How to STOP over-charting as a nurse practitioner and start living

You’re over-charting as a nurse practitioner.

Spending too much time charting in fear of sounding “dumb…….”

because you’re a perfectionist who doesn’t want your collaborating physician to think you’re an idiot. 😬

So you take your work home and end up neglecting the people in your life who actually need you the most (your family). 😔

Did I call you out on that one?

❌ Are you spending TOO much time charting so you don’t look like a nitwit in front of the healthcare system?

❌ Are you over charting in fear that your collaborating physician will think you’re a moron if your chart notes suck? 😬

❌ Are you constantly critiquing your charting to sound smarter so you can prove to your patients that you know what you’re doing as a nurse practitioner?

If you are, it’s costing you your personal life.

You’re proving to your spouse that the opinions of your clinic manager are more important than putting energy into your marriage. 😔

You’re showing your kids that you should spend more time at a job that you hate, instead of growing the bond with them.

You’re telling yourself that you have to sacrifice everything that is good in your life to give all of yourself to a J.O.B. that sucks the life out of your soul. 😢

I’m here to tell you to STOP!

You should be putting your time into learning the charting tips so you can reclaim time with your spouse in the evenings. 😍

You should be putting energy into better managing your time at work, so you can enjoy the weekends chilaxing with your family.

You should be prioritizing moments with your kids because 90% of all the time you will ever spend with a child is gone by the time they reach 18 years old. ❤️

Over-Charting as a Nurse Practitioner

Over-charting as a nurse practitioner is a form of perfectionism. It isn’t just mentally exhausting—it’s ruining your work-life balance. If you’re taking charts home, working late into the night, and missing out on time with your family because you’re trying to make your notes perfect, something has to change.

In this post, we’re going to call out the perfectionist mindset that’s costing you your time, your energy, and your relationships—and we’re going to talk about how to fix it.

Perfectionism in healthcare often masquerades as professionalism. But let’s call it what it really is: a productivity killer and a burnout accelerator.

You’re not charting late because you’re lazy. You’re charting late because:

• You don’t want your chart to make you sound like an idiot.
• You don’t want your collaborating physician to think you’re underqualified.
• You don’t want your patient to think you’re not capable of providing quality care.
• You’re trying to prove (through documentation) that you’re a great nurse practitioner.

But here’s the truth: your notes don’t need to be perfect. They need to be clear, concise, and medically sound. That’s it.

Over-charting as a nurse practitioner doesn’t make you look smarter. It makes you tired. It keeps you stuck in a cycle of self-doubt. And it’s draining time away from the people who actually matter—your family.

The Real Impact: What Over-Charting Is Costing You

Let’s break this down.

Every minute you spend reworking a chart note (because you’re worried about how it looks) is a minute you’re not spending:

• With your kids playing in the backyard
• On the couch with your spouse catching up on your day
• Taking care of yourself (hello, rest and sleep!)
• Enjoying your weekend without a laptop in hand

Let’s not sugarcoat this: your perfectionism is costing you your personal life.

The healthcare system won’t hand you a gold star for over-charting as a nurse practitioner. Or for spending 30 minutes perfecting one chart note.

Your patients won’t remember how eloquent your documentation sounded. They’ll remember how present, attentive, and compassionate you were during the visit.

And your family? They won’t care that your charts were technically flawless. They care that you’re there—at dinner, at bedtime, on the weekends.

So it’s time to stop aiming for perfection. Stop over-charting as a nurse practitioner. Start aiming for efficiency.

How to Break the Perfectionist Charting Cycle

Ready to stop the over-charting as a nurse practitioner madness? Here’s where to start:

1. Adopt the “Good Enough” Mindset

Ask yourself: Does this chart note accurately reflect what happened during the visit? If yes—sign it and move on.

Over-charting as a nurse practitioner and rewriting sentences to sound smarter are not worth it. You already are smart. Let your care speak louder than your sentence structure.

2. Use Problem-Focused Charting

Every chart doesn’t need to be a novel or suffer from “note bloat.” Learn how to document only what is clinically relevant to the visit. This one shift alone can eliminate over-charting as a nurse practitioner and cut your charting time in half.

(Need help with this? Check out 5 Minute Chart Notes.)

3. Implement a Charting System

Whether it’s using smart phrases, templates, or batching time between patients—set up a system so charting becomes routine, not stressful. This also helps to avoid over-charting as a nurse practitioner because you have streamlined your documentation.

4. Detach Your Worth from Your Chart Notes

You are not your chart. Let that sink in.
You’re a capable, compassionate provider—and your documentation doesn’t have to be perfect to reflect that. So STOP feeding into the perfectionism and over-charting as a nurse practitioner.

The Solution: Signing Chart Notes in Less Than 5 Minutes

If your biggest fear is that quick chart notes will make you look inexperienced or unprofessional, I’m here to tell you that’s just your inner perfectionist talking.

That’s why I created the 5 Minute Chart Notes Course—to show you exactly how to write clear, focused, and compliant chart notes in five minutes or less. Without overthinking. Without over-charting as a nurse practitioner. And definitely without sounding “dumb.”

Here’s what you’ll learn:

✅ How to chart using a problem-focused format
✅ What actually needs to go in your notes (and what doesn’t)
✅ How to stop wasting time trying to sound smart and just get it DONE

It’s practical, it’s quick, and it’s a total game changer.

Or you can join the STOP Charting at Home in 90 Days Program to access 5 Minute Chart Notes Course (it’s the content for week 3) PLUS soooo many other charting and time management tips! 😍

This is the ultimate program which walks you step-by-step through the charting tips, mindset shifts, and strategies you need to finally leave charting at work—where it belongs.

You became a nurse practitioner to make a difference—not to write the most elegant SOAP note.

You wanted a fulfilling career that supported your life—not one that took it over.

So if you’ve been pouring your energy into documentation out of fear—fear of judgment, fear of looking inadequate—it’s time to stop.

You are not dumb.
You are not behind.
You are not failing.

You’re just stuck in a perfectionist pattern that no longer serves you. And you can change that and STOP over-charting as a nurse practitioner!

***Full disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I receive a small commission if you subscribe to Freed AI Medical Scribe. This is at no extra cost to you, but does help me continue to run the NP Charting School. Thank you for your support!