Every day, we work with many distractions pulling us away from our goals and affecting our productivity. As orthodontists, how do we manage distractions and regain our time back? First, it is important to understand how to control your attention and understand where our distractions are coming from. When we manage distractions better, we reduce our time constraints and stress because we do what we intend to do. It starts with deciding what is important and what we need to invest our time and effort.
I find that many of us have more time than we acknowledge. Our time is affected by the focus and intent we bring into daily decisions. When we minimize distractions, we can maximize the attention we can give to what is most important.
In the book “Indistractable” by Nir Eyal, we can learn how the opposite of distraction is not focus; the opposite is traction. Traction comes from actions that move us toward what we want. In comparison, distraction comes from action that moves us away from what we want. Traction means we approach our day with purpose and gain control. Perhaps you choose to spend some time answering emails, and you gain traction. While, at other times, checking email may be a distraction from what you are supposed to be doing. How can the same task lead to different results? The answer is in defining your goals and where you want to focus your time.
Once we address what is important to do and gain traction, we work towards decreasing distractions. When it comes to minimizing diversions, we should be considering the common factors in an orthodontic office:
Silence your device notifications
Our modern technology is designed to gain our attention. Are you careful with the dings and buzzes that come from your devices? These distractors can be silenced or removed by taking control of your notification preferences. I turn almost all off unless it is a message from my wife and kids. We can also customize our settings to select which apps and which contacts are your “favorites” to reduce your device notifications. If I choose to tune into office messages, I can log into our communication app, Slack. When I’m on Slack, I’m in work mode and gear my focus towards making that communication productive. Silencing notifications from Slack allows me to focus on my goals away from the office, while I can log on at the office and reply when I choose to be in work mode.
Manage your emails
Email is a necessary evil. We need it to communicate, but it can draw you away from important work and important time with family. Work towards an efficient email workflow to avoid constantly revisiting it and schedule time for it at select times of the day. I like to follow a process called inbox zero, where every email is either answered, delegated, or transferred away as a future action item. I avoid constantly checking it during other tasks, so it does not distract me from my productive time.
Minimize time on social media
Social media apps are designed for distraction and taking your attention. These draw you in, and the algorithms work hard to keep you engaged in the content. My advice is to consume social media when choosing to take a break and catch up on things. Avoid notifications from these applications to distract you while doing purposeful work and family time.
Office Layout
We often design orthodontic offices with an open floor plan, and doctors may work from a doctor’s perch to view the clinic or an easy-to-access office. Although I like to keep my office door open, it helps to disconnect and set times when we avoid distractions, and you can get CAD work done. Step away from the perch into a private office, put a sign on the door or close the door to let everyone know you are getting work done. Avoid the distractions that are notorious for an open floor plan, and block time within your day to do the work that keeps you after hours if you don’t get it done at the office.
There are many other distractions in our lives. But it is important to set parameters in our daily routine and set goals on what brings us traction. Move towards what we want to add value to our lives while reducing distractions.
