Why You Are Still Working After Hours (And It Is Not Your Workload)

You have seen your last patient. What a long day – yet your day seems to have just started. Unfinished patient charts from today (and a sky-high pile of charts from previous days), inbox overfilled with messages and phone calls to return. You are working very hard, so hard that you have only gulped down your lunch in 3 minutes and went to the restroom once. Why does the work keep piling up that eats into your evenings and weekends?

It is not just the volume of work – it is distractions and how we respond to them.

It is easy to spot the obvious distractions – phone calls, the urge to scroll on social media or the notification from any new email messages. There are also these seemingly productive distractions. For example, while you are fiercely typing to finish a patient’s chart, a nurse interrupts and you immediately stop and engage in the discussion. Or you are researching for more information about a disease, more than you will need to know to manage the patient, in the name of having to know everything. How about jumping to the next patient before finishing the last patient’s chart. You may feel responsible to engage in those distractions. They seem to be the right thing to do. In reality, those distractions fragment your focus and slow you down. Imagine being distracted twenty times by different things, how many minutes have you wasted?

If distractions interrupt our workflow and efficiency, why do we give into them? It is the avoidance of discomfort. Instead of feeling the discomfort of your nurse waiting for you, you respond immediately. Instead of allowing the discomfort of being behind or potentially being judged negatively by your patients, you are distracted from finishing the previous patient’s chart and rush into the next patient’s room. Instead of risking the possible perception of not having enough medical knowledge, you research and read it not only twice but three times.

What you are is not lacking discipline. This is normal behavior. You are human and you are wired to avoid discomfort of any kind. Every distraction you act on is solving short-term discomfort but at the expense of long-term efficiency.

One distraction may seem small. Oh, it is “just this one thing”. Everything you tune yourself to the distraction, your mind is switching context. This switching costs slower thinking and potentially more errors. When you have incomplete tasks, it creates a mental burden that weighs you down and haunts you, not to mention that you are prolonging the time it requires to complete the same tasks. This translates to the extra hours of work in the evenings and on the weekends. The impact on your emotional well-being is significant. The common feelings are exhaustion (mentally), frustration, overwhelm, among other unpleasant emotions. This turns into stripping the joy of practicing medicine. Distractions do not only take minutes; they cost your evenings, weekends and your wellbeing.

What can we do about distractions? Would it not be easy to just eliminate them? Yes, it would be. There are strategies to minimize distractions for certain things. The more important focus is to change your response to distractions. Awareness is the key. Recognize that you are facing a distraction. Intentional decision-making is crucial to your efficiency. If you act on the distraction, how does it affect your workflow?

Plan ahead before the day starts. No matter what you do, it is essential to start with a clear mind. Many of us undervalue the importance of sleep. Prioritize sleep to feel rested and have more clarity and more ability to focus. Set a simple and powerful intention. What is the goal for the day? For example, you can set your goal to take great care of your patients and leave work on time. In order to do that, you do your best to avoid constantly switching between tasks from distractions.

When a distraction arises, pause and ask yourself, “Will this improve my efficiency or productivity right now?” If the answer is no, ask yourself this: what discomfort are you trying to avoid?

As a daily routine, practice tolerating discomfort – you will not die from it. Normalize it. Let your nurse wait briefly until you finish your thought. Allow yourself to let patients wait a few minutes longer so you can finish the previous patient’s chart. No matter what you do or not do, people will always have an opinion of you that we have no control of. Learn to tolerate the discomfort of being judged. It is important to research to ensure you are following the latest guidelines and recommendations, and allow yourself to stop researching when you have adequate information to manage the patient. You have accumulated vast knowledge and it is okay not to know it all. Discomfort if not a problem if you are aware of it and understand what is best for your efficiency. Do the thing that will enhance your efficiency, even though it is uncomfortable. The more you do this, the easier it becomes.

When you do enough reps, do allow discomfort while keeping efficiency in mind, your day will change dramatically. Although you will still encounter the same interruptions and distractions, they will no longer derail you or ruin your day. You will have control over your workflow. You will have increased efficiency during your clinic hours. This translates to having your evenings and weekends back. The emotional gain is more present, more at peace, more calm and feeling more fulfilled in practicing medicine.

What is one distraction you can handle differently tomorrow? It is not about rushing or doing more; it is about responding differently. Small shifts in how you handle distractions, allowing yourself to feel the discomfort can give you your time and your life back.