect to see, why these changes are happening, and three valuable lessons I've learned through this process. Make sure to listen until the end to find out when these changes are happening and how they will benefit our community of speech pathologists, OTs, PTs, and related health professionals.

Tune in for all the details!


Are you sick and tired of feeling overwhelmed by all the things? I can help. Schedule a free consult today.

Come join the SLP Support Group on Facebook for more tips and tricks!

Follow me on Instagram! @theresamharp

Learn more about Theresa Harp Coaching here.

Hello, podcast listeners. Welcome back to another episode. I'm actually recording this episode very last minute. And there's a story behind that. There's a couple of reasons, but the biggest piece of information that--as it relates to this episode--is that I have news. I have news. I have news about the podcast and it's exciting and also overwhelming and lots of different things. And so I wanted to devote an episode just to this topic: what is the news and to share with you three of the lessons that have come out of this for me.

And so I want you to, as you're listening, make sure you hang with me until the end, because I'm going to let you know  not only what those lessons are, but also when you can expect to hear more information about the news. Okay?  All right. So the news. As much as I can share right now, anyway, is the podcast is getting a makeover.

So I'm going to talk you through what this makeover is all about, why it's happening, when you can expect to see the changes. And like I said, some lessons that I am taking away from this and that I would, I am sharing in the hopes that those of you who are listening can also take with you. Okay.  

So let me tell you first, what is not changing with this podcast? Okay. What's not changing is I will still be here every Tuesday morning as your host, I'm still going to be sharing new episodes. One episode per week and talking about things like time management and work life balance and all sorts of topics about mindful strategies to help you as speech pathologists or OTs and PTs, clinicians, related health professionals, so on and so forth, right?

So, The content is still the same. We're still going to be talking about the same types of topics. And if you've been here for a while, and if you are a subscriber or a follower, and if you're not a follower of the show, by the way, make sure you go ahead and click that plus sign. If you're listening on Apple podcasts, which I believe that most of you are, I know that most of you are, make sure you're subscribing, so that way you will know every time a new episode is released. And on the topic of today's news, you will be notified when these changes are happening. You'll get to see them first scrolling through your feed. So make sure you're subscribing or following the podcast if you aren't already doing that, but I digress.

So if you've been here for a while,  you know that those are the types of topics that I cover on this. And this is not the first time that the podcast has gotten a facelift. So if you've been here since the very beginning, which was October of 2021,  I had a podcast, this podcast was. It's listed under a, an old name, a different name.

And then there were some changes that happened with the show. And then we went through a rebrand in around April ish of 2022? No, 2023.  It's very easy for me to get the years mix up, they all just sort of start to blend together. But in 2023, there was a big rebrand with the podcast, new name, new artwork, all of that stuff, right?

And it has been that name since then. So just over a year, about a year, year and a half. And now here I am again, making another change. This one is purely my own choice, my own decision, whereas last time it was a bit of a different story.  But the reason why I've decided to make this change is really because I want to make sure that the people, the right people, are finding this show. The people who I'm making the podcast for are finding it, are knowing that it exists. And I'm going to talk a little bit more about that shortly. But  I think it's really, really, it will lead me to one of the lessons that I want to share with you. So we'll just put a pin in that, but what you need to know in terms of the things that are changing, because I told you the topics really aren't changing, right?

The content of what we're going to talk about on the show is changing. It's going to remain the same, but what is changing is the name and the cover art and probably the intro that you hear at the beginning of the episode and you probably click fast forward through it, you know, skip 30, skip 15, skip 30.

So that's, those are the big three that are changing. That's it. It's the name, it's the art, it's the intro. And  it might--you might be wondering why, right? Why is this happening? And this is really one of the things that I want to share with all of you, right? So I started to mention earlier that I want to make sure that the right people are finding this show. And this is one way that I'm gonna do that. But let me kind of fill you in a little bit on the back story because I, I think that you can take something from this, especially for those of you who are maybe independent contractors or business owners. Maybe you own your private practice, something like that, or you're thinking about  owning or starting a new private practice, right?

So, what I want to offer is that as I have been sitting down recently to work on the podcast to record episodes,  I was noticing that it was starting to feel, I was starting to feel a little bit of tension. I was starting to feel a little bit of resistance, sort of like, uh, you know, another, another week I have to figure out what I'm going to talk about and it was feeling maybe a little bit  stale if you will and it has absolutely nothing to do with the listeners.

I'm just being completely transparent and authentic and just trying to kind of lay it all out. It has absolutely nothing to do with the audience. It's, it's, was purely me. And I knew that if I wasn't enjoying it, if I wasn't looking forward to it and showing up with excitement in the way that I was used to, in the way that I had been all along, then there's something that needed to change, right?

So if you're listening and you are a business owner and this happens, if there's an element in your business that you don't like, the beauty of owning your own business is that you get to change it. You get to change it when you want, how you want all of that. And so one of the things that I realized as I was reflecting on why was this tension coming up is that I really just wasn't giving the podcast the time and energy to that it required in order to feel excited and proud of the work that I was creating.

I wasn't excited about it. I wasn't planning the episodes out the way that I had been and I just felt like I was falling short and When I started this business, this coaching business on time management, one of the reasons why was because I wanted to be incredibly intentional with my time.  And if it's not a hell yes, then it should be a no in my book.

That's a little extreme, but that is often the sort of way that I think about things and the podcast wasn't feeling like a hell yes. So  It led me down the path of, okay, I know I want to keep podcasting. I know that it's not about the podcasting itself. It's just about finding a way to make it more effective, to make it more  engaging, to make it more reciprocal. 

And so one of the ways that I,  You know, one of the ways that I felt that I could do that was by  investing my time and investing my money and my energy in building the podcast. So I am working with a coach. I'm in a program where I'm working on ways to intentionally  gear up the podcast so that It has, it's something that I'm excited about, it's something that I'm proud of, and it's something that is reaching the right people.

And the first way to do that, one of the first ways to do that is through changing the name. Okay? So that's really the reason why these changes are happening so that more people can find the show so that I can connect with more of you so that I can feel more effective and excited about what I'm doing and grow the community.

Okay, so I made that decision, changed the name, changed the artwork, changed the intro, just to sort of spice it up. And for those of you who are listening who might have ADHD or suspect that you have ADHD, this might be something to keep in mind for you yourself and thinking about ways that you can keep your everyday work fun, new, and exciting. 

Doesn't necessarily have to be start a podcast and then rebrand every year.  There are other ways that you can do that, but I, I think that this is for me, one of the ways that I am doing this. Okay, so that's what's happening. That's the news, and I'll get to when it's happening in a few minutes. But I want to sort of highlight three of the lessons that I'm taking away from this.

And they're not necessarily things that I'm learning for the first time, but they're definitely things that I need to, I need reminders. I need to continue learning, because, you know, the universe Provides. The universe is giving me these lessons and here I am. So I'm learning them and I want to share them with all of you.

The first lesson  is that there is no right time. No air quotes, right time,  right? So for example, this, this rebrand, it's a bit of a project. It takes extra time and energy. And right now I'm in a season of the year, literally it is summer. And it is a season where my kids are home and there isn't a whole lot of extra time.

There isn't a whole lot of extra bandwidth energetically or mentally, or, you know, physically in the house with peace and quiet.  So  I could have I've chosen to put this off and said, well, no, this isn't the right time to do it. However, I made a conscious decision to make this the right time. Yeah, it might not be ideal.

It might not be the easiest time to do it. Could it have waited? Sure. But I just decided, okay. I could just do this now and get it done.  Otherwise, what, what's the alternative? I would continue to think about it. I would continue to eat at me. It would be on my mind. I would probably go down rabbit holes of thinking of new names or thinking of new intro music or new intro, you know, script or whatever,  or.

I could just decide to get it done now. Okay. So that was the first lesson. And if you are listening and you are waiting for the quote unquote right time to make a change or do something new, do something scary, consider this your push to do it. And I talk about this with my clients a lot. a lot, a lot, right?

How long do you just want to wait? And when do you want to decide to take action? And that brings me to the second lesson that I've learned in this process, and that is recognizing the cost of waiting. I ask my clients this a lot. I ask them, what is it going to cost you  to not do this? To not take action?

What's the cost of doing it? What's the cost of not doing it? What's the cost, for example, of not investing your time or your money or your energy in  This thing, whether it's a new certification or applying for a new job or, you know, a new course that you were looking at or investing in something like coaching, right?

What is the cost of not doing it? what is the cost of waiting or not doing it at all? And for me, I recognize that the cost of waiting in terms of my energy and the term in terms of my bandwidth and my thoughts, the cost of waiting was higher than the cost of doing this now.  And I knew that the longer I wait, the more I put it off, not only will I spend more time on it, like I mentioned earlier with going down rabbit holes, but the longer I just stay stuck.

I stay small. I stay like this.  The longer I wait, the more I sort of confirm this pattern in my head that I'm trying to break, which is you have to wait until the time is right so that you can do it right.  And that is not necessarily true.  You can do it right  at any time.  You can, if you decide to do it right.

And you get to decide what that means. No one else gets to choose that. You get to decide. Okay. So that was the second lesson. And then the third lesson that is coming up for me time and time again, and this is one example, is that.  Let it be easy as, who says let it be easy? Is it Mel Robbins? Is it the Lazy Genius Way?

I forget who it is, but just let it be easy. I can make it simple or I can make it hard.  My brain and my natural sort of instinct and pattern from past experiences is to make things more difficult.  That's what my brain does, that's just sort of how I operate, and now I'm aware of it, and I'm aware of it usually when I'm doing it, and I can kind of intervene, so to speak, with myself and make things easier, different choices,  but the instinct for me is still to make it hard. How can I make this really hard? How can I make this extra stressful and big and challenging? Because when I do it and I succeed, the dopamine hit Is bigger, right? The, the feeling of accomplishment and excitement and pride is bigger,  but that never works.

It never lasts. And really all it does is create more tension and stress and overwhelm. in the buildup. So instead of going down rabbit holes and thinking of how many different songs do I want to look at? Or how many different versions of the artwork do I want to try? I could just make it simple and let it be.

Let it be not perfect. Let it be messy. Let it be wrong. Let it be whatever. It can always be changed. I mean, I've done this before, right? This will be the third. Rebrand the third facelift. So obviously, been there, done that. We can do it again. It's not a big deal. So I don't know who needs to hear this, but if you are making something harder than it needs to be, just stop.

Catch yourself.  Catch yourself doing it and ask yourself, how can I just let this be easy? Let it be simple.  All right. So those are the three lessons. Last but not least, I want to tell you when this is happening. Okay. I cannot reveal the name yet because it is not,  I gotta leave you in suspense, right? Uh, I wanted to first just give you this heads up so that you have some awareness of what's happening before it actually happens.

But I can tell you that although I don't have an exact date of the rollout, it could be as early as next week's episode. So it is possible that by the time you listen to episode 61, by the time episode 61 drops, it will be under the new name.  Which is so exciting. All right. So you've got to stay tuned. It will not be long from now.

It will not be long from now. So make sure that you are checking back in, especially because as it gets closer and things are rolling out, launching with the new, you know, the new name and all of that, there are going to be some, uh, some giveaways and some, just some exciting things that are going to be happening.

So you don't want to miss it.  Make sure you're here. Click the subscribe button or the follow button wherever you are listening. And I cannot wait to see you all with a new look, new name  in the near future. Stay tuned.