Stop Staying Late: 4 Powerful Shifts to Help You Leave Clinic On Time

Physicians ask me how I went from seeing a full day of patients and working three to four extra hours at night to finishing my work to completing my work by 5 pm – while still seeing the same number of patients. There is no magic potion, although I wish I had a magic wand to make things happen in less than a second. Here I would like to share with you the four strategies to boost your efficiency. This applies beyond clinical medicine.

First, hone in your vision. Where do you want to be in relation to your work? For many physicians who are where I was, forcing themselves to work extra hours to finish their work, their biggest goal is to finish work on time. Same quality of work, without compromising care, while not taking work home to finish in the evening or on the weekends. When you craft your vision, it is tempting to focus on how you have not achieved it and therefore you cannot achieve it. I invite you to keep that “how to do it” part out of your vision for now.  Visualize – instead of leaving work at 7:30 pm, you are now going home at 5:30 pm with everything done. Charts finished, phone calls made, tests ordered and prescriptions refilled. You have extra time after work. You get to relax, spend time with your family, or go to your favorite pilates class. Visualize with as many details as possible. This is what you want now – and your vision can change in the future. For now, focus on that vision. How do you feel if you could consistently leave work by your ideal time? For me, I feel triumphant and excited. Even though I have been leaving work on time for several years now, I still feel the same excitement. Visualize and experience your future reality now.

The second strategy is to believe. It sounds simple, because believing is a choice. At the same time, doubt surfaces. Your brain will offer reasons why it is not possible to achieve your vision. You have tried different things, you have tried everything – what makes you think that you can do it? Sure, other physicians can leave work on time, but not you. Those physicians are writing suboptimal notes and that is why they can leave work on time. Whatever questions your brain is offering to challenge your belief, allow yourself to think about how it is possible. For example, if you are thinking that you have tried everything, be curious and be open to thinking that maybe you have not tried everything, and there is at least one way that you have not tried that will make it happen. The more you visualize your goal, the more you imagine and experience how it feels to have achieved that goal, the easier it is to believe you can do it. The belief does not stop when you have not achieved your goal in your set time frame or when you have a setback. Practice belief in yourself that you can do it.

While you are envisioning your ideal future and practicing to believe it is possible for you, take action. Goals left in your mind will not happen unless you physically do something about it. Focus on one thing at a time. This means that you plan ahead and prioritize. For outpatient medicine, your schedule is pretty much set. You see one patient, address the medical need, order tests and finish up the chart, then see the next patient. If your schedule has some double-booked patients, like mine, you may decide which patient to see first. Sometimes I choose to see the patient who is here for a simple issue before seeing the more complex patient. When you are interrupted, either by a phone call, your nurse, or by anything else, make a decision quickly on what to do next. Ideally, if there is no medical emergency, is to finish what you are doing at that moment before attending to the issue from the interruption.

After a long clinic day, it is important to look back at your day. The fourth strategy is to reflect and grow. Reflect without judging yourself. Examine what you did well. What actions made your day go smoother? Did you hold on to your vision all the time? What can be improved? Did you stay in an exam room more than you intended to? Were you distracted by all the interruptions and did you feel overwhelmed? Whatever it is, every day is a learning experience, a growing opportunity. Keep doing what is working. Learn from what is not working as well and explore what other ways to do it. Sometimes you have to experiment. What works for someone may not work for you. When you feel stuck, or when you do not know how to solve an issue, ask for help. Someone who has achieved your goal will guide you to the path toward your goal faster.