Wouldn’t it be nice if you and your staff could just bang through your tasks without interruption or fatigue? That’s not possible because of interruptions. Literally anything from idle chit-chat and time wasting to a sudden surge in walk-in patients can interrupt administrative work. As a consequence, it takes time to get things done.
In fact, considering all the demands that you and your staff has, it is a miracle that anything gets done! Still, waiting for divine intervention or luck isn’t a good business strategy. There are ways to be more productive and do what needs to be done.
How, you ask? Start reading!
Limit How Much Time You Spend on a Task
Emails, social media management, and phone calls are big time sucks. Especially when there are other tasks which need to be done. One way to get through tasks is to limit how much time you spend on each of them. For social media, limit yourself to checking your social media channels for ten minutes at a time at certain times of the day. Once you set a limit, you won’t let yourself wonder down a path of reading spam emails or laughing at cat videos. You will stay on task so that you can quickly move on to tasks that involve patient care.
Set a Deadline
Related to limiting your time on tasks, setting a deadline for more time-consuming tasks will make you more productive. For example, when I first started my studies at Temple University, I had a hard time keeping up with my studies. I then figured out if I studied two hours per subject, per day, I could keep up and get good grades. Therefore, setting a deadline will keep you focused on the task at hand and will keep your ‘grades’ up.
Have Fewer Meetings
The information distributed at most meetings can be distributed via email. Also, you when you have fewer meetings, the end result is that when you do have one, your staff will be more attentive. They will feel that the issue in question is “really important” since you don’t have meetings very often.
Say NO to Multitasking
It isn’t just drugs you need to say no to…add multitasking to the list. As efficient as it seems to talk on the phone and go through your emails, you are only giving half your attention to each. That means do ONE task at a time, even the mundane ones like filing and talking on the phone.
Plan Ahead and Stick to the Plan
Many things will come up in the course of the day. If you wrote out a To-Do list, it will be easier to get back on the important tasks, as opposed to merely reacting to emails, phone calls and requests from staff.
While you can’t always shut the door and tell your staff not to bother you until you come out of your office, these tips can help you to get more of the important items done. Now if only there was only a way to get the telemarketers to stop calling!
Sources:
http://reviewob.com/top-ways-create-positive-productive-staff/
https://www.inc.com/john-rampton/15-ways-to-increase-productivity-at-work.html