Low Stress Tips and Tricks for Achieving Productivity

When I originally wrote this post on productivity way back as a new OT grad in 2016, I thought that being a productive occupational therapist was one of the top things that made me a “good” OT. I now know that being being productive is not the most important thing we need to focus on as therapists.

Providing patient care that we are proud of, and doing the most beneficial therapy treatments we can do for our patients is the most important thing.

After working as an OT for almost nine years now, I’ve worked really hard to stop focusing on and stressing about my productivity, and instead started to live by the quote, “Your worth is not measured by your productivity.” Of course, I still do worry at times, but as I’ve gotten more years of experience, it has become much less of a worry for me.

It does help that I work in the acute care setting where my managers don’t usually come down on us for not meeting our 65% productivity if we have a bad day or two. As therapists themselves, they understand that we’re all doing the best we can.

But getting back to the main point: If you do work in an OT setting that does really focus on maintaining your productivity, I’m going to keep this post as close to the original format I wrote as a new grad to show the strategies that helped me maintain my sanity and numbers (when it was possible).

I will be publishing a follow-up productivity post this week written by another OT practitioner, Michel Moniger, that shares his perspective as well. We hope that talking more about productivity on a large OT platform like this one can help us all come together and discuss ways that we can work against unrealistic productivity standards that some companies come up with.

But in the meantime, here is my originally written article sharing my some of my tried and true, low(er)-stress ways to help keep up with OT productivity requirements. These are applicable to PTs and SLPs as well.

If you’re looking for advice for achieving occupational therapy productivity targets, you’re in the right place.

Having worked in acute care, inpatient rehab, and SNF’s, I wanted to give this topic the attention it deserves. I feel it is SUCH a hard aspect of being an OT (maybe the hardest aspect!) and can really burn therapists out. 

If you have not had the experience of working in SNFs/ALFs, targets for measuring a therapists’ productivity ranges from 80 to even 90% (95% for COTAs at times!). 

It is so commonplace and normal to feel a lot of pressure from high productivity targets. You want to be sure you are as efficient as possible while on the clock so you don’t have to spend extra unpaid hours doing nothing but documenting.

While my experiences come from working in settings with productivity targets between 80% to 90%, I’ve been hearing stories of some companies going up to 90-95%, which in my opinion is unfair, unsafe, and basically impossible to achieve ethically.

All that being said, there are some strategies that have helped me remain confident in my performance without the worry of getting too write-ups or “talking-to’s.” Update: Since I first wrote this, I have gotten these emails , and I’ll tell you that it’s okay if you do too! I didn’t get fired, and I didn’t stress about it because I know that I’m doing the best that I can for my patients. 

1. Keep it Moving 

For me at least, I’ve found that it’s so easy to get caught up in conversation with a coworker, supervisor, family member, etc. Whenever I become engaged in conversation, I try to reel it in after a minute or two and get moving because, unfortunately, each minute of non-patient time is counting against you.

You may feel like you’re being unfriendly for appearing to be in a rush, but you may actually be in a rush and you can always save chats for after work without the stress or pressure. 

Of course, it’s OK to have a quick chat. But it needs to be just that – quick. Try not to get too involved in long conversations if you can help it (trust me, I’ve done this too many times!).

We’ve all been there when someone is talking your ear off about nothing particularly relevant or interesting, but it’s still somehow difficult to find the right time to cut them off and end the encounter.

Here are some simple phrases to use in the moment, while slowly stepping away from the person:

• “Well, I better run, it’s been great to see you.”
• “I’ll let you get back to your day though. See you later.”
• “I’m on my way right now to see a patient, but let’s chat later!”

I also make it a point to “hustle” to get my paperwork done since that is my biggest barrier for taking up time.

I find that having an email draft or Word document of my most-used phrases, goals, and interventions is helpful to copy into my notes and modify with each session. This can really cut down on typing time, but do make sure you make it accurate for each patient.

I try to spend no more than 10-15 minutes on each note if I can help it. Evals, discharges, and weekly notes are an exception. 

2. Point of Service Documentation (when appropriate)

This one is hard, I know.

If you’re working in skilled nursing or any Medicare-paying facility, you might already be aware that Medicare does not cover non-face to face time, so once you get done with your patient to document, your productivity is already counting against you.

When you’re performing an intervention, especially when it’s hands-on, it’s so hard to document and provide your patient with the best care. A good tip, though, is to save yourself five minutes at the end (with the patient) for them to rest and for you to document at least part of your note. You can use this time to go over your patients’ progress with them.

3. Don’t Get Distracted

This ties into the first point of hustling and avoiding long conversations, but many therapists can also get caught up when other therapists ask them for help with transfers, documenting questions, non-related patient questions, etc.

This can really eat into your productivity, unfortunately.

Other distractions include checking your phone/e-mail/voicemails too much during the day. Each distraction really adds up.

One good habit to get into is to either put your phone on silent or just turn it off all together.

Even if you’re not getting sucked into Facebook, Instagram or Googling things like you might do at home, just the simple act of checking your phone can be a constant distraction that eats up a lot of productivity time.

4. Stay Organized

This is of course easier said than done. Especially when I was working PRN at three ALFs, I had to work around the patients’ and physical therapists’ schedules. This makes keeping numbers up challenging to say the least.

It helps tremendously to carry a day planner with you to write the patients’ day schedules so you know exactly when to attempt to treat them. The alternative is running all over guessing who may or not be available.

A great clipboard I’ve purchased myself opens up so I can store my most-used handouts and documents for later use.

Lastly…

Remember that starting a job with productivity targets for the first time is going to feel stressful when you are getting in the groove. It’s going to feel hard and it may even challenge you to remain ethical, but you can do it! We’ll share more in our follow-up here.

When you are faced with high productivity demands, especially as a new grad, it can add an unnecessary amount of stress as a therapist. If you can help it, I recommend finding a position with manageable requirements, like 75-80% if possible.

If you haven’t yet found a position like this and you have higher productivity requirements, I hope that these tips can help you to keep your stress levels low while meeting your targets as appropriate. These tricks really helped me back when I was in that position, but I’d love to know what tips and tricks you use that keep you on track.

If you are still struggling at a job with higher numbers, it may be time to look for a position that offers you more realistic standards which will be better for you and for your patients. 

Let us know your thoughts. What has helped you with managing your productivity? How do you feel about occupational therapy productivity standards? Please share anything you’d like to add in the comments below. 

This post was originally published on March 3, 2016 and last updated on June 10, 2024.