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Thinking "perfectionism" rather than progress.
If your goal is to wear the next superwoman or superman cape, you are almost assured of wasting much of the time and energy that could be used more productively elsewhere. Stop trying to walk on water and strive more for excellence, instead of perfection.
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Trying to do everything yourself and taking on TOO much.
In case you haven't noticed, this only leads to stress and ultimately burnout. Continue to keep up this pace and you will feel like your day is dragging, you are wasting your time, having difficulty concentrating, developing low self-esteem from not being able to accomplish it all, becoming resentful and weak and just plain don't want to face your day! Here's a tip. If you feel the urge to take on one more job even though you know it will throw you into overload...learn to say "no." Why? For the simple reason that if you bite off more than you can chew, you will not be able to focus on anything well enough to do it efficiently and consequently, you will be of no use to ANYONE! Instead, consider an alternative to "yes." Delegate and share the load with others. It really works!
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"Unlimited" social time?
Let's face it, the social aspect of our jobs (spending down-time talking with patients, co-workers, etc.) is a certain component of job satisfaction, so you don't want to totally eliminate it from your day, but learn to keep it in check. I remember my former employer saying to us (whenever he'd catch us in the lab with a cup of coffee) ... "Next week, we will be instituting a new policy in the office called "work breaks. Do you think you can both handle that?" (There was no denying he was able to convey a sensible point with a good sense of humor!) Seriously, though, too much socializing can cause inadequate attention in the areas necessary to keep your day on track. Pushing deadlines back now only means you have to push harder to make up for lost time later. Assistants: Try killing two birds with one stone: have your coffee and talk WHILE putting together some surgical or casting packs. And Doctors: carry on conversations with your patients WHILE clipping their nails.
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- Inability to prioritize, organize, make decisions and solve problems. This "wishy-washy" approach only causes confusion, misinterpretation, misunderstanding, disinterest, lack of faith, what else?! Decision making is not always easy and sometimes cannot be done on the spot, however, at some point, TAKE A POSITION. It can always be altered later on, but it puts things in a direction for right now and allows everyone to be on the same page. Let's take something as simple as job descriptions. Together, make a list of the duties that need to be done in the office and decide who is responsible for what. Place each job in order of priority, encourage a clear understanding of these priorities and chances are you have just solved a major time management problem by simply organizing your work load!
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