Latest / Nurse Leadership Dumpster Fire / Time Management tips for busy nurse leaders
Transcript
- speaker-0: Do you ever leave work wondering what you actually accomplished? Were you busy all day? Did you answer emails, respond to teams messages, put out fires, attended meetings? Somehow the most important work is still sitting there waiting for tomorrow. If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you because today we're sharing some ideas and systems that have helped us stop reacting to our day and start leading it. speaker-1: All right, dumpster fire pals, we're gonna tell you about eight practical tips that we have decided are really helpful. We actually looked it up. speaker-0: We went through some of our own skill set. I evaluated mine, what I've done for myself, considered what you have done for yourself, what I've seen other friends and coworkers do. We've talked to other peers and coworkers. So we did a little bit of research in that sense. This isn't like a truly researched article and like this is the way to do it. But no, these are other common sense tips that maybe you haven't thought about. speaker-1: That we have noticed that managers often neglect to take the time to figure out when they're new, especially, sometimes when they're not new, and you watch them spin and spin and spin and they always look like they're drowning and you're like, Why are you so busy all the time? speaker-0: Yeah. And they can't seem to get on top of anything. It's not like necessarily a personality flaw or a big issue, but we can help. Let's throw around some ideas. Let's ask our friends, figure this out. So ⁓ the first one I had to do for myself because I have strengths and weaknesses, but one of my weaknesses is sometimes following through. So I had to use my calendar as a tool, not just a meeting placeholder. That means like when I need to follow up on something, I need to put that on my calendar or I'm gonna forget it. Not because I don't care or because I don't want to. But it's just things are coming at you all sides and it's just easy to drop the ball. speaker-1: The reminder tool to say, Hey, don't forget you have detected this person today. speaker-0: Yes. I might even say that I'm free during it, but it's for reminders, but also like to block out a few moments for me to actually just do that. So sometimes I do free, sometimes I don't. I schedule some of my like leadership development work and like make sure that I have time to do that stuff. What are things you do as well, Cindy? speaker-1: Mm-hmm. I yeah, I have ⁓ I'm in the chair of two com two committees and the co chair of a couple more. And for those I always have to do a little bit of pre work and then I have to do presentations for things. And so whenever I have those coming up, I try to look ahead like a week or two and if I see those on my calendar, like a couple of days before I'll plug in my calendar, work on this presentation or whatever. Because if I don't set aside the time, I sometimes end up, you know running up against the wall. And unlike Teresa, I don't work well under pressure. So if I ha wait to the last minute, I'll just deliver really crappy results and then I'll feel stupid because I have to present in front of very smart people and look like I don't know what I'm talking about. Which is not usually true. But when I don't have the information in front of me, I don't sound like I know what I'm talking about. speaker-0: Yeah. Yeah, for some reason I am totally opposite. Which we is challenging when we're doing stuff like this together because Cindy's like, Help, I need to do this like now and I'm like, I'm speaker-1: Let's plan it seven years in advance. speaker-0: And I'm like, It's fine. Tomorrow, right before it's due, it'll be fine. speaker-1: And I'm like Mary Barry. speaker-0: Yeah. It's so fun though. We we have we have a good time. Yes. I speaker-1: I I love to do meeting invites on the calendar because I will forget and that also like reminds the other person to show up and talk to me. ⁓ and then I put my A L days on there or sorry, that's a VA thing. I put my PTO, my leave days on because I also forget that I schedule myself off and then I'll be on my calendar and I'll be like, sure, I can come to this meeting. Yes, no problem. And then the day comes and I'm like, ⁓ yeah, I'm not here. Whoops. speaker-0: Yeah. So I also do that stuff like that. A couple other things that I might do, especially depending on like priority wise, like make sure you're blocking time for those projects. Like you were saying, like if you have stuff to prepare for, if I have specific meetings that I have to prepare for, like right now I'm leading the leadership meeting for the whole hospital right now, I do have to prepare for that one. I have to plan, I have to invite guests, I have to organize. So that one ⁓ does require some planning and communication. Sometimes not as much as others. It's not a super long meeting, but one of our goals at the facility as a whole is to improve the communication and engagement. And that's gonna require a little bit more structure around some of our own meetings within the leadership group. So that ⁓ scheduling time for rounding, like we have to block out times, at least we do in our area. Yeah, we speaker-1: Do that too for like leadership rounds and we it's like on a shared calendar, so we all block it out or try to. Perfect, but it it gives us an attempt to, you know, do that. speaker-0: Yeah, same. I think that that helps though. And then sometimes you just end up rounding very naturally. I love the natural rounds. Those are my favorite ones. But other times you're like, I've gotta get some done. It's part of my speaker-1: Well we try to round as like our executive team and so, you know, my our CNO will come out with us and you know, like if I'm the director of the area, I will introduce her to the people 'cause they don't always, you know, if they're new, they may not know her and then you know, try to encourage them to ask her questions 'cause that's what she's here for, is to hear their concerns and s you know, about safety and workload balance and stuff like that. And so those are helpful. to and those really do have to be scheduled 'cause it's trying to coordinate all of our schedules otherwise is would never hap we would never naturally all get together at the same time without a lot of planning ahead. speaker-0: With for sure. The other thing is like this one I love, this idea. This one did not come from me, but I have heard of it. Build in buffer time before and after difficult conversations. I love that one because sometimes like doing those disciplinary things and whatever and then trying to jump right into something else is hard. And I find myself my brain maybe not working or firing, or I'm like not able to fully engage. And so I think that one was pretty smart. Yeah. speaker-1: I have used that one as well, especially if I'm doing like a difficult HR case and I have to deliver some really bad news to an employee. I always have a little bit of an emotional I don't always have it in the moment, but then afterwards it's like I have an adrenaline dump and have to kind of like go clear my head before you know, it's not always possible. Like sometimes life just doesn't work out that way and people need you and you can't just tell them, you know, go pound sand. So you have to suck it up. But I do try to do that if I can. I think it's a good idea. speaker-0: Yeah, it's it's one of those things like if I definitely can, I will. But there are times when you just can't or the timing of several other things just kind of run into each other and it is what it is occasionally. But if you are able to, I think that is a really important thing. So you can remain and also I think it it's it's exhausting when you have to do that. So it allows you to have a few minutes to kind of pull that back in. Yeah. speaker-1: So number number two I I like and number two is set your own priorities. And I think this is a really important one because, you know, we did a video a while ago about how to stay true to your values when you're in leadership. And I think this key here is really a big important piece of that. And, you know, identifying like what's giving you joy in your job and leadership and making sure you have time for that. And so for me, that's like when I first get to work, I have a planner that I'm using now. And I look at what's on my to-do list. I I get on my calendar and I look at my schedule and I'm like, when will I have time to do some brainstorming or whatever? And and and if I if I look and I'm like, ⁓ I have no no meetings right now, you know, I I might take a minute. I have a gratitude journal. I try to do that when I first get to work in the morning and like sort of set my brain right. And then if I'm like, ⁓ I have no meetings, then I'm like, I'm gonna go round. And so then I can do the spontaneous rounding, making sure I'm not gonna miss something important. 'Cause honestly I get meetings scheduled at all hours of the day. So you never I never know until I go look and I don't remember. Like I literally like come into work and I'm like, what's going on for today? Like I have no I do not think about it. Like my brain doesn't hold enough information to plan it out like in advance. speaker-0: Yeah. What I like about this one is like it instead of like going in and like getting your computer on, turning on teams and like blah blah blah blah blah and letting your day just like spiral, you go in, you make your day intentional, you ask yourself, what is one thing I need to do for me or I need to accomplish before every all the other emergencies become my speaker-1: And I actually like as much as I hate waking up early, sometimes I like going into work early for this reason where I know nobody else is there. Because once the rest of the team starts rolling in, I start getting pinged by my team pretty fast. And they're like, Hey, do you got a second to talk? And that's like my dynamic. I like that the staff my team can do that with me, but it also does mean I may not have a moment to s to to like reset myself. And so I intermittently if I'm like ⁓ I've had a week where I just haven't been able to sit down and like sort of like strategize my life, I might come in early one day when nobody's expecting. I won't tell anyone I'm doing it. So they don't know I'm there. speaker-0: Yeah, it's smart. And then you just kinda like hide yourself on teams if you have to have it open because sometimes there are things in there you need or a teams that you need to get things to. So you're like, Okay, I'm gonna just pretend I'm not here. Click not here, don't exist. It it's helpful. speaker-1: I think depending on the level level of leadership of like what you can and can't get away with. Like when we were managers, I think, you know, frontline managers, it was fairly easy to just come in and not log into the computer and go on the unit and say hi and hey, do you guys need help lifting patients or going to lab or whatever? ⁓ and not getting stuck on the computer because once you open up your email and your teams, it can be very easy to fall into like the taskiness. I think I have a harder time. Like I can't reliably do that as a director because I do get meetings scheduled like pretty early in the morning. And and they're like for nice things usually. It's like we'll have an award and that it'll be for night shift and they'll do like at 6 30 in the morning. And so if I don't log in and look at my calendar, I will miss it because I will forget that it's it happening. So I have to I have to log into Teams immediately and like I screen for like speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: emergencies, but I am able to be like anything urgent. Okay, ignore that for a minute. Now I'm gonna go look at my planner and do my gratitude. speaker-0: Yes. And that is different for us also. Many places you can sync your home calendars and your work calendars together, whereas at the VA we can't do that. So that is another speaker-1: about that though. I don't know if I want to be able to I don't know if I want all of those coming to my personal phone. I don't wanna mix my work life with my home life. Like I speaker-0: Like pink. I did when I worked as a nurse educator. And I will tell you I never want to do it ever again. The only nice thing about it is sometimes on the night before or the day of or whatever, or like you wake up and you're like, I don't feel great. Can I miss a few hours in the morning? Can I like gather myself? Or or do I take a whole day and just figure it out later? Like what do I do? Or those moments are the only times I miss it. But otherwise I don't miss it at all. And honestly, even then I'm like, you know what? If it's that important. Someone else can cover. speaker-1: Yeah. Another thing about prioritization, I think this relates to is I think it's important to look to like really self-analyze and when is the best time of your day to do difficult tasks. So I recognized in the last couple of years that my window of the most productive time for me to do complex tasks. is between the hours of six and ten. And so I try not to schedule meetings at that time because if I can come in, log in, have my coffee, like go through my checklist and then, you know, complete, like finish working on an SOP or work on an evaluation or do something that requires me to actually think critically. and I need to not be distracted, those are the hours I need to do best. And so I strategically try to stack my, my like free time to do catch up things on those at that window of time actually. speaker-0: I have found that mine is in either midday or afternoon. So mine I usually keep my afternoons blocked. speaker-1: So Yeah. So but I think if you haven't really thought about that, like it's a good opportunity to say to to kind of like evaluate when am I actually thinking the best? Because I noticed like afternoon, after what afternoon to one PM, even if I have free time, if I sit down and try to work on it, I'm like staring at my screen going, Come on, inspiration. Come through my head. Where are speaker-0: you inspiration. So that's one and two. Number three that is really fun. I'm excited to talk about is creating your own priority like algorithm. You far you want to first start out by asking you some basic yourself some basic questions. This is gonna and you may not have done this before, so you may not know, but must do, should do, nice to do, passions. Like you want to kind of take those three things and figure out like what do I need to get done A S A P. What is something I should do? But speaker-1: Yes. speaker-0: isn't needed right now. And what are those things that is nice to do? Like you're organizing, reading articles, optional meetings, like what can you shift and adjust and prioritize and like identify those things based off your role and your responsibilities? Because I we can't always tell you exactly what to do for every person. We could individually coach some people, I think, if anybody ever wanted that, we would be able to support that. But but overall, those there's some obvious things obviously must do staffing, If you're a frontline manager, if you are upper level leader, like you said, like you might have an award ceremony or an early thing that you all have to go to. That would be a must-do. Like you gotta go. You should be there and you should be representing the team. So things like that. And then there's some other things. And then passions, like Cindy said, you've got to make sure you have built-in time for your passions and things that bring you joy. And they are gonna keep you coming back to work because if not the mundane tasks of policies and or projects, or depending on whatever that mundane task is for you, some pa some people love policies. So that might not be it, but some people love projects. Some people hate policies, love you know some people love the email. speaker-1: Identify like what your passion project area is. So this is a great segue that I wanted to share with you, Teresa, and our audience. So one of my employees is a psychologist and she works on a little team that I am over that specializes in managing dementia patients with behaviors. And she's also a psychologist in a skilled nursing facility that we have at our hospital. And she's the she does like their therapeutic beh ⁓ mental health visits. And she's also though, she's just like this brilliant human and she has a background in process improvement and she's done like lean black belt, like all the things with that. And ⁓ she's really good at looking at systems and Like she comes up with a project and she writes a charter and she's like, Here's my charter for my project that I want to do for you And I'm like, I've literally never had an employee give me a charter for a project before, but this is amazing. Anyway, so because our role is kind of split between being, you know, the psychologist in the facility and the dementia team. Mm-hmm. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: She was for a while coming to me saying, I'm feeling very overwhelmed. I'm having a hard time managing both of these responsibilities. It feels like a lot. I'm worried about the sustainability of this. And I was I didn't have a lot of great options for her at the time. I mean, we've in the last year and a half been on some pretty significant hiring freezes and FTE caps. And so like my ability to produce even like argue or advocate to add support for her has been, you know, nil. Yeah, it hasn't been an option. So she did a time study on herself, which she did independently. We didn't talk about it. I didn't even recommend she do it. She just decided to do it because she was like, I have to find a better way for this. I love. And I want to share this tool she made. Yay. That she used. Okay. speaker-0: Ideal. For her. speaker-1: Can you see my screen? Mm-hmm. Okay. So what I wanted to talk about when you're talking about how do you decide what tasks you need to prioritize? So she starts with this, where you can list out like what is the task, what is the benefit it provides, and does this need to be done by me? And I think managers often get stuck in this window here where you feel obligated to do. Things that maybe don't actually require a supervisor. So one thing I see a lot of supervisors do, for example, is quality audits. ⁓ and so while the supervisor has the ultimate responsibility of the quality, they don't necessarily have to be the person doing the task. And so, but they feel obligated. So my psychologist was telling me about the, she's like, you really have to look at it, whether it's ⁓ responsibility versus obligation. Responsibility means you legitimately are the only person that can do it. And then obligation is something that you may put on yourself. So you may feel obligated to do something, but you aren't necessarily the person who has to do it. And so this is where you can say, okay, what are all the things that I'm doing currently? And of these things, do I have to be the one to do it? Or could I delegate this to somebody else? So things that I've delegated to people are auditing. it could be scheduling, ⁓ process improvement projects, organizing things. You know, there's a number of different types of tasks that again the manager is responsible for in the umbrella picture of it, but they don't necessarily have to be the one to do it. And then she has another version of this called the pick chart, which looks more similar to what you were talking about. And ⁓ must do could do I forgot all the options you said that you speaker-0: ⁓ we we ⁓ have so at at our place what we have is a job crafting class by our organizational health team. And what they help you do is they actually they do this with us and it helps you identify things that that you need to like low payoff easy, right? But they're quick wins, easy to do, or high payoff challenging, or high payoff easy. Doing those things first so that you can like craft your job in a way that like is is good for you. So this is something that the VA uses ⁓ pretty regularly. speaker-1: Yes. And I think it's in general like a strategy that anyone can use to help prioritize. It's another way of looking at it. And then the rest of this is like how she actually did her time study on herself. And so this is like a tool that she created where she can just go in and every hour say, What am I doing? And then she has these other columns where she's, you know, adding in other identifiers. Mm-hmm. speaker-0: Anywhere. speaker-1: ⁓ what kind of task is this? So she figured out like is this a patient care task? Is this an administrative task? Is this a critical task? Or like is this so she's adding in as she goes what the value of those things she's doing is so she can figure out like how to strategically do it. And so she has this just like repeats every day of the week. She did it for two weeks and she's on a ⁓ She's on a nine hour compressed tour. So she has one week where she works five days and one week where she works four. And so she just kind of tracks out the whole way. But this is just like the template for it. So like anyone could use this and plug in their own stuff that they're doing. But I thought it was nice and I wanted to find a way to share this because ⁓ like for me, I am not a very organized person and I would be like, where do I start with this? Like, do I just write it down on a piece of paper with pencil? And then I get locked and then I would ⁓ give up halfway and it probably would never get finished. But if I had a tool like this, you know, that already like walks me through how to do it and it's pretty intuitive, you know, I might be more likely. So speaker-0: That's awesome. I love that. So if anybody wants it, wants to try it or needs the tool, definitely like we'll figure out a way to help share that. ⁓ another one is like that I've seen a lot of managers and I've done myself is not picking like a system that works for me. So I might start I have used like multiple systems and then nothing works and I don't follow up on anything. So then for example, for me, what I do is I have sticky notes and I like my sticky notes for those thoughts that pop in my head all of a sudden or that somebody says to me when I'm doing another task like that will happen, someone will walk into my office and say something and I'm like, ⁓ I need to write that down immediately. Yes. Or something is said in a meeting that I'm like, that reminded me I need to do or I want to or I need to tell or whatever that thought is. And I'll write that on a sticky note really quick. And then I have my my bigger to-do list in my one note that I translate everything in, but I have a notebook that I actually carry around to meetings for t times when I don't I want to be fully engaged. I don't want my computer in front of me, but I still need to remember what happens in the meetings so I don't forget to follow up on stuff. So what I'll do is I'll take that notebook and once I've trans my week and I've translated all of that to my OneNote, I can then rip that page out because I transfer everything. I don't unless there's something that I don't have to transfer or that I've just finished that isn't needed to follow up on, I still just get rid of it and toss it. But if it was a to-do that I have completed, I put it on my list. speaker-1: It sounds like you need one of those devices where you can write your note and then have it convert it to an electronic document and you can send it. Sounds like you're like kind of duplicating your task. speaker-0: Yeah. I am sometimes, but it it helps me I don't do it a lot. I only do it once a week, so it's not too bad. And then at the end of Friday I take everything from my thing and I plan my next week out and I write down all those things back down. And so speaker-1: That you process by writing or just talking? Or both speaker-0: Both. I think it depends. But it also just helps me organize and be prepared for the next week. So 'cause often once I leave, I do try to shut everything off and go about my my day. And so when I come in on Monday, I'm like, What was I doing last week? Where was I at? I don't remember. So I need a minute, I need that to like, ⁓ okay, Monday I really need to do X, Y, and Z now. speaker-1: asked that because my psych the psychologist that I that gave me this tool, she told me that she processes by writing. And so she has like not only did she do her task analysis, but she like has she will also like have a narrative about her experience and like has to work out like how you and I can talk out a scenario. She does that via writing. And I don't think I've ever met anybody who said that they process that way. So that was really interesting. speaker-0: And then you, Cindy, you have a specific notebook. How do you use your tool? speaker-1: Cool. Well, interestingly, my notebook system has changed recently since we last talked about it. So I used to have I know, I used to have a flip notebook and then I'd write on it and then I'd cross things off. And then when that page was complete, I'd fold it over, but I didn't like I didn't want to throw it away because I was worried that I'd need it for some random thing in the future. So I just like save it forever. ⁓ and now I actually one of my employees who has very severe ADHD recommended this. planner that she's been using and it's a Japanese style planner. ⁓ I am not affiliated with this company, but it was called Hobonichi. And it has like this beautiful like fine paper and it has several different kinds of calendars. But what I like about it most is the daily calendar. It's got a grid on it, which I love because then it helps me write straight. And they're small. So you can be big or small in your writing. And ⁓ but it's mostly just like the date and then a blank slate. And so I like it because I can use that space how I want. When I had a checklist, I felt like it was hard for me to organize my thoughts. And so if I had like two columns, you know, like that was a little bit better. But I want to have like one section that's like my to-do list checklist and then another section that might just be like my notes to remember what we talked about in a meeting. You know, so I like to have like, ⁓ this is if I so then I can go back and be like, what what what did we talk about in that meeting again? speaker-0: That's funny. ⁓ that's similar to the planner that a lot of us have at my work. it has ⁓ a section for your notes, it has a section for your top priorities, for your immediate to-dos, and it kinda breaks it up and it's kind of a multi and then it has other another another little blank section for entire notes for the whole thing. So it's kinda cool. I like it. There's a lot of tools. Find out I have a notebook that speaker-1: Dedicated the space and I didn't like that because then I was like, I don't want to use it for that. And then I'd start using it for other stuff and then it was like I was mad that it had the wrong word on it. speaker-0: That's funny. Cindy, what's another thing you and I have both used to help us manage our time a little better? We have asked a friend or each other speaker-1: To account o ⁓ the accountability. speaker-0: Yeah. So this is our like number five option, right? Like we start asking each other, asking for a friend to have like a little accountability. Like it like leadership can be hard. It doesn't have to be lonely. Like we can it just be like, Hey, will you check in with me and make sure I followed up on this? Cause I keep forgetting and I need someone to check on me. speaker-1: Yes. And usually after I tell you to tell me to do it, I do remember it 'cause speaker-0: And I don't even have to tell you 'cause then I'll like, crap, I hope I remember to tell you. Yeah. Yeah. It's like totally agreed. I love speaker-1: Number four, huh? Or five. That's number five. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ask a friend. speaker-0: Yep, have have an accountability buddy. And o and or sometimes yep might even be like weekly check ins if you need it. Whatever that looks like. That could be your boss, a coworker, whoever that needs to be. Yep. speaker-1: I would say I meet with my boss weekly and it's often just like me updating and sort of like talking through things and as we're talking I remember other things that I needed to do or work on or she'll ask me, Hey, did you do that other thing? And I'm like, Nope, totally forgot about that task. And so then I can put it back on my list and speaker-0: True. I love that. The next one, number six, this one is something that I think Cindy has taught me to embrace, and I do appreciate this about you. It's progress over perfection. And Cindy has taught me that getting a shitty first draft is better than doing nothing. By example. Doing it by just jumping in and doing it. No, it was just by doing it and just like not caring that it wasn't perfect. speaker-1: Tell me how I taught you that. ⁓ speaker-0: And just being more concerned about getting things done and getting things out there and then letting the na natural progression of things solve that for you. Who cares? It's not about just you winning. It's about the teams being successful and the hospital thriving. So speaker-1: Yeah, I think that's part of why I like to get things done a little bit early, you know, like we were talking about whether we do things ahead of time or last minute, is I like to get the draft done and then I like to have time for edits. Although I will say with AI, you now have a free buddy at any time at your disposal. So that's been helpful. You know, that does that I guess is ⁓ the tool for the procrastinator. speaker-0: Like sometimes I'll use it to get me started or give me the an image or an idea where I'm like stuck. Sometimes get stuck in my brain for a lot longer than I like. So I s I just tell AI what I want and it gives me at least an example and then I can jump into Canva or something else and actually create it how I want it. I've talked speaker-1: Totally used AI for that as well. Yeah. speaker-0: I might not use that, but it helps. speaker-1: The I think also, you know, on the like n perfection versus just getting it started and doing it early is I don't always think of everything right away. It's nice to get a draft out and be like, here's everything I can think of right now. And then as I like put it in my brain and then put it away and then let my like subconscious keep thinking it through, then I often am like, ⁓ here's another angle I should add. So if like I leave it just like on the table in the background. speaker-0: Mm and so speaker-1: then I can come back and I can update. And so by the then if I get that if I get that started early enough before it's actually needed, then I by the time I am ready to deliver it, it looks it looks pretty good. So speaker-0: ⁓ but I also speaker-1: feel like you, Teresa, are better at thinking on the fly. I feel like I have to like really simmer on things to process it and how I feel about it and whether it's a good idea or not, or like what the you know, like what could the potential side effects be. I don't think of them right away. speaker-0: Yeah, I do I can think quickly about okay, if we do this, X, Y, and Z is gonna be the downfall. And if we do this, X, Y, and Z is gonna be the downfall. Like I can I can do that. I think that's the years and years of critical care experience, of watching that happening and learning to keep your eyes open for how things interact. Also, the other thing that I have that has has taught me a lot is not just critical care experience, but a little bit of home-based experience, a little bit of experience at other hospitals and other facilities. So I did agency nursing so I could just I learned to just jump right in and and observe and learn. I observe and I absorb a lot of things. speaker-1: I really feel like the experiences I've had have helped me see the gaps, but I also feel like they kind of sit dormant in my brain at first. And I have to like turn my brain off to let them rise to the surface. Like they need to like, they're shy. They need you to calm down before you'll come out. speaker-0: That's funny. That and it it's true. That's just different personalities, right? And we just like learn to ⁓ accept those parts. And I'm sorry if I drive you crazy sometimes. I think it's important to touch on specifically on, and that's delegation. Especially the thought process. This is one that I struggled with, and I think you have done been there too. Is it's just faster if I just do it rather than teaching someone else to do it. So you get that. Yes, the quick quickly, yeah, of course, it totally is. speaker-1: But it's not sustainable in the long run. Yeah. And it can be really hard to force yourself to make time to do that when you feel overwhelmed. Sometimes honestly, like when I was a new manager, I would say there were times that I needed to spend additional work hours outside of my regular scheduled hours to get some of that stuff done. Like not like the task, but like to work on, okay, how do I delegate this effectively? Or, you know, work on things that were like speaker-0: Yeah. 'Cause I agree with that. speaker-1: more for the long term sustainability so that I could get out of the hamster wheel. But I I didn't do it forever. It wasn't like, okay, I'm always going to do it this way and I'm always going to work this many hours. It was like I did it temporarily to get myself out of the speaker-0: whole that makes sense. And sometimes you have to do that a little bit, right? Sometimes you gotta put a little bit extra in and and you you get bigger rewards out of that. And then you can leave your team and they can run themselves and you can do those types of things. speaker-1: But you taught me a lot about delegation when we worked together because I think I was good at being like, This is what I want you to do. But then I would fall into the trap of somebody I so I'd be like, I want you to make decisions like this as the charge nurse. And then I'd get a text message from somebody asking me the exact same question that I already told them how to do. And instead of being like, refer to our previous conversation, heard my last email. I'm just kidding, I didn't say that, but you know, like instead of deferring And reminding them, okay, here's your parameters for you to make your decision. I would just answer the question. And which enabled them. And so you taught me to you know, we have ⁓ group text one time and they were like, Here's our s our situation, what do you want me to do? And you were like, Here's the way that you wanna analyze this problem. Step one, do this, step two, do I was like, Wow, that was incredible. speaker-0: Yeah. Did you ask this person? Did you do this? Did you do this? Where are you at? How how does it feel to you who is experiencing this right now? What would you want to do? Okay, do that. speaker-1: was amazing. I was like I I was like, ⁓ I gotta respond to this text and then I looked down and Teresa had already like sent out all the instructions and I was like, I'm glad I delayed on that. I wasn't gonna say that. speaker-0: Yeah. And then they would have texted me next time. And now and it's true, I think we got to the point where we didn't get any. speaker-1: Yes. speaker-0: I delegated one committee meeting to a nurse today, and that's my ⁓ my dementia committee meeting. I have been going to it or missing it or whatever. They moved the day. And so inpatient has not been greatly participating the way I would like. And so I was like, my one of my new hires has a history in gerontology and psychology. And I was like, I really want you to focus on this area and just start learning. Like, and she's like, Is it okay if I don't like jump on that? committee meeting like full force right away. I was like, absolutely, I want you just to go and listen and learn at first. Like just see what the committee's about. It's like it's a lot of it's going to go over your head. A lot of it's for outpatient and management and and the higher level like stuff. But at some point I want you to kind of reach out and figure out those things that are gonna add value on the inpatient side as well and bring some of that information in. But no, you don't have to do it immediately. You're a new hire, you're you have many things to learn still. Get oriented. That's what we're doing right now. speaker-1: But that's so nice to be able to hand something off like that. I handed off a falls task to a nurse yesterday that I've been sitting on for months not doing because I just am overwhelmed by it and I keep finding other like I legit keep having emergencies happen ⁓ or like fires have popped up. But you know, even when I have time, I'm like I just can't wrap my head around this project. speaker-0: I think that's also what I was struggling with. I couldn't wrap my head around how do I take this information they're sharing and translate it in a way that is useful to my area. And I couldn't quite grasp that. And I was like, this person that has done this and has worked, she has previous history as a coordinator in an outpatient or outpatient slash care facility. She did kind of like a little like coordination group with this type of population. And so I think she's gonna be able to take that knowledge and utilize it. and help us translate how we can use it. And that's using her skills. Like why why should I sit there and try to torture myself trying to figure it out when someone right there knows how and it's a growth opportunity for her. speaker-1: And they want to do it. Yeah. I mean, mine was I I need I need to combine four different post fall notes because we have four different notes. And I was like, we can't have four notes. We're going to a new EMR coming in the next year. And it will be a nightmare if we have four notes. But like for me to like take them all and figure out what to keep and what not to keep, I just was like having decision paralysis. And so I just asked this nurse who has had some like free time come up. And she likes that I was like, Do you want to do this? She's like, ⁓ my God, that'd be so fun. I would love to do that. I was like, ⁓ thank God. speaker-0: Isn't that amazing? And then they are so excited and you're like, ⁓ my god. speaker-1: So much for giving me this project and I'm like anytime speaker-0: You're like, I've been struggling and I couldn't wrap my head around it. And that's so fun. Mm-hmm. That actually leads into our eighth, eight, our eighth thing, protect your energy. That's it's so funny because it's not about ours, it's about your mental energy. Because obviously I was with that new hire specifically today. We were kind of talking about that. And I was like, you know, when you're a floor nurse and you're transitioning into these roles, you go from being physically demanded and you have all these things and you have to prioritize multiple things all day. It's similar, yes, but it's also very different because you're so mentally exhausted by the end of the day, you are surprised at how tired you are. Physical exhaustion you can work on mental, sometimes you're like, I have nothing left. speaker-1: And then when you have like employee conduct issues come up and you're having to have a lot of difficult conversations or make hard decisions, that has like another type of energy drain, which is like the emotional burden. And that can be really difficult to manage as well. I've never actually felt like my workload was what was causing me to burn out in this job currently or even in the last several jobs I've had, but I do get emotionally burned out. From carrying around it's like carrying around that responsibility all the time and feeling like obligated and trying to turn that off is like a such a different challenge. speaker-0: Challenge. Well, that's also ⁓ part of that conversation I had with that new employee today is talking about kind of that it's almost like a compassion fatigue, but instead of turning into a jerk, you're just like exhausted from it because you're not gonna project that out at anybody. You're just like, Okay, this is really hard and this is really heavy. And that's your own emotional intelligence that you're able to do that, which I think is amazing because not everyone is. Some people just get snappy and get mean. I know. And we've been there, we've had moments like that that we've learned from and it's like that isn't how I want to show up. And so you learn to protect your energy because it matters. You may not always know, like you said, you don't always know what drains you, what gives you energy, what you might know what gives you energy and makes you happy. That is your passion, your joys, the fun parts, the the mentoring, the connection or for some people that might be doing those data and those spreadsheets and identifying the wins. ⁓ speaker-1: Sometimes for me, like I actually need to add more things to my plate to f not feel burned out because if I haven't included like those those cup filling activities, then the emotional burden feels more heavy. And so sometimes and I have a a a coworker who's in the same role as me in a different area. And she's told me she's really burned out in her job. And her job is really challenging. So she's got a really difficult team to manage. And and I was like, How do you How do you keep going? And she's like, I work at a different hospital part time once a week and I just do patient care and that fills my cup and that keeps me from being burned out. And I was like, It's crazy to me that you're literally picking up a second job to balance out your burden of this job. You know, it's very counterintuitive in a way. speaker-0: It's kind of me too. I love, love, love, love doing a little bit of patient care. And I always have had a little bit of a second job and people think I'm insane. And I'm just like, but like that connection with people. Like going into a hospice family member's room and and just sitting down and having conversations and like going over how are things, what's going on and taking that time to like understand their experience. I remember one person one day is like, You just bring a really calm presence. Like I really appreciate you just like coming in and making me feel really calm. And I'm not always a calming person, but I can be. speaker-1: Have they met you all of the all of the versions of you yet? speaker-0: Not when I'm doing patient care because the goal, the the parts of that is that's the the presence I need to bring in those moments, right? And that's that's my responsibility in that moment is to be that person. And nothing is an emergency right now. Whatever I'm doing is that nothing else is an emergency. How are you right now? speaker-1: I think that's the take home of this entire episode right now is which we haven't said. It's almost nothing is an emergency, literally. Like very rarely is there something that can't wait until tomorrow, or as my other colleague likes to say, just wait till Monday. Usually by then it's already resolved itself. speaker-0: Unless you are in there with the entire pen tab doing a entire huddle and an ⁓ actual emergency, nothing is an emergency. You're not feeling like one, but it is not. Are you in a room saving a life or are you in a disaster preparedness situation? speaker-1: Mm. But I've literally had managers that are like, I'm staying for overtime because I have I need to get caught up on my email. And I'm like, that is not an urgent situation. That is not something that you need to stay and get and like work extra for. So yeah. So every I think the ⁓ another thing thinking about speaker-0: Incident command. That's the word. If you're in incident command, it's an emergency. That I was like, what is that word? I've been sitting there for I'm so sorry. That was very interruptive and disruptive. I do that sometimes, but incident command is what I was thinking. speaker-1: Hey Teresa, do you think you have ADHD? Okay. Just wondering. Every interruption has a cost, by the way. I'm just kidding. Teresa has that written down in our notes, and I thought that was appropriate to say right now. Okay, so I think, yeah, thinking about like what are you spending your time doing? What is giving you more energy? Is that going and doing patient care once in a while? ⁓ can you batch your work together? I have some some of my employees because I have some of my employees have a shared office and they get distracted very easily. speaker-0: No, not at all. speaker-1: And so I have allowed them to come, we have like some other open offices and I'm like, anytime you just need to sit down and like hash out some information, like please come over and use these desk spaces because nobody's using them right now. And ⁓ if you need to like be somewhere that people don't know you're there, so you can actually just like get some stuff done, like please do that. And so, you know, we can do that ourselves as well. And, you know, depending on what your arrangements are with your Set up. I mean, we used to be able to do that when we could telework. We're not allowed to do that anymore though. But ⁓ probably some of you still are. So you should do that because that used to be very helpful. But if you can't like us, then maybe you find a secret office somewhere else and you go work on something for a little while and you turn your teams to make it look like you're not there. Or I'm in a meeting. It's ⁓ I like to do that one too. speaker-0: Yeah. So quick recap. We had eight things. ⁓ use your calendar as a leadership tool, not just a schedule meeting holder. ⁓ complete your high impact tasks before getting into everything else immediately if you can. Create personalized per prioritization algorithm. Trust your one or two organized organization system. Like just pick a system, stick with it, find a way to make it work that works for you. Build accountability, delegate to develop your team, let go of perfection. It's not gonna help you. And then protect your time and energy so you can lead effectively 'cause that's the real responsibility of your job. Yep. speaker-1: And if you want to use that tool, send us a comment or email us at Cindy at ariannurcircle.com or Teresa at ariannercircle.com and we will send you a copy of the task tracking tool if you want to do a time study and do an evaluation of what you're actually spending your time doing to see what you can unveil and all of the things that you're wasting your time on. Yep. Might be a hard truth, but maybe it's helpful. speaker-0: Sometimes we need ⁓ Have a nice day. Thanks, Dumpster Pals. Have a great day.