As medical practitioners your day is one big to-do list just getting through the patient list for the day. However, putting a compliance framework around your business and growing your practice may seem like a huge mountain to climb.
It might surprise you that your to-do list or your task list, can mentally bring you undone. If you’re a very organised person, you probably have lists. Lots of people have lists, but where you can come unstuck is if you have a really huge list with lots of tasks to do. You look at this huge list every day and think to yourself ‘Where am I going to begin? Where do I start?’ and at the end of the day you’ll find you’ve only put the slightest dent in it. You may have only crossed off three things and how deflating is that? It then becomes hard to stay focused, motivated and to gain clarity around what you need to do.
Here’s a tip from our Subject Matter Expert in Time Management shares to create a focused, motivated and productive mindset. It is suggested by experts that if you do have a huge list, your goal is to pick just three tasks (or no more than five) and simply focus on those three tasks that you most want to achieve for the day. For example, what are the top ‘must do’ three tasks you ‘have to’ get done before the end of the day?
What happens is that when you complete those three tasks, there’s a great sense of accomplishment and that’s what enables you to feel productive. It motivates you, stimulates you and propels you to keep going and moving forward. Celebrating and accumulating small wins, makes the big wins much more achievable and enjoyable.
Just like the proverb says “How do you eat an elephant? Just one mouthful at a time”. A famous Lao Tzu quote says, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”. It’s about taking that first movement forward, that small step which is achievable. Coming back to your to-do list, make sure that it’s achievable, that it’s a mountain that’s scalable, in fact it’s a hill not a mountain. Pick three tasks that you will achieve today, and you may even get them completed by lunchtime.
Also what three tasks can you delegate to others?
If you are struggling with Time Management… make one of your tasks today to schedule a meeting with our Time Management Subject Matter Expert.