Newsletter

Time Management

Time is something all of us feel we don’t have enough of in healthcare. Management of that time seems to elude us on a consistent basis. How many days have you gone home from work wondering “Just what did I accomplish today”. I know personally I have asked myself that question.

Recently I decided I needed to take time out for myself. After all I turned 50 this year and thought I deserved it. So I started going to the gym. During the middle of the day, something I would have never considered before. Funniest thing, I’m more productive than ever and I know what I’ve accomplished at the end of the day.

“Being Successful doesn’t make you manage your time well. Managing your time well makes you successful” Dr. Randy Pausch

Some timesaving measures I’ve used that have helped me.

• Be Flexible. Know that plans change from time to time and you can’t change your plan unless you have one first.
• To do lists. Mine used to go in the waste basket unaccomplished. Now I have them up on my computer and I refer to them each time I finish a task.
• Last but not least and the most important. Do the ugliest project first.

One other thing I have used is Steven Covey’s 4 Quadrant to do list. At first I thought it would be to much trouble and would not work. Now I use it all the time.

It is something like this:

Divide your day into 4 quadrants

• Due soon and Important
• Not Due Soon but Important
• Due Soon but Not Important
• Not do soon and Not Important

• Due soon and Important is a task that you do not have to think about. It’s one of those things that if I like my job I’ll get it done. The next one is the tricky one that I struggled with. Being a tad bit of a procrastinator who would think that your next task would be “Not Due Soon But Important”
• Not Due Soon But Important. Think about it, if it’s important then it needs to get done. My new theory “better now than rushed”.
• Due Soon but Not Important. How often do we waste time on things that end up in the circular trash can. If it’s not important it may never be important, therefore if we don’t get to it who will know. In other words it’s time to let go. Look at your tasks analyze them and ask yourself if it is something that is really important to you, your employer, your department or anyone else. If the answer is no, then it’s probably something that you can shelve at least for the time being.
• Last but not least Not Due Soon and Not Important. Need I say more.

We have all read and heard the time management topics before. My response was I didn’t have time to manage my time. I had to have something motivate me to become serious about time management. Now that I am, I’ve gone a little overboard. But you should see what I can get done in a day.

Good luck. Maybe one of these tools will help you