Tip of the week: Take this quiz to determine if you are time conscious
Unless you cultivate respect for time and are continually conscious of its passage, you are apt to waste it. The following quiz will give you an idea of how time sensitive you are.
- Do you know how much one hour of your time is worth?
- Is your day’s schedule of activities firmly in your mind when you arrive at work?
- Do you have a fairly accurate idea of what you out to get done this week? This month? This quarter?
- Have you delegated as much work as possible?
- Do you weigh the time requirements of various tasks before assigning them to others or undertaking them yourself?
- Do you wade right into the high-priority, tough, and unpleasant jobs rather than devoting too much time to those you like?
- Do you carry a notebook with your for jotting down ideas, important information, sudden insights, and so on, rather than relying on your memory?
- Do you use technology to save time?
- Is there a steady flow of communications between you and your staff, with a minimum of backtracking, questions, and requests for clarification?
- Do you consciously appraise and police your use of leisure time?
- Have you developed routine ways of handling routine matters, like correspondence, requests for information, and so on, or does every little thing throw you off base?
- When things are going exceptionally well, do you take advantage of the psychological momentum by tackling other tough chores, or do you bask in your accomplishment and ease off for the rest of the day or week?
- Do you ever challenge the way things are done, not because you necessarily have a better idea, but simply because you think there is always a more efficient way to get things done?
- Do you make a habit of having some fill-in jobs waiting for your attention in case you suddenly find yourself with some spare time (e.g., an expected visitor breaks an appointment?
Three or more “nos” suggest that it is time to change your ways.
This week’s tip comes from Assessing Your Medical Staff Office: Tools for Productivity by Beverly E. Pybus, CPMSM and Nancy Lian, CPCS, CPMSM.