8th October, 2024

Does the Usual Productivity Advice Work for People Seeing Patients?

With Rachel Morris

Dr Rachel Morris

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On this episode

With appointments and meetings filling every minute, it can feel impossible to prioritise the stuff that isn’t immediately urgent. But constantly focusing on urgent tasks can stop us addressing the deeper strategic and leadership work. This then leads to stress and a feeling of being out of control, as our todo lists never seem to end.

But there is a solution that can help us manage our workload more effectively. It’s a technique used by productivity gurus like Graham Allcott (the author of How to be a Productivity Ninja), and it’s a technique many in healthcare already use for surgeries and theatre, but don’t apply to the less-urgent – but no less important – work of running their practices.

If you’re finding yourself missing opportunities or saying no to things you really want to do – or feeling guilty about saying no when your diary’s already full – it might be time to rethink how you organise your week. If you continue firefighting – because everything seems urgent – you may find yourself burned out and wondering why your career isn’t progressing.

But by implementing the steps in this quick dip, you can start to regain control over your workload and make space for whats really going to move the dial.

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Reasons to listen

  • To understand how to enhance productivity with a demanding schedule
  • To learn about the importance of prioritising strategic thinking and leadership tasks alongside regular patient care duties
  • For practical strategies to carve out thinking time and manage your workload, so you can reduce stress and improve your work-life balance

Episode highlights

00:01:53

Not a single minute spare

00:04:17

What is time-blocking?

00:05:51

In the absence of time-blocking

00:07:04

Saying “no” with confidence

00:08:43

Thinking time

00:09:42

Managing attention for people in high-stress jobs

00:10:15

Introducing the second brain

00:10:57

Structuring your day

00:13:28

Making space for what matters

00:15:44

Weekly review

00:17:14

Your todo list is a river, not a bucket

Episode transcript

[00:00:00] Rachel: One of the most frequent pushbacks we get when we do our how to take control of your time and workload training is, but surely this stuff can’t apply to me because I’m a healthcare professional. I’m in clinics all day. I have meetings. I have a very structured day. So all this stuff that you’re telling us about the importance of prioritizing, time-blocking, managing my workload, it just doesn’t apply to me. [00:00:24] Rachel: And recently we did a webinar about how to beat the urgency trap, all about how we get stuck doing the urgent stuff…

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