As a pediatric SLP, your days are filled with countless responsibilities from providing therapy to completing paperwork to educating caregivers. It’s so easy to become overwhelmed, but take heart! There is a way to make your life easier as you start the upcoming school year– creating systems. By focusing on your biggest challenges, you can create systems and routines that save time during busy days, reduce stress, and prevent burnout. You’re worth this investment!
Identify Your Biggest Struggles Before Creating Systems
According to James Clear’s book Atomic Habits, success is not achieved by relying on willpower or pure discipline. Success is found through putting effective systems in place that turn into atomic habits!
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Before you can begin to create any systems, you need to first identify your biggest struggles.
Do you have a hard time getting out of the door on time?
Is it difficult to find moments for self-care?
Are you constantly drowning in paperwork?
Is packing a nutritious meal nearly impossible?
Are you always running to the printer or to make copies?
For me, lunch was always a challenge. When I began putting the first serving of dinner straight into a microwavable container for the next day’s lunch, the problem was solved. This simple habit ensures I have a ready-to-go meal while saving me time and money– and reducing morning stress!
Take Baby Steps
It’s important to start small and think realistically! Begin with one challenge area and create positive habits there before trying to accomplish another area. This process increases your chances of long-term success.
Remember, what works for one person may not work for another, so tailor your system(s) to best fit YOUR needs!
Creating Strategies that Work
1. Prioritize Caregiver Education
One key area many SLPs can create better systems for is caregiver education. Prioritizing this area will drastically improve your day-to-day workload!
Have Handouts Printed and Ready to Share
Consider what you find yourself educating caregivers and others on the most, and find informative handouts for these topics. Print several copies of each one and organize them into folders to save you time and energy this school year!
Consider topics like:
- What does an SLP do? (hint– it’s so much more than articulation therapy!)
- What do evaluation scores mean?
- How long will articulation therapy take?
- What is a speech sound disorder?
Use this handout about what SLPs do to inform caregivers about your responsibilities and vast scope of practice. It’s perfect for IEP meetings, in-services, career fairs, or any time you need to educate others about the field of speech-language pathology.
Easily educate teachers and caregivers about what speech & language scores mean. It includes information about raw scores, age equivalencies, standard scores, and percentile ranks. You can use the included bell curve to provide a visual for parents too!
Answer the common questions “How long will articulation therapy take?”, “What is apraxia of speech?”, “What is a speech sound disorder?”, and more with this helpful parent resource about Speech Sound Disorders.
Save even more of your resources by purchasing several of these handouts together in the Parent Handouts Bundle!
2. Streamline Speech Homework
Another common area of demise for many SLPs is homework. By thinking ahead and incorporating therapy activities that can double as homework assignments, you will greatly decrease the time you spend creating homework for your students.
Use these multi-purpose resources at least twice a month to help reinforce learned skills and keep things easy on yourself!
Favorite Multi-Purpose Activities:
3. Organize Your Materials
This one feels like a no-brainer, but having organized therapy materials definitely makes your daily life run more smoothly!
Don’t buy into the fancy, expensive organizing methods you see on social media. Organize your materials in a way that makes the most sense for you! You might choose to do so by season, disorder, theme, or something completely different.
Consider creating a document that lists activities for each theme or season to reduce your planning time during the school year!
4. Make an Emergency Plan
Finally, make an emergency plan! This will reduce your stress when something unexpected comes up.
Games and open-ended activities are often the perfect choice! Keep these chosen options in a special place, and try NOT to use them unless in a true “emergency moment” like when you’re crunched for time or are not feeling well. By doing so, you’ll make sure students aren’t already bored of the activity.
This I Spy game is a great game option! Check out these open-ended speech therapy activities too.
By taking these easy steps to create systems for yourself, you can reduce stress, prevent burnout, and focus more on what you love and do best– helping your students succeed! Remember, it’s about working smarter, not harder. Stay smart, stay consistent, and watch as creating systems transforms your upcoming school year!
You may also be interested in reading:
3 Ways to Empower Caregivers in Speech Therapy
TOP 3 Tips SLPs Need to Know for Writing Progress Notes
How To Embrace & Nurture Your Identity as an SLP
