Ep 217: Optimizing Your Facility for Success
As trainers, we are always looking for ways to enhance the efficiency of our daily operations so that we can get more accomplished in the limited time we have available. In this episode, I'm diving into the topic of optimizing your facility for success and sharing some easy ways that you can make adjustments to save yourself some steps and add valuable time to your training routine each day.
Focusing on “Free” Ways to Optimize Your Facility
When looking for ways to optimize your training facility, some of the most obvious enhancements can require a rather daunting financial investment. While many of the significant changes I’ve made have involved a financial investment, there have been many small adjustments that I’ve made over the years that did not cost me anything but some time and elbow grease. Just like with training, these small adjustments can often have the biggest impact on my progress and efficiency in my daily training routines.
Optimizing the Location of Your Training Tools
One of the most recent enhancements I’ve made at my training facility is repositioning my freestyle horse exerciser. Previously, this exerciser was located off the beaten path at my facility, a few acres away from our other main riding areas. After much thought, I decided to move my existing round pen from our covered riding area and replaced it with this exerciser.
The maximum benefit of this exerciser is being able to use it during inclement weather, so having this piece of equipment in a more climate-controlled area just made sense. Instead of having the few acre commute across our property, I can walk about 50 steps outside the barn door and have a horse on the exerciser in minutes.
While saving a few steps may not seem like a drastic change, the reduced time of walking back and forth to this exerciser adds up to a fairly significant time savings over the course of a year. The same goes for the round pen – the round pen is now located just outside the covered riding area about another 50 steps away from its original location. Having all of these tools and riding areas closer to one another was an easy way for me to optimize the flow of my daily training routine without having to invest in other structures or pieces of equipment. It was simply a reorganization of existing tools.
Thinking Outside the Box
When you are looking for ways to optimize your existing training resources, the answer may not always be obvious. I’ve done plenty of trial and error in my day to find the systems that work, but it’s that trial and error that has allowed me to find the most efficient way to run my operation.
Everyone’s set up is going to be a bit different, but there are many principles you can think about when deciding how to organize and improve the flow of your facility. Some of the things I like to consider are:
Proximity to high-traffic areas of my training facility – how can I save steps during my day?
Frequency of use – are my most used tools in the easiest-to-access locations?
Maximum use capability – are my tools placed in locations that allow me to get the most out of my investment in that tool (e.g. a covered area for my exerciser)?
Order of use – are my tools arranged in a way that promotes a natural flow and progression of training steps through my day?
Enhancing Efficiency in Your Daily Systems
Efficiency leads to progression. When you can minimize wasted time on routine tasks, you create space to optimize other areas of your training process. This is why creating solid systems is so important. It’s not only about creating your training system, but creating a logistical system around that training program that promotes maximum efficiency in your daily routines. Planning your systems is part of your preparation. Your preparation is what sets you up for consistent daily progression.
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