7 ways to maximize your time

Work, family, hobbies, fitness, rest: We are constantly trying to cram the most into every day, with varying degrees of success. While we can’t add more hours to the day, we can use the limited time we do have wisely. “Think about your time like you do money—as a precious, enormously valuable, and limited resource that needs to be consciously invested for the greatest possible return,” said Kate Christie, bestselling author and the director and founder of the Time Stylers time-management consultancy in Melbourne, Australia. Read: Dr. John Crosby: Saving time and headaches: a toolkit Prioritize tasks Once a week, make a master list of things to complete in the coming week, including any tasks that require periodic deadlines. Revisit your list often to add and prioritize tasks. Next, make a shorter list of tasks for each day. This should include both personal and professional objectives. “I keep a list with me as a reminder of what to focus on in between patient encounters,” said Kristene Diggins, DNP, MBA, FAANP, clinical trials lead preceptor at a CVS Health MinuteClinic. Between patients, you might want to fit in some work-related or personal tasks from your list. Set deadlines Parkinson’s Law is an economic theory that states that a task will expand to fill the time available for its completion. “If you have a month to complete a task, it will take a month to do it,” Christie explained. “If you have a week, you’ll finish it in a week. If you don’t have a deadline, a task won’t get done. Set deadlines for every task you perform.” There are two types of deadlines: those that are externally imposed—given by your boss or a patient—and those that you set for yourself. “Externally imposed deadlines are easy to meet because there are consequences if you don’t meet them,” Christie said. “The other type of deadline is the hard one. Setting your own deadlines is about mind management: You need to be disciplined.” Stop multitasking Multitasking, the act of trying to force your brain to perform two or more tasks simultaneously, doesn’t work. “In fact, the ability to successfully multitask is possessed by less than 2.5% of the human race,” Christie said. Trying to multitask is like serving two masters: “Neither gets 100% of your concentration, which decreases your efficiency and the quality of your work,” said Marsha Egan, CPCU, CSP, PCC, chief executive officer of the Egan Group, a workplace productivity consultancy in Nantucket, Massachusetts. “Focus 100% on a selected task, even if it’s just for a few minutes.” Whenever possible, delegate. “Reassigning tasks is an effective way to not only expand your impact but also train other people in your organization so they can handle more tasks,” Egan said. Eliminate distractions Interruptions are a huge waste of time. “Once interrupted, it can take up to 23 minutes to refocus on the task you were interrupted from,” Christie said. While interruptions can’t be eliminated, you should consider turning off digital distractions such as the dings, pings, and flashes of email and text notifications whenever you can. Marguerite Galindo, DNP, FNP-C, director of education at a MinuteClinic in Gilbert, Arizona, says that when she learns of a personal matter that will require her attention while at work, she writes it down for later. “This allows me to put it out of my mind and know that I won’t forget about it,” she explained, freeing her to focus on her professional work. Take advantage of technology The right tools, apps, and software can allow you to do a lot more in less time. When you think of something that you need to do later, grab your smartphone and email yourself or add a reminder to your calendar, said Susan Kousek, owner of Balanced Spaces LLC, a professional organizing company in Reston, Virginia. To save time, experiment with utilizing the dictation feature on your smartphone for notes, calendar entries, emails, and the like. “The more you use [the dictation feature], the easier it becomes,” she added. Dr. Galindo uses a laptop and two additional monitors, which allows her to increase her efficiency by studying multiple windows at once. She uses Microsoft Outlook’s calendar functionality to set deadlines and reminders. Using cloud-based file-sharing applications like Microsoft OneDrive, she can share documents with her team and view them simultaneously. Meaghan Gasparri, MSN, FNP-C, a family nurse practitioner at a MinuteClinic in North Smithfield, Rhode Island, strives to use technology to its greatest capacity, especially her practice’s electronic medical record system. “Creating templates to document common treatment plans and physical assessments is a timesaver,” she said. Evaluate your use of time We all have ebbs and flows of energy. For a morning person, a task that may take 10 minutes in the morning may take 30 if done at the end of the day. Identify when you have the most energy and concentration and plan to perform energy-consuming tasks then, said Kousek. Conversely, plan easier or more relaxing tasks for when you have a lull in energy. Both at home and in the clinic, if you consistently run out of time, track how you’re using it to see which tasks are taking too long. “If, for example, patient visits often go overtime, think about ways to keep people on topic, such as by making your questions for them focused,” said Kousek. Schedule time for yourself Your brain is not designed to work without rest and recovery. The brain consumes about 20% of the body’s calories.1 That energy needs to be replenished, and your brain needs to rest. Current research indicates that the best type of break is when you completely shift your focus from the task at hand to a short activity that boosts positive emotions: meditating, going for a walk, sitting in the sun or under a tree, or daydreaming. If your schedule doesn’t allow for regular breaks, seize a short break when you can, says Christie. Stepping away from a task for even two or three minutes will improve your productivity and decrease your error rate. To take time to reset, Gasparri might close her door after seeing a patient or get lunch somewhere other than the clinic’s lunchroom to escape her work environment. “When I leave at the end of the day, oftentimes I haven’t completed every item on my to-do list; however, because I prioritize and delegate tasks, I can determine an end to my workday,” she says. This item originally ran in our sister media brand, Convenient Care Clinician. Reference Raichle ME, Gusnard DA. Appraising the brain's energy budget. PNAS.

7 ways to maximize your time

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