How many phones do you have? 💬
Happy new month!
I hope all is well with you.
The longer afternoons are so welcome and I am enjoying seeing spring flowers and early blossom. ☀️
March is always a busy time in my practice, and hopefully for you too.
This month I’m also teaching a 3-part webinar series on Hormonal Homeopathy with Cassie Everett. The live spaces have sold out but I will be back in touch with a replay option towards the end of the month.
If you are interested in the replay please reply to this email and I will be sure to contact you as soon as it’s ready.
Welcome!
If you are new to this newsletter, welcome!
I’m Tracy, a homeopath in practice in east London for 16 years, and I’ve been sharing my practice reflections via newsletter for 8 of them! 👩🏼💻
Why I have 2 phones 💬
Making a living from homeopathy involves an exchange of time, care, energy and expertise for money.
As we are working with people, with problems, that brings its own challenges and a big one is Client Communication.
There are so many ways to communicate nowadays. Email, text, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram Messenger.
The more channels you use, the harder it is to keep track, and finding a way to maintain professional boundaries is hard!
For years I’ve asked clients to send me emails instead of messages, and usually they do, but sometimes they still send texts or WhatsApp.
When I only had one phone, that used to really bother me.
Once I’d seen a message it was hard to ignore it.
I especially didn’t like it when people sent me photos unexpectedly.
And messages in the evening or on the weekend were always annoying.
A second phone
After years of talking about it, I eventually decided to have separate phones for my work and personal life.
When I was ready to buy a new phone I got a new number and from then on my previous phone became my work phone.
The sole purpose for my work phone is to have phone calls with clients, either Discovery Calls or Catch-Up Calls.
That’s it.
Having a second phone for work has been SO liberating!
I set up my new phone with a new number and gave it to family and friends only.
I bought a cheap Sim for my work phone.
I deleted all the apps on my work phone.
I charge it on Monday mornings ready for phone calls.
When I’m not using it, I keep it in a drawer.
It’s always on silent.
All the notifications are turned off.
My clinic has a WhatsApp group for the practitioners so I have that on my work phone.
I recorded a message on my answerphone which asks people to email me.
I deleted my mobile number from my website, booking system and Google My Business page.
I never answer my work phone unless I have a call scheduled and I am certain it is the person I am expecting.
What I do if people send messages instead of email
I only receive around 3 messages per month nowadays and I only see them when I am using the phone on my practice days.
I ask people to only communicate via email so if they send a message via text or Whatsapp, I don’t feel under pressure to respond.
What I do instead is to write an email response.
I then send a message saying I have sent an email.
I have one person who always sends WhatsApp messages instead of email despite me reminding her.
She is lovely but I think she just finds WhatApp easier.
For 2023 I decided that I would no longer reply to her messages at all.
Most recently she sent a message and then a week later sent an email instead.
I replied apologising and saying that I don’t use my work phone much and that’s why I ask for people to email.
I realised that by saying that I preferred email but then still replying to the WhatsApp message I was giving her a ‘mixed message’.
Mixed messages are not good for maintaining boundaries.
How I feel about my new system
I really like it!
I like that I can enjoy evenings, weekends and holidays without seeing unexpected messages from clients.
How about you?
How many phones do you have?
I would love to hear your thoughts and comments if you would like to share them. 📨
Homeopathy for Acne 🌷
Acne is a common issue that is rarely resolved with conventional medication.
Antbiotics, birth control and Accutane drugs are frequently prescribed, and help only for a short while but then it comes back.
One of my graduation cases was a severe case of acne, and this gave me the confidence to treat it in my practice.
I’ve recently published an article for CleverH as well as on my own website on how I approach acne with homeopathy.
For several years now it’s been the main area that I treat.
This new webinar is a deep dive into:
Teenage acne, hormonal acne, cystic acne, adult acne
Nosodes, constitutional remedies and organ support
Client management strategy
Friday 21st April
11 am - 2pm
£40 early bird until 9pm Friday 31st March
Watch a free one hour recording on how I use Homeobotanical remedies to support acne here.
Note: If you joined my 2019 webinar on acne and would like to learn what I’m doing differently in 2023, this will be offered to you as a free replay. Please email me if you would like to join live.
Brain food
Complexity bias: why we prefer complex solutions over simple ones
How my daughter’s rescue dog helped me deal with her addiction
As always, thank you for reading.
Here’s to longer days and more sunshine. ☀️
Tracy 👩🏼💻