How Time Flies
David D. Vega, MD FAAEM
YPS President
Congratulations to all of our colleagues who recently completed the oral and qualifying exams! The board certification process is essential to maintaining the high standard of excellence in our specialty. AAEM fully recognizes the importance of board certification and is the only true specialty society in emergency medicine today because of its board certification requirement for membership.
It seems like this year has just flown by, and it’s hard to believe that we are already planning for Scientific Assembly. Keep an eye out for announcements of the opening of the nomination process for the YPS board of directors, which will be here shortly. Any member of the YPS may be nominated as an officer or member of the board of directors, so consider whether you might be able to serve in one of these positions. If you are not yet a member of the YPS, consider joining if you are within your first seven years of practice after residency or fellowship training.
With the holidays quickly approaching, personal and work demands can conflict, and effective time management becomes critical. Although I am not in any way an expert on time management, I thought I would use this month’s article to provide a few time management tips that I have found helpful. There are only 24 hours in a day, so time management is about making better use of the time that you have by modifying your behaviors. Start by taking a good look at what you do each day, and find ways of eliminating things that aren’t important to you. Then think about these tips, and see if they can help:
Make plans and set priorities. To-do lists can be helpful, especially in prioritizing your tasks for each day. Take care of the most important things first, and then move on to less important tasks. Start out your day by planning your projects, and then spend a period of uninterrupted time working on your top project. Remember that prioritizing is not procrastinating. Set goals for what you want to accomplish for the day, but be realistic about what you can get done.
Learn to say “No.” As a corollary to prioritizing your tasks, you must realize when you cannot accept a new task. The person asking you to do that one small project is not likely aware of all the other things you need to get done. You are the only one who truly knows how busy you are and whether or not you can properly handle an additional task. Most of the time, people would rather have you say no than do a job poorly or delay it significantly because you don’t have time for it. Give the requestor your reasons, and explain that you might be able to help out at a later time.
Delegate. Don’t try to do it all yourself. There are times when you need to delegate tasks to someone else. This applies to projects at work and at home. Sometimes spending a few extra bucks to have someone cut your grass or help with cleaning pays off with big-time savings.
Little things add up. Look for little things in your daily routine that can be made more efficient. Many of us spend a lot of time on our computers, and small things like reducing keystrokes through form-filling software and password managers can add up to a good bit of saved time.
You sleep in the bed you (don’t) make. While you’re thinking about little things to make more efficient, also look for things that may not need to be done at all. I don’t make my bed every single day, and despite my parents’ warnings while growing up, I still function just fine. Don’t waste time on things that really don’t make a difference; or at least don’t do them so frequently.
Stay organized. Whether it’s personal finances or files for work, find a system that keeps you from wasting time looking for the things you need. Start by looking at your inbox and sorting your email into folders. Then look for other ways to organize your life. Spending a little extra time up front with organization will make a lot more time down the road.
Get stuff that works. Say your old computer takes two minutes longer to log on and check your email than a new one. If you check your email just two times a day, that’s over 24 hours a year wasted. In a similar vein, a high-speed internet connection pays off very quickly. Do you have an older car that eats up a lot of time with maintenance? Are there any other areas this may apply?
Take advantage of waiting time. Take something to do with you when you anticipate having to wait for something. PDAs and laptops can keep you connected and productive during times that might otherwise be wasted by waiting. Keeping a review article or other reading material with you is also good for those unexpected wait times.
Break big jobs down into smaller ones. You’ll be less likely to procrastinate doing a big project if you break it down into smaller, easier steps. If you really dread doing something, try to commit just a few minutes every day toward that project.
Take enough time to do it right the first time. While you should look for ways to do things more efficiently, you should not sacrifice quality in your work. Doing things right may take a little longer initially, but you’ll save time by not needing to fix mistakes.
Take care of yourself. Getting enough sleep and exercising regularly can improve your efficiency by improving concentration and reducing mistakes. Also, take a break once in a while. While working on a big project, let it go for a few minutes. When you come back, you may see solutions you didn’t think about before.
Do you have your own time management tips that you would like to share with your colleagues in the YPS? Send them to info@ypsaaem.org, and we may post them in a future edition of Common Sense.