Reclaiming Time by Reducing Distractions in Medicine

It is rare for a physician to have a routine clinic day without any distractions. Your nurse knocks at the door while you are examining the patient, asking you to see a patient in the treatment room. Or the phone rings while you are trying to finish some test orders for a patient. There are many events in the day which direct your attention to something else. The more distractions you have, the less efficient you are. Even if you decide not to do that other thing right away, being interrupted wastes time.

Distractions are inevitable in general, although there are ways to minimize them. One way to minimize distractions is to let people know you do not want to be disturbed. For example, if your hospital system uses instant messaging, mark yourself unavailable. Or go to a relatively quiet corner in the hospital or close your office door to finish your notes.

Set a protocol in the office so that your staff members know when and what is appropriate to interrupt you. Let your staff handle as much as possible. For example, if a patient calls with a question, assign a nurse to take the phone call. Most of the time, nurses can answer the questions, and if they cannot, a message can be sent to the physician for review as a non-urgent message. If it is something more time-sensitive, the nurse can always ask the physician directly. Delegate as many tasks as possible. Ask for other people’s help to do things. Utilize your staff to their full potential. The less interruptions you have, the less distractions there are.

It is essential to be clear on what you are focusing on at any given time, as that focus changes. There are countless stimuli and noises throughout the day. Without being clear on what you plan to do or what your goal is, it is difficult to prioritize one thing at a time. It is also easy to be indecisive about what to do first. For example, you have just finished seeing your last patient in the clinic. There are six more notes to write, ten phone calls to make and 20 inbox messages. What are you going to do next? Ideally, by the time you finish seeing the last patient, there is only one or no more than two patient charts to complete (this is what I coach on, and it will be another blog about it). There is no right or wrong answer. The one thing you want to avoid is being indecisive about choosing what to do next. Indecision takes up time and mental space. It takes up your focus and your capacity to make other decisions. In other words, indecision itself is a distraction. If you cannot see which task is best to do next, just pick one. You have to finish all those things anyway. The longer you do not make a decision, the later you get to start working on them.

As you go through the clinic day with different interruptions and distractions, it is easy to think that “there are too many distractions”. Rather than feeling annoyed or frustrated about it, acknowledge that there will always be distractions – you will be better equipped to handle them simply by acknowledging it. Instead of focusing on thinking “there are too many distractions”, what are some other more helpful ways to think about your clinic day or the distractions? For example, you can choose to think that “I will and I can handle the distractions, one thing at a time”, or “I will keep calm and prioritize”, or “today is going to be manageable no matter what happens”.

Distractions are a regular part of clinical medicine. As physicians, it is important to prepare your mind to face them as they come, one thing at a time. Be clear on what your focus is and what your goal is. Prioritize what to do. Be decisive on what to do next. Delegate tasks. You are capable. Find ways to minimize distractions at work. The less distractions you have, the more efficient you will be.