With all the changes created by recent Healthcare reforms it's likely that you are very, very busy. Whether it's juggling patient, client or staff meetings, updating software, migrating records to some new system or meeting regulatory requirements - there is barely enough time in the day.
Effective time management is becoming more and more important, with so many internal and internal distractions, as well as the scope of our everyday job roles broadening every day.
1) Planning (Lists, List & More Lists - but Not Too Many!)
If you ignore every other part of this time management article, make sure you read this. Planning your tasks effectively is the single most important part of ensuring that you manage your time properly. Pretty much any device we use daily has some sort of basic checklist or planning functionality, which you can use to list your top actions for the day, or do it the old fashioned way - with a whiteboard, it might be low tech, but the satisfaction you get every time you wipe a task off can’t be beaten!
Once you’ve made your plan for your day, ask yourself about every task - does this add value to my role, and if not why should I be doing it, try to eliminate or at least delegate (see below) any job that doesn’t add value to your job function. Keep your plans simple and concise, with only a few key important jobs per day.
2) Multi-tasking (And Why You Should Avoid It)
As much as we’d like to think we are awesome at multitasking, generally we aren’t. Sure, it will give you a warm feeling like you are doing heaps at the same time, but more often than not, you are just doing a few jobs at the same time... badly. Its far better to prioritize your jobs (using your plan) and then work on them in order of importance, finishing one to a high standard before starting the next.
That said there are some times where you can get away with multi tasking, for instance commuting to work, on the treadmill or in the shower. Use these times to brainstorm your day ahead, what you can do better, and how can you implement your plans - but leave the mission critical, cannot screw up stuff out of it!
3) Prioritizing (Do You Really Need To Do This ?)
We’ve already hinted at it when we talked about Planning and Multitasking. All tasks are not created equal, and some are definitely more important than others. Take your plan and order things by importance, put all your focus onto getting the most important things done first, leave the less important things until the end of the day or consider delegating them (see below).
4) Goals & Deadlines (When Is It Due ?)
You know what you have to do (Plans) and you know which are the most important (Priorities), now you need to set goals and deadlines. Work out when tasks must be completed and track your time (Monitoring time) against them.
Without goals and deadlines, time management is pointless. If you aren’t meeting your goals and deadlines, revisit your task list, consider whether you can complete the tasks in allocated time, or find out where time is being wasted (Monitoring Time).
5) Monitoring Time (How Can You Manage What You Don’t Record?)
We all know that we are wasting time during the day, but how many of us know what we are wasting our time on, when we are doing, or how much we are wasting every day? There are heaps of free tools that you can use (especially on your smartphone) to track your time, and find ways of continuously improving your work habits.
There are plenty of free and paid time tracking options out there, and it would be pointless to list them all and with technology constantly changing, a Google search is a good place to look for the latest.
6) Avoiding Procrastination (Do I Have To?)
Believe it or not, I put off this article for the last few days. What better example of procrastination is that? And you can be sure that I wasn’t using my time proactively either! Try to get the tasks that you least want to do, completed first so the easier and more attractive tasks for the day are your reward. You’ll find you end up with much more time every day - and no more unfinished jobs as well!
And just so you don’t forget - tools such as the FAMCare case alert wizard help prompt you or your caseworkers to take action when action needs to be taken or a task has to be completed on behalf of a client.
7) Rest & Relaxation (Sleep Isn’t Just For the Weak)
Most of us end up taking our work home with us, with smart phones, social networking and almost constant connectivity around the globe, it can be very hard to actually get away from your job. Everyone needs some rest and relaxation, after all - workplace stress is a very real health hazard and the last thing you need as a responsible health care professional. Diet, exercise and sleep all contribute to your mental and physical well being, and without enough of, or the correct type of all of these you won’t be at peak performance to manage your time properly.
8) Get Rid Of Distractions (You Probably Got This From Facebook Too!)
I was watching Mad Men on TV last night, and couldn’t help but note, that even with all the craziness going on during the show, that there are just so many more distractions in today’s modern workplace, and even more in a busy agency. Email notifications, social media distractions, or just everyday water cooler conversation all gets in the way of actually doing your job.
If you’ve been monitoring your time effectively, then chances are you’ll have a rough idea of how much time you’ve actually wasted with all these distractions, add this up amongst all the employees in your organisation and thats a lot of wasted time and money!
Personally I use headphones to drown out the office distractions, while others have their own strategies, it requires some cunning and discipline, but cutting out office distractions is one of the most important ways of effectively managing your time.
9) Delegating Effectively (Focusing on Core Tasks)
Its important to remember that you can’t (and shouldn’t) do everything yourself. Look at what you are doing and consider if any of your repetitive work could be delegated to someone else, or even automated. Sure, we may think if you want it done right, it needs to be done ourselves, but realistically - for many tasks, they can be delegated without any harm, allowing you to focus on mission critical tasks at hand.
10) Automation (Avoid Repetition)
If its not worth you doing it, and can’t be delegated, automate instead. Automation allows you to focus on doing the jobs that you have prioritized and spend more time on them, ensuring that your tasks are completed to a higher standard and on time.
Tools such as FAMcare allow you to automate repetitive tasks and documentation while leaving you the time to focus on more important aspects of your role.
What are your top tips for managing time in your organization? Post them in the comments below!
