As a bodywork therapist, you’ve (literally) got your hands full working with people doing the modality that you love. If you’ve worked hard to develop your skills, you are a True Professional.

But to have a successful and sustainable business, you’ve got to not only be a Pro, but also the CEO of your business.

Being a CEO means you need to do the work necessary to create and build a solid massage or bodywork practice. But with clients coming in all day, sometimes back-to-back-to-back, when are you supposed to find the time for business development?

The answer is easier than you think, and to find it, we turn to a computer science professor at Georgetown University.

Cal Newport studies and writes about the most efficient way for people to get work done. In his book Deep Work, he discusses two different types of work: deep work and shallow work.

You need to do both in your bodywork business.

Deep work requires uninterrupted time for you to have the time to focus and concentrate on difficult tasks. For Cal, that means solving complex mathematical problems. For us, it means creating a marketing plan, developing a workshop, or taking steps to design a boutique practice.

These things require space without interruptions so that our brains are free from distraction and can get down to the task at hand.

That means no emails, no texting, no social media. It means blocking off a period of time when our friends and family know we are off-limits.

Now, before you throw your hands up and say, “Mindy, there’s no way — you don’t know my life!” I’ll tell you that you don’t need HUGE amounts of time to get deep work done.

You can start with 25 minutes. I’ll be talking about this more in an upcoming blog, but for now, think about the idea of setting aside a solid block of 25 minutes every week to do some deep work on your business — just you, your marvelous creativity and insight, and the task at hand for 25 minutes.

That’s the beginning of doing deep work to move your practice forward, and you’ll be amazed by what you can get done.

The second type of work you need to do is shallow work.

Just because it’s called “shallow” doesn’t mean that this work is not important. It just means that it doesn't need your full attention and focus to get it done.

Shallow work can usually be completed in quick bursts of a couple of minutes at a time, and includes things like sending appointment reminders, returning client calls, and charting.

I do my shallow work throughout the day by scheduling 30 minutes between each client. Not only does that allow me to get a bite to eat and clear my head for my next client, but I’m also able to accomplish shallow work tasks so that they don’t pile up on me. At the end of the day, I’m done.

You can also combine the two by reading professional journals between clients. The reading itself is deep(er) work because you need to focus, but it’s not a problem to come back to it if you are interrupted by, say, a client who is early for her appointment.

You’ll notice that neither deep work or shallow work include social media. While you’re working, I suggest turning off your phone or putting it in another room. You’ll be gob-smacked by how much more you will get done with that tiny tweak alone.