01 October 2026
One of the opportunities that comes with working as a locum optometrist is the ability to control your own diary – one week a practitioner might be working in a seaside village, the next week commuting to a metropolitan hub.
The ability to control a work schedule can be liberating, providing flexibility to accommodate family life and interests outside of work.
However, diary management can also present diverse challenges – from a lull in bookings that creates financial pressure, to a packed diary that seems increasingly less realistic as the booked days approach.
OT spoke with locum optometrists about the lessons they have learned throughout their career about effectively organising their work schedule.
Why prioritise diary management?
Locum optometrist, Charlie Vincent, shared that locum optometrists must juggle a variety of administrative tasks, alongside the mental workload that resident optometrists also carry.
“It is easy to get lost in the role of a locum optometrist,” he said.
“If you can simplify and keep on top of your diary management, that is a huge chunk of your mental workload that can focus on other tasks,” Vincent observed.
For locum optometrist, Raina Malik, a well-organised diary is an important safeguard against double-booking two practices on the same day.
“When I first started locuming, I double-booked myself a couple of times, and I still remember the uncomfortable feeling of having to call a practice and say, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve made a mistake’,” Malik shared.
“It was a painful but valuable lesson. If it happens too often you can destroy valuable relationships,” she highlighted.
Since this experience early in her locum career, Malik has made diary management a non-negotiable.
“Organisation is really important as a locum because we all have lives outside work. We have families, friends, goals and commitments. I’m also a carer for my mum, so I need her appointments to fit seamlessly around work,” she said.
“Whether it’s children, parents’ evenings, social events or personal projects — managing your professional diary allows you to manage your personal life too. It frees our mind to focus on more important projects,” Malik shared.
Locum optometrist, Hammad Mansoor, highlighted the role of effective diary management in supporting the work-life balance of locum optometrists.
“Good diary management helps locums maximise opportunities and avoid overcommitting themselves. It also helps build strong relationships with practices by ensuring reliability and consistency,” he said.
Good diary management helps locums maximise opportunities and avoid overcommitting themselves
Staying organised
When Vincent receives a booking for a locum day, he will note down the location, rate, date, time and clinic length.
“Log everything from the moment it is confirmed,” he said.
Alongside these details, Vincent also includes two boxes on each booking to indicate whether an invoice has been sent, and whether this invoice has been paid.
“This way you can easily stay on top of your finances as well as your clinic,” Vincent shared.
Mansoor uses a paper diary alongside digital tools to stay organised as a locum optometrist.
“Modern smartphones, calendar apps and booking platforms make it much easier to stay organised, and locum apps can also be very useful for keeping track of future bookings and availability,” he noted.
Malik also has a hardcopy diary that she maintains alongside her digital calendar.
“I started doing this because twice in my career my digital calendar completely wiped itself, and I had the nightmare of going back through emails, texts and WhatsApp messages trying to work out where I was supposed to be,” she said.
The locum optometrist also has a calendar with six months of work and personal commitments printed on her wall at home.
“Every year I design my own calendar on Canva and put six months up on my wall. It gives me a complete snapshot of my diary,” she said.
Locum optometrist, Sumita Mistry, records key details regarding each locum booking in her digital diary – including the practice location and the rate that has been agreed. She colour codes her diary so she knows which commitments are work and which are personal.
“I put everything in my phone because it is the one thing that we all look at every single day,” she said.
Locum lessons
Reflecting on what she has learned about diary management during her career as a locum, Mistry highlighted the value of being aware of what a company’s cancellation policy is.
She observed that having a strong working relationship with a practice director can help when unexpected circumstances arise.
“If you've got a really good relationship with them, they generally don't tend to cancel you at the last minute,” Mistry shared.
Mansoor also encouraged locum optometrists to be mindful of the effect on practices of cancelling a locum shift at short notice.
“Avoid overbooking yourself. Cancelling shifts at short notice can create difficulties for practices trying to arrange cover and may affect future opportunities,” he said.
Malik shared that when she first started working as a locum optometrist, she would work six or seven days each week. She now takes a more balanced approach to work.
“Over time I have learnt that what works best for me is having regular fixed days. It gives my week structure and keeps my diary organised in my head,” she said.
Trends in locum bookings
Mansoor, who has worked as a locum optometrist for two decades, told OT that in recent years there has been a shift towards app-based booking platforms.
“The vast majority of my bookings now come through apps, whereas in the past most opportunities were circulated via email lists and booking requests sent directly by agencies or practices,” he said.
He has also observed a trend where locum bookings are being made further in advance.
“I now regularly find myself booking work nine to 12 months ahead. At the same time, I try not to fill my diary completely and deliberately leave some gaps to maintain flexibility for family commitments, annual leave and unexpected opportunities,” he said.
Mansoor has noticed reduced availability in locum shifts and downward pressure on locum rates over the past five years.
“There seems to be more anxiety within the locum market, with some locums appearing willing to secure bookings at almost any rate, often accepting fees significantly lower than those that were commonplace only a short time earlier,” he said.
Mistry, who has recently returned to London after a year living in Dubai, told OT that locum rates had dropped in the time she was away.
“Locum rates have definitely gone down in the past 12 months, and there hasn’t been a significant increase in rates over the past five years,” she said.
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