We’ve all had those days when everything goes right. All the patients show up for their appointments on time, that molar endo case was perfect, you didn’t miss any mandibular blocks, that contact on the posterior composite was tight, everything on the delivery of that fixed bridge was excellent, the staff was not only there but worked together like a team, and you even finished on time and got to go home before the sun set! Ahhhh … the stuff dreams are made of! It’s the kind of day that pulls golfers back to the green time after time, fishermen back to the water, and gamblers back to the casino.
Why not a Perfect Day, Every Day?
What pulls you away from having that perfect day each and every day? Take special note of those things. Better yet, make a list! Unless you’re aware of what’s happening, you won’t be able to affect change.
Do you believe it’s possible to have perfect days every day, or at least the vast majority of days? More importantly, do you feel you can have a major impact on what happens each and every day at the office? Or do you feel that it’s just up to chance, luck, or good/bad karma? Your answers to those questions are important! If you don’t feel that perfect days are possible, or that you can’t impact the future, then you’re going to have a hard time visualizing a perfect day.
The Ten Steps
Ready for change? Some of these steps are going to be easy for you to integrate into your day, some will require new ways of working and thinking, and many will require the assistance and cooperation of your staff.
1) Stop all interruptions to your day
An unorganized workday will leave you frustrated, fatigued, and unsatisfied by the end of it. When you take charge of your environment and stop putting up with the things that hold you back from your goals, you will expand the time available to you, and give yourself more time to accomplish what you wanted.
How can you stop interruptions? Start by having your staff screen all calls for you; no one gets through unless you have given your staff directions that you are expecting a call from someone or it’s a family emergency. Use voicemail or written notes to facilitate returning calls when it’s convenient for you.
To be blunt, quit checking your email so much! Save surfing the Web for down time. The Internet and email are quickly becoming the biggest daily interrupters for most people.
Teach, train, and empower staff to handle every situation that comes up in your office that really doesn’t need your “doctor” attention. If you’re a control freak, it will be harder for you to let go of what you’ve been hovering over for so long, so start with small items. Good coaching will help you with the rest.
2) Plan the whole week taking into consideration when you have your high-energy time each day
Do you like doing molar endo starting at 4:30 PM? If you do, more power to you—and yes, there are those times when it can’t be helped. But if you had a choice, would you prefer not to start complicated, draining procedures that late in the day when your energy is probably the lowest?
Sit down with a blank piece of paper and chart which times of the day you would prefer to do which procedures. Pre-block those times on your schedule and have staff schedule those types of appointments only in those time slots. Any procedures that need to be scheduled outside of those time blocks should require your approval. Have your dental hygienist do the same. She doesn’t like starting SRP at 4:30 either. Many dental software programs will allow you to program this into your schedule to act as a visual reminder of what appointments get scheduled where, or they’ll set up rules that restrict when you can or can’t schedule an appointment.
3) Schedule all your activities, including your own tasks, travel time, quiet time, extra time for breaks and emergencies, as well as appointments with others
If you’re not using a planner, you’re not getting the most out of your day. Day Timers make several planner options; Franklin-Covey has planners that remind you what’s really important to you and to plan your activities around that. Many software programs, handheld PDAs, and Pocket PCs all have scheduling capabilities. Use one!
By not planning your daily schedule, your time will always somehow “get used up,” and you’ll be left wondering at the end of the day where all your time went. Further, not leaving time in your schedule won’t allow you to respond to life’s little (and sometimes big) unexpected events, and you’ll be stressed to the max because you don’t have the time to deal with it. If you can picture a piece of paper with the left hand margin not filled in, but the rest of the page with writing … that left hand, open margin, is when you can deal with the things that come up in your life. If you have no “margin,” you have no time to respond.
4) Group similar activities into their own time blocks
To make your day at the office run smoother, schedule similar procedures together. Your assistant will thank you for not having to get out a bunch of different equipment all day long, you’ll get “in a groove” for completing treatment, and you’ll be much more efficient.
At home, plan your day with necessary projects and avoid interruptions, making sure you have everything you’ll need before you start, even gas for the mower (that you could pick up on the way home from work).
5) Select the biggest, most important job and do it first
The simplest example here is to use Stephen Covey’s method of placing items in one of four quadrants: Important and Urgent, Important and Not Urgent, Not Important and Urgent, and Not Important and Not Urgent.
The first two quadrants I mentioned are the ones you should be living and working in daily. The last two can be delegated or are just a plain waste of your time and energy.
6) Break up very large projects into manageable chunks, stop and do something different at the end of each chunk
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by a large project. You know what to do: Take one step at a time. It’s been said many times, “the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.”
Let’s take this one step further. When you’ve reached a stopping point, do something different, then go back to the larger project. You’ll find setting something aside will provide time for you to reflect on how the project is going as well as what ways you might make better use of the time you are spending on the project. And, you’ll get the energy release and break from your concentrated efforts.
7) Make adjustments to your schedule as required; be flexible
One of my favorite phrases is “Be rigidly flexible.” To me, that means be flexible when necessary, but only when necessary. Your daily schedule must have time planned into it to handle unexpected problems. Otherwise, you’ll be pressured to squeeze somebody into a busy schedule, which short-changes everyone else (especially the person who scheduled time in advance), stresses everyone out (including you), and often ends in lesser-quality care to all involved. And, communication always gets short-changed when conversations are rushed, leading to misunderstandings, and on and on. By blocking your schedule at least once each day for unexpected needs, you’ll be able to respond to the needs of your clients, which will work wonders for you and your practice.
The same goes for your home schedule. A too-busy home schedule doesn’t allow you to respond to family and relationship matters that really need your devoted and loving attention.
8) Delegate every task that someone else can do
Delegate everything you can. Then delegate even more. Go ahead—take that chance! Take ownership of whatever needs to be done by making sure that the person you delegated the task to has the necessary tools and directions, but then get out of their way. Have them report back to you when the task is completed, if needed. You’ll be amazed at how this helps you.
9) Find something complimentary to say to everyone who speaks to you and move on quickly
You cannot say “Thank you” too much. Acknowledge people’s efforts sincerely, say something nice about them, or find a way to reinforce their strengths. Make it a point to have “an attitude of gratitude” each and every day for everyone and everything in your life.
10) At the end of the day, clean off your desk, update the next day’s plan, and take no projects home
That doesn’t mean you have to complete each and every project. Sometimes things just don’t work out, or there’s more to do than could possibly be completed in one day no matter how well you planned it. Cleaning off your desk will give you a feeling of completion and focus—you’ll go home with peace of mind, and you’ll gain a better perspective on how you can make tomorrow a Perfect Day!