It seems that time is one of my most valuable assets. I can’t squeeze more than 24 hours to the day, but I keep finding there is so much to do with so little time. I have looked at many time hacks over the years, and here are a few of my favorites.
1. Get enough rest and wake up early
Your body needs proper rest, and getting enough sleep is critical. Productivity first needs energy and a clear head. I find a good night’s rest is a crucial component. Although I am innately a night person, I have found my highest productivity when I start my morning routine early and get some critical things done each day as the first set of activities. Breathing, exercising, showering, and eating a healthy breakfast all help me start with more energy. These are vital parts of a productive day.
2. Reduce online activities
Social media is a time sink like no other. I love to keep up with information each day, but you have to reduce your time and set time blocks for this. These applications are rigged to suck you in and scroll your time away. Set limits and monitor your time online. In our new, more technology-focused life, it’s an important habit to focus on productive activities.
3. Control your email
We all received tons of emails every day. I recommend setting time blocks to clean the inbox each day. Actionable emails are handled right away. Reference emails are tagged and sorted. I also enjoy unsubscribing to one to two emails a day to manage the growing volume of emails.
4. Use a productivity app
Applications such as Meistertask, Trello, and Asana are tremendous tools to gain time each day. They will sort out your tasks and workflows into clean projects. I place almost everything that has a digital workflow into a project management app. It allows for collaboration with my team, managing projects, and making sure work is handled weekly. These apps allow for web hyperlinks, automation, time tracking, and communication tools when your team is involved in your work.
5. Gather your tasks and ideas in a mind dump
To-do lists used to be a challenge for me to manage. But I have a renewed interest in them because these lists are a great way to catalog ideas. Our brains are not like hard drives. It helps daily productivity when you clear your head from things you need to remember.
I find the best way to do this is using Siri in my iPhone or Apple Watch, where I can have the voice command to ad a thought, an idea, a task that pops into my mind do into a list. I organize anything from shopping lists, random thoughts, things to do this week, team training, etc. In addition, I can sort these voice commands into the relevant list and then revisit when the time is right to make actionable items and I either get the task done or delegate it to the appropriate person. Getting these thoughts and ideas onto a list helps me clear my head and keep gain productivity.
6. Use a dual monitor
Getting work done in the office becomes much easier to manage when I use a dual-screen setup. The greater desktop area allows for our workspace to expand and improve tasks requiring multiple sets of information. For example, working on a ClinCheck while reviewing the patient chart and patient images works better when a larger space is available on-screen to display all of these sources of information.
7. Follow intermittent sprints of activity
It’s tough to maintain the energy for high productivity when you are always on “go” mode. Work is difficult when it’s a marathon. I find I perform better when I focus on individual tasks and give them my best focus and energy in short spurts, then take intermittent rest periods taking on different activities. In practice, this means working on a treatment plan, then moving into clinical work, followed by more planning. With a mix of activities, I can get a lot done in short spurts of five to twenty minutes, instead of a long haul of productivity.
8. Learn to disconnect
Our brains are often like a muscle that needs activity to build strength, and just as importantly, needs a period of rest. We are so connected these days to remote work, social media, email, pending Clinchecks, and many more activities that orthodontists handle each day. It is a great habit to learn to disconnect for some time. I find a good book, meditation, exercise, outdoor activity, and time with my family all help to disconnect. It is vital to connect with yourself, with your family and with nature. Taking some time to disconnect from the daily routine helps re-energize and avoid the burnout that can affect our productivity.
