Episode 84: Systems Saved Me: My Burnout Recovery Journey

After rebranding my company and going solo without a business partner, I discovered I needed to get intentional about how I showed up, leading to 10x growth for Fortune Billing Solutions in just one year.

• Tracked every minute of my day for two weeks to discover I was creating chaos for myself and my team
• Implemented structured timeblocking for client meetings, discovery calls, team one-on-ones, podcast recording, and CEO strategy
• Created a daily "miracle hour" focused on follow-ups, marketing, outreach and business development
• Organized my week using theme days: Mondays for admin, Tuesdays for client strategy, Wednesdays for creative work, Thursdays for business development, and "Follow-up Fridays"
• Turned off all notifications during deep work hours with only my daughter as a VIP contact
• End each day with a shutdown routine to check accomplishments and set tomorrow's priorities
• Dental billing insight: High patient AR often stems from improper co-pay calculations upfront and improper adjustments on the backend
• Color-code your calendar to make patterns visible: blue for client work, green for business development, yellow for admin, red for distractions

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Transcript

Personal Rebrand Journey

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey friends , welcome back to another episode of the Dental Billing Podcast . Before we dive into today's episode , I want to share something really personal that I haven't talked about much publicly . This past year , I went through a complete rebrand of my company and for the first time in my entrepreneurial journey , I went solo no business partner , no safety net , just me , myself and I . I would be lying if I said that I wasn't scared . It felt like all eyes and all responsibility were suddenly on me and while the rebrand gave my company a fresh identity , it also forced me to do something even more important , which is the inspiration for this episode . I needed to get intentional about how I showed up . Before I go further into this episode , I want to give a big shout out to my biz bestie , jen . For those of you that have been longtime listeners of this podcast , you have heard Jen and I talk about hygiene and billing and how the two correlate . We're really passionate about those two topics , but Jen was my sounding board through this process . She was there for my moments of weakness when I did not want to follow through , I didn't want to pull the trigger , and she kept reminding me that I had to do this and that I got this . She kept saying you've got this , and I'm so glad that I listened , despite all of the fear I was facing inside my head . Since the rebrand , my company Fortune Billing Solutions has 10x'd in growth and we're on track to hit our biggest annual goal ever . The name might be new , but we have been around since 2011 .

Speaker 1 2:06

I've been helping practices reclaim revenue and reduce chaos since my early entrepreneurial career began . One of the ways that I've started with that process is in offering free billing audits . Sometimes , when you're buried in the day-to-day , it's hard to see the billing opportunities that are hiding in plain sight . We can step in and help you find them . We do this without judgment and without any pressure . Because we've been there , I have a lot of empathy for offices that sit in my office and just think to myself when is this going to end ? As a new biller to a long existing practice , you step into other people's mess if you will , and that creates chaos , because when you have good intentions and you come into a new practice and you want to make things better , you want to increase collections and you want to clean up the AR , it becomes an overwhelming task that literally just doesn't let your mind rest , because you want to get through this . It just feels like you're never going to get this task done . Today's episode was inspired by my journey in going solo , rebuilding from the ground up and finally learning how to protect my time , energy and sanity .

Speaker 1 4:02

After the rebrand , I knew I had to get real about how I was spending my time . I wasn't doing daily billing anymore , because now I'm running the company

Fortune Billing Solutions Growth

Speaker 1 4:13

, but my days still felt chaotic and my brain was still always buzzing . So I had to go old school and figure out what I was doing with my time . I just went to the dollar store , I grabbed a notebook and for two full weeks I tracked everything I did Every email , every phone call , every minute scrolling on social for quote unquote marketing ideas , all the unscheduled lunches , all of the interruptions , random check-ins with my team . What I discovered is that I was the bottleneck . I was creating chaos , not only for myself , but for my team too .

Speaker 1 5:03

That two-week time audit was a wake-up call , and it was the beginning of a new way of working for me . So here's what I changed when I realized

Becoming My Own Bottleneck

Speaker 1 5:14

that I had no control over my day . This is how I was able to get back in control and not allow my day to run me , but I run how I spend my time . I put everything on my calendar . I stopped winging it with task management and my days became very structured . My days now include time blocks for client meetings , time blocks for discovery calls with new practices so this is typically when I'm talking to a practice who has engaged with our company to conduct a billing audit . So those discovery calls are really us delivering the results from the audit Team one-on-ones . I have a block for podcast recordings . I have a time block for CEO time for strategy and reviewing financials . I have a time block for content creation and marketing , and I even have my meals and personal things on my calendar so that it makes it easier for my team to know when it is the best time to approach me , because if you approach me at a time where I am in the middle of a block , you're probably not going to hear back from me for a few hours . So this gave structure to my day and also it gave my brain room to breathe , right .

Speaker 1 6:55

I also created on a daily basis what I refer to as a miracle hour , and for me as a business owner , my miracle hour is important because it is for follow-ups , marketing , outreach , new business development . It is intentionally designed to fill my pipeline and follow up with any interest with offices that are interested in billing services with my company . So I focus on that . I set the timer , I put my head down and when it's done I move on . It's focused , intentional and , you guys , it's insanely productive . I really can't begin to tell you what a game changer implementing the Miracle Hour

Time Blocks and Structure Implementation

Speaker 1 7:45

into my business has been .

Speaker 1 7:47

I also use theme days . So I've organized my week by each day having a theme . So Mondays are my admin and internal team connection . So communication If I need to follow up with a team member , I will schedule that on a Monday in that time block . Tuesdays are client strategy and billing reviews . So these are the days that I'm typically reviewing the work of the billers and also looking for opportunity , any coaching that might be necessary , from the patterns that we're seeing through the billing process and sometimes actually a lot of times I'll just share this tip with you A lot of times when we find we take on a new client and the patient AR is insanely high .

Speaker 1 8:44

Typically the root cause of that is that we are not properly calculating co-payments or collecting co-payments on the front end , and this is because typically we don't have the strongest person in the front that knows how to do this , and what you will find is your patient AR will continue to grow on two levels . So , one , we're not calculating co-payments on the front end and two , when we're posting payments , we're not making proper adjustments on the back end . So what happens is this creates an unexpected or surprise balance for the patient or a credit that they're not entitled to . So when I am reviewing clients for client strategy and billing reviews , I'm looking for those types of patterns in the billing work , because it does show up when our billers are posting payments and there are several patients from that batch , that daily EOB batch , if there are several patients in there with surprise balances , because we do have to go back and see what was collected on the date of service , right . So we go back , look at the treatment plan , see what was collected on the date of service , right . So we go back , look at the treatment plan , see what was collected . Was that accurate ? And usually it's not in the instances I'm not saying for all of the offices . So if you don't have this problem , this is not you , this does not apply to you , but I do see this often enough that when I am looking through my clients' accounts for strategy and opportunities for coaching , this is typically what I'll see . I go back to the treatment plan , I look at what was collected . I look at all the things and then when we're posting payments , are there surprise balances because we didn't accurately correct or was collect , or is there a surprise credit ? And when I see that happening on a regular basis , that's cue for me to reach out to our client and say let's talk about a coaching session that's going to improve this challenge that we are currently having , because we are sending surprise balance statements to patients and that's not a good way to build trust with your patients , right ? We want to make sure that we're calculating and collecting accurately on the front end so that we don't end up with a patient mess , patient AR mess on the back end .

Speaker 1 11:35

Okay , so Wednesdays Wednesdays are my fun days , so Wednesdays I have reserved that theme day for creative work , podcast content , writing my book I'm still finishing my book , I'm just the biller . Get dressed up and get dolled up . My daughter just started her photography business , so she is now also helping me with content creation through video and photography . So you'll start to see a lot more of that . But that's what the theme of Wednesday is . So we're not going to talk to clients , we're not going to be

Theme Days Strategy

Speaker 1 12:19

doing any trainings . I'm focusing on content , creative work .

Speaker 1 12:26

Thursdays are the days when I'm going to deliver audit findings . Those are the business development days and I'm going to take phone calls of individuals who have expressed interest in billing services with the billing company and potential coaching , things like that . It's strictly business development . And for anybody that has worked with me , you've heard what I call Fridays . I call them follow-up Fridays and this is kind of my day to follow up on any loose ends , clean things up , spend a couple hours planning and then I'm typically calling it a day by about noon and then I take the rest of the day and the weekend with friends and family and I've just disciplined myself to not work on the weekends .

Speaker 1 13:24

But this strategy , utilizing theme days game changer I am so happy with the results . It definitely keeps me on track and I also know when I have time to schedule personal things . Now , sometimes personal will override business , but that's rare . I want to make sure that we're putting the business first , especially with the kind of growth that we're experiencing right now . We're doing a lot of recruiting , we're doing a lot of onboarding of new clients , so we've got a lot of moving parts that I need to keep my eye on . So I try my best to stay on track and schedule my personal stuff on the weekends .

Speaker 1 14:07

Here is another game changer that I have . I've used this for a couple years now and it did help . But using this in conjunction with theme days , my miracle hour , you know , just having intentional time blocks for client meetings and things like that , I turn off all notifications . So my phone unless I'm at lunch , most of the time my phone is on do not disturb . And the only text messages I receive during these deep work hours are from my daughter . That's it . She's my VIP and other than that , if you're calling me while I have my phone on , do not disturb . I won't see it until I check my phone , and I usually will check my phone in between task management , but I won't respond until I have allotted time to do so . And finally , I end my days with a shutdown routine . I check off what I accomplished and I set my top three priorities for the next day and I mentally clock out so I can recharge without guilt . If I leave anything undone , of course , it's going to go on to the following day and it will get inserted into one of the time blocks or where it is appropriate to address that task .

Speaker 1 15:42

Okay , so where do you start ? If you're a biller , an office manager or a business owner like me , I know feeling stretched and overwhelmed or constantly behind . I want you to do the same thing that I did Start with a time audit , track everything for a full week . You don't have to do two weeks , as I did . I want you to write down as you go . It doesn't have to be an elaborate sentence , it's just you know the time and what you're doing . Right , don't wait until the end of the day because you will miss things . Okay , so that's number one . Once you've tracked it , analyze it through these three lenses . I want you to identify time wasters . So what snuck into your day that didn't serve your goals ? I want you to identify tasks that took longer than expected . Where are you underestimating your time or lacking structure ? Number three I want you to identify high impact activities that move the needle what actually created progress in your day , and make these your MVP tasks , double down on them .

Speaker 1 17:03

Here's something else that really helps me as I build out my calendar . I like to color code my time entries and I use these following categories to make patterns easier to spot Blue is for client work , green is for business development , yellow is for admin and operations , red is for distractions . When you are color

Starting Your Own Time Audit

Speaker 1 17:34

coding and identifying things , color code your distractions . I mean , obviously red is appropriate , right , because it's red alert . Purple is for team communication , black is personal time , and I use brown for marketing and content creation .

Speaker 1 17:54

This is going to be where a real shift happens in your day . When you stop working blindly and start working intentionally , burnout will lose its grip on you . Burnout , friends , it's not about just being tired . It's a sign that your system is broken and that you've become the system . You don't have to do it all , you don't have to live in chaos and you don't have to stay stuck , if I can go from fear and overwhelm to 10x growth . So can you so track your time , reclaim your rhythm ?

Speaker 1 18:37

I call it a drumbeat in your business or , if you are an office manager , a drumbeat in your day-to-day task management . And , while you are doing this , if you're ready to see what opportunities might be hiding in your billing systems in plain sight . Book a free billing audit with us . We'd love to help you . Okay , friends , so I'm going to wrap up this episode and I am going to encourage you to grab a handy dandy notebook and audit

Final Thoughts and Encouragement

Speaker 1 19:13

your time . This is , I promise , the best thing that you can do for productivity and attention , because productivity and your attention are a form of currency and we want to make sure that we are not in constant overwhelm because there's a never ending list of things to do . Thanks for listening and , if this episode hit home , send it to a fellow biller , office manager or practice owner who you think needs a little clarity and a lot more peace . Until next time , friends .