A Practical Approach to Time Management for Physicians
A Practical Approach to Time Management for Physicians
One common practice of highly effective professionals is to frequently set and revise goals. These goals can be divided into short and long-term aims. Experts define short-term goals as achievable within 1–3 years, whereas long-term goals typically require 5–10 years. One common physician error is to allow long-term goals to be dominated by more immediate and urgent short-term time demands. Regular review of long-term goals promotes thoughtful decision-making as new short-term opportunities appear. Identifying and protecting time required to set and accomplish long-term goals facilitates enduring professional success.
Admittedly, achieving long-term goals might require completing a series of short-term milestones. For example, young physician-scientists are required to devise studies, publish manuscripts, present at national meetings, and submit grant applications as interim steps towards academic promotion. A different set of short-term goals is required for colleagues aspiring to educational leadership positions or clinical directorships. Significant experience and maturity are required to balance and revise these short-term goals en route to long-term achievement. Therefore, most physicians benefit from periodic review by a trusted mentor and/or colleague to assess progress on short-term accomplishments on the path towards achieving long-term goals.
Honest reality testing is required to determine whether goals are achievable based upon the physician's skills and current professional standing. This exercise is important since the pursuit of unrealistic or conflicting goals ultimately leads to frustration and professional dissatisfaction. Alternatively, setting goals too conservatively promotes stagnation and ineffective use of professional talent and may also limit professional satisfaction.
Professional growth and promotion may appear overwhelming or unachievable without consideration of their component parts. How many lectures, publications, teaching or patient encounters are required for advancement? Selecting intermediary achievements on the path to long-term goals facilitates realistic determination of their ultimate achievability. A young physician's career may stall without a career plan that clearly defines intermediate goals required for advancement. In part, the target largely defines the intermediary steps required to achieve it. For example, if departmental chairperson is the ultimate goal, then becoming an independent investigator with national or international recognition, heading key hospital committees, and establishing educational leadership are appropriate short-term goals. If the goal is clinical director of the practice, a different set of goals is necessary and might include serving as quality improvement director, chair of a clinical access committee or director of population management. The importance of identifying and monitoring short-term goals increases as aspirations become more ambitious.
The discipline to set long-term goals is exemplified by the novice runner training for a marathon. Each 1, 2 or 5-mile run is a crucial and measurable step toward the long-term goal of running the full marathon distance. In an analogous fashion, a successful physician monitors short-term accomplishments on the path towards achieving long-term goals. Periodic and repeated reality testing provides the opportunity for internal and external feedback to assess whether the physician is on track to achieving long-term goals. Specifically, is the pace of achieving interim goals on schedule and is the long-term goal realistic? Do external demands, both professional and personal, necessitate goal revision?
Setting Short and Long-term Goals
One common practice of highly effective professionals is to frequently set and revise goals. These goals can be divided into short and long-term aims. Experts define short-term goals as achievable within 1–3 years, whereas long-term goals typically require 5–10 years. One common physician error is to allow long-term goals to be dominated by more immediate and urgent short-term time demands. Regular review of long-term goals promotes thoughtful decision-making as new short-term opportunities appear. Identifying and protecting time required to set and accomplish long-term goals facilitates enduring professional success.
Admittedly, achieving long-term goals might require completing a series of short-term milestones. For example, young physician-scientists are required to devise studies, publish manuscripts, present at national meetings, and submit grant applications as interim steps towards academic promotion. A different set of short-term goals is required for colleagues aspiring to educational leadership positions or clinical directorships. Significant experience and maturity are required to balance and revise these short-term goals en route to long-term achievement. Therefore, most physicians benefit from periodic review by a trusted mentor and/or colleague to assess progress on short-term accomplishments on the path towards achieving long-term goals.
Principles of Goal Setting
Honest reality testing is required to determine whether goals are achievable based upon the physician's skills and current professional standing. This exercise is important since the pursuit of unrealistic or conflicting goals ultimately leads to frustration and professional dissatisfaction. Alternatively, setting goals too conservatively promotes stagnation and ineffective use of professional talent and may also limit professional satisfaction.
Professional growth and promotion may appear overwhelming or unachievable without consideration of their component parts. How many lectures, publications, teaching or patient encounters are required for advancement? Selecting intermediary achievements on the path to long-term goals facilitates realistic determination of their ultimate achievability. A young physician's career may stall without a career plan that clearly defines intermediate goals required for advancement. In part, the target largely defines the intermediary steps required to achieve it. For example, if departmental chairperson is the ultimate goal, then becoming an independent investigator with national or international recognition, heading key hospital committees, and establishing educational leadership are appropriate short-term goals. If the goal is clinical director of the practice, a different set of goals is necessary and might include serving as quality improvement director, chair of a clinical access committee or director of population management. The importance of identifying and monitoring short-term goals increases as aspirations become more ambitious.
The discipline to set long-term goals is exemplified by the novice runner training for a marathon. Each 1, 2 or 5-mile run is a crucial and measurable step toward the long-term goal of running the full marathon distance. In an analogous fashion, a successful physician monitors short-term accomplishments on the path towards achieving long-term goals. Periodic and repeated reality testing provides the opportunity for internal and external feedback to assess whether the physician is on track to achieving long-term goals. Specifically, is the pace of achieving interim goals on schedule and is the long-term goal realistic? Do external demands, both professional and personal, necessitate goal revision?
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