Your Biggest Time Waster Isn’t the EMR

Many physicians blame the EMR for keeping them at work until late at night. I was one of them. While documentation is part of the problem, it often is not the biggest one. The real culprit is the constant stream of interruptions and distractions that fragment your attention throughout the day. Every interruption seems small, and together they steal hours from your workday. The good news is that even though you cannot eliminate every interruption, you can dramatically reduce their impact.

As a physician, your day is rarely predictable, either in the inpatient or outpatient setting. Phone call, patient messages, staff questions, lab results, prior authorizations, walk-ins, or urgent requests. Every interruption forces your brain to stop one task and switch to another. Task switching carries a cognitive cost – it takes time to regain your previous level of focus every time you switch tasks. By the end of the day, you have not lost just minutes, you have lost momentum. It is often not the EMR itself. It is having to restart your work dozens of times every day. That is the cost of constant interruptions.

Not every interruption is truly urgent. One of the most valuable skills you can develop is making quick decisions about interruptions. Ask yourself: does this require my immediate attention? Will delaying this by ten to twenty minutes change the outcome? Can someone else on my team handle part or all of this? Think in categories. If something is urgent, stop what you are doing. If it is important but not urgent, finish your current task first. If it can be delegated, let the appropriate team member handle it. The faster you make these decisions, the less mental energy you waste.

Anticipate interruptions instead of being surprised by them. Interruptions are inevitable. Instead of hoping for a quiet day, expect interruptions. Ask yourself: What interruptions happen almost every clinic day? Which ones occur at predictable times? How will I respond before they happen? For example, batch routine messages. Turn off the notification sound for inbox messages or chats. Designate time to review those messages and to review labs. Create workflows for refill requests and patient calls. Have standard responses for common questions. Planning ahead reduces the surprise factor and decision fatigue.

Your team is one of your greatest efficiency tools. Many physicians unintentionally become the bottleneck. Every question comes directly to them, even when someone else could solve it. Empower your team by creating clear protocols, defining when staff should interrupt you, allowing staff to answer routine questions, using standing orders where appropriate, and training team members to gather information before bringing problems to you. When everyone understands their role, interruptions become fewer and more meaningful.

Protect your focus. You do not need hours of uninterrupted time. Even protecting ten to twenty minutes can dramatically improve efficiency. Consider finishing one chart before switching tasks, turning off unnecessary notifications, closing unnecessary browser tabs, and keeping a running list of non-urgent questions for staff instead of constant interruptions. Small periods of focused work often accomplish far more than scattered hours.

The goal is not to ignore people. It is to care for patients without sacrificing yourself. Medicine will always involve interruptions. Patients deserve your attention. Your staff needs your guidance. Emergencies happen at any time. Spending hours working after clinic should not be the price you pay for providing excellent care. Learning to manage interruptions does not make you less caring. It helps you be more present with your patients during the day, and more present with your family when you leave work on time.

If you are consistently spending hours charting after your last patient, it is probably not because you are slow or inefficient. More often, it is because your day is filled with hidden time drains that no one taught you how to manage.

In my 1:1 Physician Coaching Program, I help physicians identify the specific interruptions, habits, and workflow challenges keeping them at work late. Together, we create practical, personalized strategies so you can finish your work sooner, leave on time more consistently, and enjoy practicing medicine again – without sacrificing the quality of patient care.