I have gave the sleep energy tracker app, Rise, a try, and have found it insightful into my energy patterns. The app lists my energy peaks and dips throughout the day, depending on when I go to bed and when I wake up. I can compare what these graphs show and how I feel, and I find it interesting how it shifts depending on the amount and quality of sleep I get the days before. The app makes the argument that you can catch up on sleep (though I have read in other places this is not possible). So it encourages me to go to bed a bit earlier for a few days here or there to catch up, or to catch a quick cat nap in my afternoon lulls.
Our cat, Oscar, sure knows how to catch a nap on a comfy, sleeping Luca.
Instead of fighting my tired times in the early afternoon (that “afternoon slump” we all are familiar with), I see them as times now to get mundane and simpler tasks done, like packing lunches, putting away laundry, and answering simple emails. I admit now that those times are not the ideal time for a creative process or a process that takes a lot of brain power. And when I get a chance, I take the app’s suggestion and try to do a short burst of exercise like a brisk walk or (if I be so lucky that the stars align!) a short nap.
As I am getting older, I see the value of being more in tune with my body and its energy tank. The energy tank is not infinite, sad but true, and getting older I think this gets more and more apparent. I have tried often (particularly when I was in a younger, more spry state of mind) to push through my tired spells. But in the long run, working or pushing while tired often yields less quality results for me. And I just feel crabbier and unhappy.
I think the hardest thing to accept is that I do need more sleep than I grant myself. This is something I am working on improving. In an ideal situation, I think I would go to bed when my kids go to bed. But there are always more tasks and chores (and good books to read) left on my to do list that I try to squeeze in. I need to learn to accept that it is okay to leave things undone, and give in to my body’s melatonin window and let sleep overtake me.
I can see my “sleep debt” in the app that is the sleep I am behind on. It is almost always (sadly) negative, except when I was on a nice, restful vacation. (I guess there is hope someday when I retire!) I can see how that affects my mood and my mental energies, and it gives me motivation to squeeze in my tasks and “to do” list items in the dead spaces in my schedule earlier in the day, particularly when I have my peak energy.
My goal in the next few weeks and months is to see my sleep debt (hopefully) stay lower, and see how my energy and productivity and efficiency increase. In addition, I hope to see my mood in interacting with my friends and family improving. Sleep is the wonder drug. It is free, but often overlooked. I hope to really harness its power in the coming weeks and months in my quest to be a better steward for my time and energy each and every day.
My daughter insightfully declared a few weeks ago…”I wish you didn’t have to work.” That simple, innocent statement stuck with me since. I think this occurred after I explained I was too tired to do something with her that she wanted to do. Kids really pick up on associations quickly, huh? Work steals away some of my time and energy, and thus takes away some of the time and energy I have to devote to my family. I replied honestly that I wish I didn’t have to work either. Wouldn’t that be wonderful, having financial security to thus regain time back with those you love?
Hoping for more carefree times like this with my little gal.
As I explained in my post about financial independence, I think I have found a really neat life tool to get to my desire to make work optional. I am one that always needs things to do. I like to make “To Do” lists on my phone or in my journal, and I like to keep planning ahead for the future. So I don’t think I will ever sit still too long. However, as my daughter alluded to, work prevents me often from doing what I would rather be doing. One huge value and priority in my life is family and nurturing my relationships with my family members. And often my 8 hour work day takes away from that. It would be nice to have more flexibility to instead work say part time, and set my schedule myself for when I would want to work.
I read a great book on this very topic, that is financial independence and making work optional, a few months ago: Work Optional: Retire Early the Non-Penny-Pinching Way, by Tanja Hester. I would recommend this read to anyone wanting to learn more about financial independence. I really liked how the author spelled out a pathway to learning your values and priorities and life, and then extrapolating how financial independence can give you the power to then create the type of life you want. She also spells out some math on how to achieve this, including the calculators for determining your needed “Financial independence” number (i.e. 25x your annual spending) that I have described in my financial independence post, and other authors in the financial independence community have also described.
I like her different take on buckets of money for those pursuing early retirement as well, with some funds preserved to be used true older retirement (i.e. after age 59 1/2 or 60) and other funds you plan to use in early retirement (i.e. in your 30s, 40s, and/or 50s). There are ways to tap into your retirement savings earlier with the Roth IRA conversion ladder technique (see an explanation of this topic here), but I appreciated the author’s idea of keeping your funds separate. After all, one great fear of any retiree is if you will run out of money. It would not be pretty or pleasant to have to return to work in your 50s or 60s, after being out of the workforce for several years. Indeed, it would be challenging, and you could not re-enter the workforce at the same place you left. Given your gap in working, several employers would likely question your motives or your competence. And you would probably need to either take a paycut and start lower down in your chosen career path, or pick a different line of work with less pay.
By separating out your funds that way, you can better control for future ups and downs in your spending needs and the market. Things taking a turn for the worse in your investments? Having different buckets would mean your age 60+ funds are still left alone to grow and regain things (hopefully) in the future when the market rebounds. But to compensate, you can use your early retirement funds more wisely and more frugally, e.g. taking out a smaller percentage e.g. 3-3.5%, and perhaps taking on a side gig to compensate.
I have also read some other books on the topic, including Financial Freedom: A Proven Path to All the Money You Will Ever Need, by Grant Sabatier, and Quit Like a Millionaire: No Gimmicks, Luck, or Trust Fund Required, by Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung. All of these authors have different ways they approached their journeys to financial independence and achieved it, and offer their own advice to readers who want to follow the pathway, too. I think all of these different perspectives show there are multiple pathways to get to where you want to go with the financial independence journey. In fact, this shows there are multiple answers sometimes to one problem.
My current finances do not allow me to stop working just yet, or go part time (which is a less scary path I am considering in the near future). However, I think hearing my daughter’s wish the other day, “I wish you didn’t have to work,” rekindled my commitment in my path to achieving financial independence. Getting to a point where work is optional would be a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. If something were to happen where I did need to quit, or the market were to change and my job security were to be lost, having that power of financial independence would be so freeing and empowering. I could foresee in the future that the challenge of balancing it all as a busy doctor mom and working mom could get to be too much. Right now, I feel that I am happy in my current roles and in my current busy life, but this may not always be the case.
I love this happy kid! I hope to prioritize my life and time to spend more time with those I love most, namely my husband and kids.
I think I’ll remind myself of my daughter’s innocent statement (“I wish you didn’t have to work!”) each time I analyze my finances and my path to financial independence. It is important to look at where you are, but it is important also to see where you are going, and to live this life intentionally and with purpose. My pursuit of financial independence, I feel, is my tool to regaining control over my life and my time.
It is nice to dream about what a perfect day would look like. I think it personally helps me to strive to improve things I can in my life, to get closer and closer to that perfect day. Sure, perfections is not entirely possible, as there are things in life we have to do that we would rather not – chores, necessary mundane tasks, etc. It is important to accept the imperfections in life. But I think it is nice to have a picture in my mind what my perfect day would look like. If you haven’t tried this experiment before, I would recommend it, as it may be eye opening to you. You may see things you are doing that do NOT fit into that perfect day. Maybe it is time to do less of those things, or stop them altogether. Instead, it would be better to start focusing time and energy on things you love and things you want to be doing more of. And on days off e.g. the weekend, it may direct you to do the activities and passions that light you up, instead of squandering your free time on things that may not energize and refresh you.
A perfect day would certainly include ample quality time with my loves.
At any rate, here is how my perfect day would go:
Wake up when I felt like it.
No alarms. No need to get up at a set time. I could set my own schedule each and every day, as desired. Or have no schedule if desired. I am more productive in the mornings so I would likely have a lot of activities planned each morning. So I wouldn’t necessarily sleep in. But it would be nice to have the freedom and option to do so!
I prefer exercising in the morning when my mind and body are fresh. This is different for different people, but that seems to agree with me better. With the way my schedule is now, that isn’t really possible during the work week, as I start my workday early in the morning. It would be nice, though, to have the liberty of exercising when I would prefer.
Time for reading, journaling, and meditation.
I would love to have more time to read and learn, journal, and meditate. I feel these revive me, and I learn a lot by doing these activities. In addition, it helps offload my mind and the stressors I may be carrying. I do not have the luxury of doing these activities as much as I would like. Having more free time each day to do this I think would really boost my mental health and productivity.
Time and energy to spend with my family.
Sometimes I am very drained after a tough day at work. I regretfully sometimes approach my evenings with my family with fatigue and not much “left in the tank” to give to those I love. It would be nice to keep some of my energy reserves intact to nurture the relationships with my loved ones.
Time in the evening to decompress and reflect on my day.
My days are busy and jampacked. Sometimes I regretfully go through the actions, going from one task to the next – wake up, get ready, work, get dinner ready, pickup the kids, get the kids and myself ready for bed, conk out. I don’t always make the time to decompress and rewire myself. And I wish I also spent more time reflecting on the day and how it went. What did I really like? What did I hate? What will I try to repeat again in the future? What will I try to avoid? I think that could be accomplished via self reflection, journaling, or talking through my day with my husband. But often times, I don’t make this daily reflection a priority.
Getting to bed on time after a relaxing bedtime routine, and getting enough sleep.
I strive right now to get 6.5 hours of sleep at least per night. Sometimes I reach that, sometimes I regretfully do not. Should I be getting more? Probably. But it is hard to squeeze in all of the things I want to do. In a perfect day, however, it would be great to get 7-8 hours of sleep. And prior to sleep, to have a relaxing, calming bedtime routine each night, instead of forcing myself to close my eyes, and being anxious about getting enough sleep for the next day.
Final Thoughts on the Elusive but Laudable “Perfect Day”
I realize it isn’t possible to always have life go as planned. But having this ideal day in mind has helped me prioritize things I want to do, and like to do. And I have tried to cut down on things that do not serve me, such as too much social media scrolling (still guilty of this, though, more often than I would like), TV or video watching, or checking email (a time suck oftentimes). I have tried to set a list of priorities each day, and do the ones that I feel are most important, including spending time with my family and those I love, reading and writing, exercise, and trying to get enough self care and sleep. Other things are nice and fun to do, but I think if I hit those priorities at least to a small degree each day, I feel like I have accomplished a lot. My life may not be perfect, but it is a work in progress and I have the power to change it. Each day is refreshingly its own entity, and each morning gives me the opportunity to start over with a blank slate. As I take my life one day at a time, I hope to get closer and closer to a life and routine that will make me a happier, more productive version of me.
Always striving and scheming to rearrange my life, to create more quality time with this smiling face.
My daughter was chanting this the other day, but making a funny word substitution…”Finders Keepers, Losers Sweepers.” I tried to correct her word substitution, but she insisted her way of saying this was correct. This amused me, of course. But it also got me thinking… What if she was on to something? Finders do keep what they have. But losers may gain something as well.
This little gal is enjoying some sugar on a summer day. It is truly enjoyable to time out of my busy life to revel in rest and rejuvenation with my children.
When you lose, you give something up. This may be a victory, or a possession. However, perhaps my daughter’s inadvertent statement opens up a possible role of a loss. When you are a loser, you “sweep away” whatever it was that you lost. This can be a good thing, or a bad thing. Often, though, letting go of things in the long run can be good.
In our overcrowded, overstimulated, overfilled lives, I think we may need to learn to take a step back more often. Our digital lifestyles are connecting us to each other and to information more than I ever imagined growing up. But, this may be at a cost to our sanity and mental health. Indeed, many folks take digital detox breaks to reconnect with the simpler world.
As a telemedicine physician, I am connected to technology during my workday, and I love it. I enjoy connecting with patients around the country via this cool, new medium. It is different, and a challenge. But once the day is done, sometimes I hop onto my home laptop, or home smartphone, or home tablet. And sometimes after doing so, I feel more fried, not rejuvenated. I think my body and mind, with their fatigue symptoms, are trying to tell me something. Too much of a good thing is no longer good.
Take time to stop and smell the roses…and ride a pony, too, if one happens to cross your path.
As my daughter phrased it, “Finder’s Keepers, Losers Sweepers”… perhaps we should let go of our technology and busy lives and sweep away the clutter and noise. That way, we can reconnect with ourselves, our families, our thoughts and feelings, and live a hopefully more peaceful existence. Instead of weeping and mourning a loss, perhaps we can see the loss as a gain. Gaining of freedom, gaining of time. That opening in our lives can allow something else in. For me, less is truly more, and gives me more time to recharge. I think I’ll take my daughter’s advice more here in the future, and see losing and letting go as a way to clean and “sweep away” what I really don’t need.
Having 2 young kids, I am well familiar with the fact that toddlers assert their independence with the powerful word, “NO!” at around 2-3 years of age. As an adult, though, I wonder why this skill has faded in myself. I have found it hard to say “No” when I don’t want to do something. I often find myself saying yes to things that do not bring me satisfaction or joy. It may be out of a sense of obligation, or guilt, or a desire not to hurt others feelings, or a desire to show I am able to take on more and be responsible and “do it all.” But maybe I should learn from my young ones and use this powerful word, “No!” more frequently and more freely, to reclaim my time and sanity.
Learn to say “no” to feel free (and bonus points if you dance to celebrate it)!
Our lives are busy and hectic. We have plenty of expectations – at work, at home, and with our activities and communities. I’ve found one thing that helps calm my mind and put things in better perspective is to list my values and priorities each week, each month, and each year. I know then where I want to go, and what kind of life I want. It is a hard practice, but if I am faced with an email asking me to do something, I have started to ask myself, “Is this in line with my values?” “Will this bring me closer to the goals and life and future I want?” If the answer is “Meh” or, “Well, not really,” I pause and really try to stop myself from an automatic reply of “Sure, I’ll do it.” (This is, of course, a work in progress, and I still have times where I reflexively say “Yes, sure I’ll do it” and shortly thereafter, regret it.)
Throughout college and medical training, I felt a drive to say yes to pretty much everything I could. You don’t want to close any doors to opportunities in the future when you are early on in your training or career. However, I am now more settled into my career and busy life, and have more life experience, and can see what kind of “me” I truly want to be. And with that life wisdom, I can see that the mentality of always saying “Yes!” can be harmful, and inadvertently detract or prevent me from me reaching my goals. It is not possible to do it all. (I’m sure we all wish this was possible, but it really isn’t.) There are only 24 hours in a day. Life is about choices, and to do life right, sometimes you must sacrifice some things to concentrate and nurture the things you want. And to get where you want to go, sometimes you must let go of things don’t want or absolutely need. In short, as my children would unwaveringly and succinctly put it, “No!” This is a tough skill, and one I hope to continue to get better at.
These confident little ones never hesitate to tell me what they want, or what they don’t want!
But maybe I should acknowledge that my children are perhaps wiser than me in this respect, and I should take from their example. I will continue to work on this, as I seem to have forgotten the fine art of saying “no.” If I don’t want something, I should proudly declare “No!” with confidence! (It may help to visualize my little one saying it, and copy his or her unwavering style.) I’ll keep practicing. My kids will unquestionably demonstrate this skill of saying “No!” on a daily basis in the future, an unfailing reminder to me how I can live a better life. It helps to have reminders like this, and it helps when these reminders are cute to boot.
I have started to automate things in my life in the last few years. Why automate? I have found ways to automate my actions to free up more brain power. Why should I waste mental (or physical) energy on things I must do all the time, like buy toilet paper or buy toothpaste? I have automated my bill payments. (It really stinks to have a late payment and pay a fee, so why hazard this?) By automating my bills, I feel at ease that my bills will be paid on time even if life gets hectic and busy, and I won’t need to do mental gymnastics to remember to pay things before they are due.
I have also automated several of my purchases. Shopping can be fun, but it also can be draining. All of those decisions and steps to take can wear on your mental stamina, even if it is something you do every month or every week. But I have found automating my shopping has really helped free up mental bandwidth. I use Amazon Subscribe and Save and Target Subscriptions to automate things my household needs all the time – paper products, cleaning products, kid stuff that we need (e.g. pull ups), laundry supplies, etc. As something comes up on my shopping list that we need periodically, I start scouring Amazon or Target for options for subscription. Plus, subscribing has saved me money.
As technology has advanced, I have also found ways to automate my reminders on my “To Do” list and on my calendar. And I have discovered I can schedule emails to be sent in the future in Gmail. A huge savings, as I would sometimes wait, send myself a reminder to write an email, and write it then and there. Now, when a need or thought enters my mind that I need to email to someone else, I can draft it then and there and then schedule it in the future if needed.
I found that the methods in “Getting Things Done” has also helped unload my brain, and keep things fresh and open. In “Getting Things Done”, the author proposes setting up automatic ways to remind yourself of things, keep track of goals, and to break down those goals into smaller, more doable steps. By putting everything down in various To Do lists, I have freed my brain up. Instead of trying to hang on to dozens of different things I must do this day, this week, or this month, my brain feels at ease as I have everything in a logical place, waiting for a time/place to do them.
Something I hope to get better at in the future is using Evernote. There are a lot of ways to use this free online note keeper to track notes, emails, websites all in one place. I have tried categorizing and tagging things as well, so I can search for the tags that match up to the notes I want. I also hope to get better at using Alexa and Siri to use my voice to bring up apps or notes I need. I am using this here or there, but I am sure there are more ways I can use this to save me the time and aggravation of typing in what I want.
Life is cluttered, hectic, and busy, like a waffle block house that is overly accessorized. Be like my cat, find a zen like moment, and try to think of ways to simplify, using technology and systems to your advantage.
My brain definitely thanks me when it is free from clutter. I find I am able to think better and faster at work, am able to write clearer and more concisely, and overall feel more at peace. If I am starting to feel more stress or angst, I try to take a step back to see if I am doing my best to automate things. Technology is great. I admit I need to learn to use it more and have it complement my life to make my life easier. I am always eager to learn new hacks and ways to make life easier, and I will surely share any other tips and tricks I may find in the future. If you also know of any ideas, I’d love to hear them!
I think Independence Day naturally makes me think of the gifts I have. Sometimes, we can take the gift of independence and freedom for granted. But when this is threatened -e .g. our time or our resources or our health are taken from us, we start to realize the blessings we truly have.
Something I’ve strived for more and more is protecting my gift of time. When I have control and autonomy over my schedule, I feel so much more free. Of course, you cannot control everything in life. There are things I wish I had more control over, always. But at least having some semblance of control of more of my day brings me more joy and happiness. One way I have done that in the last year is changing jobs.
I am truly grateful for my new opportunity to practice telemedicine. This gives me an interesting new way to develop care to patients. And as an incredible bonus, I am able to work from home. This has freed up a bunch of my energy and time, and mental bandwidth, as it has eliminated a need for a commute.
My new job has also given me more autonomy in setting my schedule so I can juggle my other responsibilities as wife and mom, and so I can take care of me via my hobbies and self care. In turn, I think this has given me a greater sense of that elusive concept pf “Work Life Balance.” I think it is impossible to do multiple things all perfectly, but I think you learn to maximize as much as you can, to get all of your buckets “good enough” so you are happy and functioning.
As I reflect on Independence Day this weekend, I will work on keeping gratitude at the top of my mind. There are so many things we have to be thankful for in the United States. Sure, there are things that could be better – life is never perfect. But I feel we have come very far in the last couple of decades. And in the last 30-40 years, technology has brought many gifts to our society and to our nation. Would you have believed many of us would be carrying a smart phone around, with the power not only to call each other, but also to check the Internet, which contains such a huge wealth of knowledge it is difficult to fathom?
So much to be grateful for this year, including freedom to spend more time with these two cuties.
Again, Happy 4th of July and happy Independence weekend. I hope you too can find things to be grateful for. As the next few days go by, I would hope you find some time to reflect on our country’s gift of independence, and the great things our nation has to offer.
Feel like you are constantly turning your wheels, running on an unforgiving treadmill of life? I hope these three tips will help you feel more efficient as you tackle your day!
We all want to end our day feeling fulfilled. As a working mom, I want my every action to count for good, be it with my family, friends, or my patients.
I recently read a post by Dr. Rebekah Bernard about burnout in women physicians. If you haven’t read it and you are a female physician, it is definitely worth a read. Even if you aren’t a female physician, though, it is an empowering article to challenge you to change your situation for the better.
Dr. Bernard’s words inspired me to write this piece on 3 tips I have used in my own life as I strive for a more efficient and happier work day.
3 Tips for a Better Work Day
Planning your time. Live each day as it comes, but plan not only the day to come, but also the weeks and months on the horizon.
Touch each item once. Be decisive in your tasks.
Keep work at work. Or at least, do this as much as you can.
Each day involves all kinds of challenges, but remember we all cycle around the sun once every 24 hours, to start over again tomorrow. I hope these 3 tips lead to better productivity in your day.
1. Planning your time.
You can go into each day without a clear game plan, and come out okay. However, having a loose framework personally helps me accomplish more and also leave work at the end of the day with a sense of purpose. I also feel that planning each workday, week, and month will give you a feasible and realistic way to accomplish your various tasks.
The following 3 steps outline how I strategize my work day:
A) Arrange the skeleton of your workday first with things you must do (for example, get kids up and dressed, shower, drive to work, activities after work).
B) Look at your daily schedule in terms of things that may be different (for example, my patient schedule varies, or you may have meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays). You can then pencil these into your day.
C) Create a list of tasks you need to get done and tasks you want to get done, and allot a bit of time for each of them. You can then fit them into your day in time slots where you are unscheduled. For example, you have a 30 minute block of time between arriving at work and before your first meeting – here you can plan to do a chunk of your paperwork (e.g. complete half of the paperwork on your desk). You should prioritize the “need to do” tasks, and then the “want to do” list should gets pushed down lower on your list.
Don’t forget to plan for your commute!
I try to approximate how long each task will take (for example, answering 2 messages should take me about 5 minutes; addressing 10 emails should take me about 8 minutes total). I have come to realize over time that I underestimate tasks, so I add some wiggle room (e.g. adding a minute or two), particularly when I am tired, stressed, or feeling under the weather.
I break up huge tasks into smaller doable ones. For example, I may come in Monday morning with 10 refill requests. I set a goal for myself to complete 2 refills before seeing my first patient, and then filling 2 more after each of my patients when I get a couple minutes of down time.
This planning system works for me, and I do it loosely in my mind as I go through my day. It takes practice, but the more you do it, the more it becomes second nature. And doing things this way makes you feel more in control of your day, and less like that huge task list owns you and is going to defeat you.
You are of course welcome to write everything down. I do write down things on my Google Calendar, and I tried in the past to write things down for a few days, but I find that being too regimented gets stressful when I get behind.
Try to plan for all of life’s ups and downs.
Another tip for you to arrange your life is to plan to use a spare hour or two on your weekends to plan weeks and months ahead. For me, this usually involves planning my hobbies, my husband’s hobbies, vacations, family activities. These things I do write down, as juggling multiple calendars gets confusing. I have also started setting goals for myself with my health and fitness, finances, and vacation/rest. Writing these down helps to set you up for success.
Plans do not have to be set in stone, but having things loosely “penciled” down helps you get things out of your mind and somewhere out there in the real world. While doing this exercise, I realize that sometimes my goals are a bit lofty, and I need to break them down into more doable chunks. Getting your wishes written down and arranged in the weeks and months ahead will make them more real and achievable.
I also realize as you are doing this planning that unfortunately things do NOT always go your way. Illnesses will come up. A family emergency will arise. I try to be adaptable and less rigid with my schedule when this happens. The list of “things to do” and “things that are nice to do” will always be there, but that does not mean they are a must.
When an emergency arises, you should take 30-60 minutes to problem solve as soon as you are able, and determine what absolutely must be done, and what can wait. Once this is prioritized, you can break down where to fit each of the tasks you must do. You can write down the leftover things that must wait, and try to strategize when you could next complete them (e.g. next week on your day off, or next weekend when you do not have any plans).
Work hard, but be sure to find time to relax and “enjoy the ride”!
One other piece of advice: do not overextend and overschedule yourself. You need to learn to say “no” to things that do not matter to you. If you have more free weekends and free time built into your schedule, these inevitable disasters that arise will not totally derail your life. You will have an extra evening, an extra Saturday morning, a spare Sunday afternoon here or there to “catch up.”
2. Touch Each Item Once.
Be decisive. This is a must if you want to get your day running smoothly, and keep yourself sane.
I have seen this tip time and again in several articles on working more efficiently. I am a perfectionist and “Type A” in my drive to do the best and most accurate work I can do. This allows me to thrive and do good work, but it is also detrimental when I am agonizing over things that really do not matter. I grammatical error in my note, or a small typo in punctuation really are very minor.
Enjoying sunshine and fun on the Boardwalk.
I have learned over time to “let things go” and it has really helped in my ability to get my messages and emails written, and my progress notes done. I also remember in residency agonizing over decisions. I would save a lab result or a message in my Inbox for several hours or a day or two, agonizing over what to do. Really, however, my first gut instinct would be the course of action I would take.
My habit now is to set myself up to truly touch things once. Once I have opened up an email, I look up what I need to look up, think of a viable answer, and send it on. I sometimes try to think through all of the possibilities (What if the patient wants this or that? What if they say no to my proposition? What if they say yes?!)
I have struggled to be less complete and thorough, and be more succinct in my work. Doing this relieves a lot of stress, and is more efficient as well. It is okay to be quicker and shorter with your actions. The person you are working with will reply, and guide your further action. You do not have to think of every possible scenario and plan for it. It only matters what this scenario will prove to be. Let life guide you where you need to go.
Keep Work at Work (As Much as You Can)
I strive to do this more and more in the last few years as my husband and I have built our family. My priority in life is to have a happy and healthy family, and feel fulfilled in the work I do. To do this properly, however, you need to have boundaries.
Starting out in residency and medical school, I was a work-a-holic. I would study often. I would stay up late. I would feel always behind, always catching up. I carried this over into my attending position after residency. And this is not a healthy way to live and work. I felt driven but unhappy.
Hibachi grilling (FIRE!) brings a matching pair of smiles to these guys’ faces. What makes you happy?
As I have gotten older (and hopefully wiser), I have realized that life is more important than the work you do. I have learned to set healthier boundaries on my work life, and I feel happier with each and every limit I set. A great exercise I encourage you to do: write down 3 important things in your life. I guarantee keeping a clean inbox at work is NOT one of them. Why then, do we all strive to do this every day?
Over the last year, I have worked hard to keep my nose to the grindstone, focus at work, and work hard. I try to set a limit on how late I stay, for example, try to leave by “X-oclock” and get home. It helps to have an activity lined up (for example, I need to leave by 5:30 pm to pickup the kids at daycare), which often leads me to working more efficiently than I would have otherwise.
I also have worked hard to schedule short 5-10 minute breaks in my day. I have read several articles alluding to this, and I find it very much true. The old adage “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” definitely has some merit to it. If I stick it out and try to work straight for 40 minutes in a row, I find I am much less efficient. Taking just a 5 minute walk around the office helps to clear my head and boost my resolve to get more work done, in a quicker amount of time.
Yes – your work messages (and phone calls) can follow you home. Don’t let it get you too bogged down. Set some limits.
Being practical, however, I realize there are bad days or bad weeks when nothing goes your way. There will be times you get behind and need to catch up a bit at home. If you must do work at home, set a time limit and schedule it for a time when it won’t interfere with your family time.
My personal approach to working from home is scheduling chunk of time to finish my documentation or answer emails for a 1-2 hour block of time on a Saturday or Sunday evening. I then analyze my efficiency and see how accurate I was in my estimate of time. If I am off, what created the inefficiency? Hunger, fatigue, trying to multitask instead of single tasking, network slowness, shotty Internet connection?
Whatever caused the inefficiency in the past, write these down and try to
Know when to hold ’em. Know when to fold ’em. Know when to take a nap! Take care of yourself, so you can care for all you love.
account for them the next time you must work from home. This will create a more accurate number. And if it is something you can circumvent (e.g. eating a snack to start with, or taking a nap before), do so.
“Catching up” from home is something I now try avoid like the plague, and you should too. I am happier because of this. If you must catch up and work from home, keep this intrusion in your life as short and efficient as possible.
You also should be honest with yourself before scheduling this into your free time. If you really have something else you “need” to do (catching up on your DVR, answering texts, etc), do those first, and then save the work for another, shorter chunk of time.
I have found the items below have made me happier and less frazzled as I step through my morning. Please read on for…
Don’t you love that feeling in the morning when the day is full of rightness and promise? For me, this typically happens in the first 15 minutes of my morning when the house is quiet, my other family members deeply asleep. I can enjoy the quiet, meditate, and simply think through my day. However, once my other family members wake up one by one, the mornings are often time-pressed, rushing around to get the family ready for the day.
I have found the items below have made me happier and less frazzled as I step through my morning. Please read on for tips that will make you more organized in the crucial early morning hours each and every day!
One particularly chaotic scene, a toy “tornado”. Something to avoid in your weekday morning!
1. Pack your lunches and bags the night before.
Doing this helps you to wind down the night before, and start mentally preparing for the next day. You may buy lunch occasionally, but packing your lunch most days will keep you on track with both diet and budget. Also, being disciplined in packing your bags each night helps prevent any last minute forgotten items the next day.
2. Know the weather forecast.
There is now little excuse NOT to know the forecast. Smart phones have changed the way we can obtain the weather forecast, making it accessible at the push of a button. You can now look up the next several days or the next several hours to plan appropriate clothing and to gauge how weather may affect your planned activities. You should be looking up weather forecasts every evening as you are planning your next busy day.
3.Set out outfits for yourself and your kids the night before.
This takes the guesswork out of getting dressed each morning. Of course, you should first do step 2, investigate the weather, so you will be spot on in your clothing choices.
You will have less arguments with your kids, particularly any opinionated toddlers, with this tactic. If your child wants to weigh in on their outfit choice, they are welcome to do so, the night before. It is much smoother and less dramatic to do this at bedtime rather than in the AM when you are pressed for time.
4. Wake up 15 minutes before your family members.
The reason for doing this is mostly selfish – you get a quiet moment to collect your thoughts and get things started. For example, I start arranging my kids’ breakfasts, grab my own breakfast, and get my coffee brewing. However, waking early has additional health benefits, including a better sense of accomplishment and less procrastination. In other words, you will be more productive and happier!
5. Have a routine for you and your kids.
We are all creatures of habit. Kids particularly thrive in the setting of routine – go potty, brush teeth, get dressed, breakfast. In addition, kids with routine are emotionally healthier and more socially adjusted. Sure, the first time or two you institute this will be challenging and sometimes painful. But once it is expected, it will feel natural and there will be much less conflict.
6. Check your calendar and your list of “things to do.”
Doing this the night before your day and each morning helps to avoid forgetting anything. I am pretty good at remembering my own appointments, but with 2 kids and a husband, sometimes it is hard to juggle everyone’s responsibilities. And sometimes, my cat has a vet appointment, too! I am partial to Google Calendar, since I can access it via my Google account on any device. I share my Google Calendar with my husband, which is incredibly helpful. I also love the “reminders” feature on my cell phone. I can set it to remind me at a particular day and time, e.g. “stop at the pharmacy tonight at 5 pm” or “pay the credit card bill next Tuesday evening.” There are tons of other time management apps and websites out there to choose from. Use technology to your advantage!
7. Exercise!
I have tried different exercise times. With 2 kids and a full time job, doing a workout right after getting home is really not feasible. (Once the kids are older, I predict there will be more after-school activities to keep me busy.) I am lucky enough to get an afternoon off each week, but that only accounts for one day. I also have an evening session of office hours each week, which adds to my late night fatigue. Late evening workouts have made it harder for to wind down and fall asleep easily. Lately, I have therefore preferred exercising in the morning. One huge benefit of this: once it is done, you are done for the day! I understand this is not always practical (I get it – have had to work at 6 am or 7 am with prior jobs). If this is your scenario, try to simply stretch or do some core strengthening exercises for 10 minutes in the morning. At first, it may be time consuming, but with practice, you can easily pare down your workout to a nice quick routine. It will make you a healthier person and help stave off coronary artery disease and diabetes. And you will feel amazing!
My kids would agree – a swim would be great exercise, and quite refreshing!
8. Come up with 2-3 doable goals for the day.
I have started doing this formally in the last couple of weeks, after hearing it suggested on several podcasts I love to listen to. I sometimes combine this with my “reminders” list. However, actually jotting your goals down on a wipe board or Post -It note holds you more accountable. It is crucial to keep your goals concrete and doable, so you mark off that “check box” or “strike it off” your list. So gratifying! Actually seeing the goals somewhere in writing also makes you more likely to carry them out. This is a great exercise for your longer term goals as well, e.g. at 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, etc.
9. Write down one thing you are thankful for.
Again, this is something new I have adopted in the last couple of weeks after some suggestions from other personal development websites. I do this mindfully and purposefully during my morning workout. It is so easy to fall into a rut of negative thinking and pessimism. Many of us, however, are blessed and fortunate beyond what we often consciously think about. I never worry about where my next meal will come from. I have more than enough clothes for myself and my family. I have a strong, sturdy roof over my head. My family is full of love and good health. Thinking in terms of optimism and gratitude improves your mood and sets the tone for happier day.
10. Fight the impulse to check your email and social media!
I myself fall into a rut of checking these “just for a second” in the morning while getting ready. 5 minutes later I look up at the clock and start cursing myself for doing so. Start setting aside specific times each day to check your email and social media, and for a specific time period. Set a timer on your phone to go off when the time has finished. Being more disciplined with these time drains will free up more of your time to accomplish your daily goals.
11. Leave 5 minutes sooner than your goal “leave time.”
Personally, this has become more challenging, now that I have two children instead of one. (It seems I have gotten exponentially less efficient each morning!) But my time in the Navy and military ingrained in me a sense of being prompt, and it still haunts me to this day. “10 minutes early is on time. On time is late. Late is unacceptable.” Whoever created this mantra must not have had young kids, right? Or any pets. (Last minute vomit a la cat, or leg rub on your freshly lint-rolled dress pants. Sound familiar to anyone else?) Setting a 5 minute buffer on your leave time will give you a bit more wiggle room and more success in getting out of the house on time. If you need a longer buffer, then by all means use one.
Toward a Better, Smoother Morning
I hope the tips I have laid out for you will make you more organized and less frantic each morning. Starting out the day on the right note is a crucial first step to a better, more productive day!
Here’s to your next smile-filled, organized morning!
