In the last issue this column
looked at techniques your colleagues use to work smarter.
Using time more effectively is at the top of many physicians'
wish list for the coming year. Whether your motivation
is to spend more time with the family; attend an occasional
concert, play or sports event; work on a hobby; or just
indulge in some healthy goofing off doesn't matter a whit.
Time got you by the throat? Get a handle on it so that
you're controlling it instead of vice versa. The suggestions
continue.
• Make a list of what you
do Time management consultants are big on this one.
What you do is keep a diary of how you spend each day
in a typical week. At the end of each hour you jot down
exactly how you've spent the previous 60 minutes —
the more detail the better. Of course this takes time,
but relax, it's only for a week and the payout can be
substantial.
What you're likely to find is that
you spend more time on some things than you thought
and less time on others that, in some cases, are more
important. With a map of how you actually spend your
day you're in an excellent position to find the short
cuts. You could find the exercise revealing. One Ottawa
GP, for example, thought she was spending about 15 minutes
per patient visit. Looking back over her diary, she
discovered that some appointments stretched out to half
an hour or more and that others were sped through in
seven or eight minutes even though medically the appointments
were often similar. "I realized I was taking a lot longer
with patients I liked. That's natural, I suppose, but
just by being aware of it I was able to shave almost
an hour a day off patient visiting times."
• Compete with yourself
As the doctor in the previous item discovered, all
patient visits aren't created equal. A Vancouver IM
regularly plays 'beat the clock' with himself. He'll
try, for example, to keep patient visits to 18 minutes
on a given day and have his receptionist track his time.
If 80% of the visits come in under the deadline, he
gives himself a pat on the back. "When you're watching
the clock purposefully like this you stay focused on
the task at hand, practising good medicine, not shilly-shallying.
I'm convinced it's made me a better clinician."
• Plan ahead Time managers
promote planning as the most effective time-saver. Though
many go to extraordinary lengths with their corporate
clients, suggesting as much as two hours a day be spent
in planning, clearly no physician would be in practice
long if he or she went to such lengths. Still, taking
10 minutes at the start of each day to go over what
you'll be doing over the next 10 to 12 hours can be
most useful. A daily 'to do' list will also help keep
the wheels turning. Some doctors have gone high tech
in this planning endeavour, doing all of it on PDAs
linked to their computers. One thing to say for this
approach is that if you like technology, playing with
it in this way puts a certain zing in what can be a
routine task. On the other hand, most find that an old-fashioned
agenda is easier to use and more reliable. No ugly crashes
to contend with; "Oh, my God, I've just lost the second
half of March. It's gone, I tell you, all, all gone."
• Keep a sense of humour
about it Being uptight about your time management
skills — or lack of them — won't help you
or your practice nearly as much as a light touch.
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