Dental Office Managers, Dental Assistants, and Receptionists cope with juggling a whole host of different tasks. It is no exaggeration to say that all of you run the show, playing center stage as well as working hard behind the scenes. But sometimes the number of tasks you receive can be overwhelming, making you feel like there isn’t enough time in the day. This post will help you to manage those priorities more effectively with the time you have and might even help you to pinpoint what exactly is slowing you down or hindering you from finishing a task or project.
Time Wasters
Ineffective communication with your team or patients can be a significant time waster. Lines of communication must be open and easy to understand at all times. Other time wasters can include
– taking personal calls during work hours
– using the phone when it would be more efficient to use email or fax.
– Lack of proper planning
– Disorganization
– procrastination
– Interruptions
– Restarts
– Do-overs
How many of these do you contend with on a daily basis? And how can you shorten or even eliminate certain ones on this list?
Techniques for Managing Time
Managing your priorities more effectively takes constant work. Exercising this kind of management can provide you with more time to get things done and also reduce stress for you and everyone around you. Here are some suggestions to help you get the most use out of your day and overcome the time wasters.
- Put yourself first
The way to create a work-life balance is to think of your life and your goals first and foremost. Brendon Burchard suggests in his video on time management to ask yourself: What do I need to give this month to achieve my goals? Establish monthly, weekly and even daily goals that will benefit you and try to stick to those chosen blocks of time you had set aside for yourself. In the morning, ask “What must I do today to move forward?” and plan your day accordingly. Brendon’s YouTube video is available in the resources section of this blog post.
- Set attainable Goals
It is imperative you set goals that are attainable. Setting goals that are impossible to achieve will only guarantee you more stress and may even waste time. Focus on what you want to accomplish in the day and figure out before you start how you can get the desired results you’re seeking.
- Align your goals with those of the practice
The goals you set for yourself in the office should align with those of the practice and your team. Make sure that the goals you want to achieve will contribute meaningfully to the practice as a whole.
- Record and analyze how you spend your time
How much time do you spend on each task in one eight-hour period? Do you get constantly interrupted by unnecessary and even necessary distractions? According to the Cohen Brown Management Group’s webinar video about structured time and workflow management, these distractions are called Time Bandits and are surprisingly take up a lot more of your time than you might think. This management group suggests a concept called Time Locking—a set period of time to work without interruptions for any reason. They do know how difficult this can be, however and have suggested ways to “train” time bandits to coordinate their time with yours. They suggest letting your time bandits know the benefits of time locking. Some include: more efficient and more productive team, providing undivided attention and one hundred percent focus.
The benefits to you are the ability to dedicate specific time for certain tasks, better organization, increased productivity, efficiency, and better results. But the most important benefit to you is that you have more control over your tasks and your time. I will provide the link to this YouTube webinar video in the resources section of this post to peruse at your leisure.
- You are your own worst distraction
Whether you’re a chronic procrastinator or you feel you are a slave to calls and emails, you can be your own worst distraction in the day. Managing time starts with you and the focus you commit to each high and low priority task. To discover where you are most and least productive, ask yourself these questions:
– What was the most productive period of the day? Why?
– What was the least productive? Why?
– Who or what accounted for the interruptions?
– Can the interruptions be minimized or eliminated?
– What activities needed more time?
– On what activities could I spend less time and still get the desired results?
In addition to these questions, I have also provided a short activity created by Cohen Brown Management Group for you to do in order to discover just how many hours a day you lose due to interruptions.
Time-Loss Calculation
- Number of interruptions X the average time of interruptions = Daily Total ________
- Number of restarts X the average time of restarts = Daily Total ________
- Number of times in minutes due to momentum loss _________
- Number of times in minutes due to do-overs _________
- Number of times in minutes due to distress manifestations __________
Add all these numbers together to get average time lost then divide by 60
The total is how many hours you lose every day.
Were you able to calculate the hours lost in one day? Is it more or less than what you originally thought? Let us know in the comments below.
Resources
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBfhefEWd-c
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe6C8FPDjLM
- Fulton-Calkins, Patsy, and Diane Blaney. The Administrative Professional: Procedures and Skills (second edition). Toronto. Nelson Education, 2013.
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