Grouping Activities and Minimizing Routine Work
Work items that are similar in nature and require similar environmental surroundings and resources should be grouped within divisions of the work shift. Set aside blocks of uninterrupted time for the really important tasks, such as preparing the budget.
Group routine tasks, especially those that are not important or urgent, during your least pro- ductive time. For example, list what you can do in five minutes, such as scan your e-mail, check text messages, confirm a meeting, or set up an appointment, or in ten minutes, such as return a phone call, scan a Website, or compose an e-mail. This helps you spend the small allotments of time productively.
Much time spent in transition or waiting can be turned into productive use. Commuting time can be used for self-development or planning work activities. We all have to wait sometimes: waiting for a meeting to start or to talk to someone are just two examples. Keep up with message boards on your phone’s mail system or bring along materials to read or work on in case you are kept waiting. View waiting or transition time as an opportunity, especially to think.
If you are having difficulty completing important tasks and are highly stressed, especially as the day winds down, doing routine tasks for a while often helps reduce stress. Pick a task that can be successfully completed and save it for the end of the day. Reaching closure on even a routine task at the end of the day can reduce your sense of overload and stress.
Implementing the daily plan and daily follow-up is essential to managing your time. You should also repeat your time analysis at least semiannually to see how well you are managing your time, whether the job or the environment has changed, and if changes in planning activities are required. This can help prevent reverting to poor time-management habits.
Personal Organization and Self-Discipline Some other time wasters are lack of personal organization and self-discipline, including the inabil- ity to say no, having to wait for others, and excessive or ineffective paperwork. Effective personal organization results from clearly defined priorities based on well-defined, measurable, and achiev- able objectives. Because the nurse manager does not work alone, priorities and objectives are often related to those of many professionals, as well as to objectives of patients and their families.