- Email: [email protected]
Quick Tips for Getting Back to Peak Productivity
Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology 45 (2016) 355
Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology journal homepage: www.cpdrjournal.com
Quick Tips for Getting Back to Peak Productivity
In today’s age of information overload, it is very easy to get off the productivity bandwagon. Life events such as getting married, having a baby, taking up a new job, moving into a new house, etc, can very quickly set you back. In such instances, working smarter and having a systematic approach to getting your life under control is key. In the past 2 years, having experienced several life events, I was struggling to get caught up for a very long time. In the end, what helped me was the “back to the basics” approach, as outlined below.1-5 Inbox Zero e-Mail can be a real killer if not managed appropriately. If you do not manage your e-mail it would manage you. Start with deleting, unsubscribing, archiving, and removing your to-do items from your inbox. Inbox zero is not the ultimate goal but having your e-mail down to a few active items should be the goal. Tasks should be completed immediately less than 2 minutes. Delegate tasks early and diligently follow-up. Repeated checking of e-mail can be a huge time sink and dealing with e-mail 2-3 times a day is ideal. The shorter your e-mails, the better. Writing fewer e-mails and speaking to your colleagues directly can significantly decrease your e-mail burden. Getting Things Done model has worked well for me for the last several years, including for e-mail. Evernote and ToDoist are central to my workflow. I suggest some experimentation with e-mail plug-ins; they are a huge time-saver. My favorite plug-ins for Apple Mail are MailHub, Mail Act-On, and MailButler. I also like using text expanders and am constantly growing my repository of my e-mail macros for quick responses.
projects to achieve your goals. Try experimenting with mind mapping tools to plan out your career path on a granular level. Rather than focusing on annual goals, focus on 3 month intervals and reassess progress. Consider journaling to track and reflect on your successes and failures. Keep Learning At All Times Make a routine to constantly keep learning. Reading a self-help or a business book for a few minutes before bed is worth considering. For the last several years, I have used my work commute to listen to innumerable audiobooks on topics such as personal finance, and a wide variety of business-related topics. Although these do not count for strictly work-related learning, the materials have prepared me really well for future potential leadership opportunities. I have also been able to connect several topics on organizational psychology with radiology that have translated into several presentations at conferences. I encourage you to experiment and bring some of these business ideas to the radiology realm to help navigate the complex challenges in the era of health care reform. Small changes implemented consistently over time can deliver big results. Give it a shot! Puneet Bhargava, MD, FSAR Editor Department of Radiology University of Washington School of Medicine Seattle, WA E-mail address: [email protected]
Prioritize: It Is Not How Much You Do, It Is What You Do That Matters It is very easy to get into this constant state of busyness and feel that we are working hard to becoming successful. However, prioritizing the tasks that get us closer to our life goals is key. It helps to complete the most difficult, often neglected and postponed task first thing in the morning and deal with smaller inconsequential tasks in the less-productive second-half of the day. Save some time every day to deal with day-to-day workrelated tasks that come up all the time. Although doing 3 tasks per day consistently may not sound too much, it does mean doing approximately 90 tasks per month and that is frankly phenomenal! Say no often as your career advances and carefully align your
http://dx.doi.org/10.1067/j.cpradiol.2016.09.001 0363-0188/& 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
References 1. Bhargava P, Lackey AE. The art of productivity: A radiologist’s primer for getting stuff done. ARRS InPractice 2013;7:6–8. 2. Lackey AE, Moshiri M, Pandey T, et al. Productivity, Part 1: Getting things done, using e-mail, scanners, reference managers, note-taking applications, and text expanders. J Am Coll Radiol 2014;11:481–9. 3. Lackey AE, Pandey T, Moshiri M, et al. Productivity, Part 2: Cloud storage, remote meeting tools, screen-casting, speech recognition software, pass-word managers, and online data backup. J Am Coll Radiol 2014;11:580–8. 4. Bhargava P. What’s all the fuss about productivity? Should you care? Curr Probl Diagn Radiol 2014;43:233–4. 5. Bhargava P. The psychology of creativity. J Am Coll Radiol 2015;12:1000–1.
Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology journal homepage: www.cpdrjournal.com
Quick Tips for Getting Back to Peak Productivity
In today’s age of information overload, it is very easy to get off the productivity bandwagon. Life events such as getting married, having a baby, taking up a new job, moving into a new house, etc, can very quickly set you back. In such instances, working smarter and having a systematic approach to getting your life under control is key. In the past 2 years, having experienced several life events, I was struggling to get caught up for a very long time. In the end, what helped me was the “back to the basics” approach, as outlined below.1-5 Inbox Zero e-Mail can be a real killer if not managed appropriately. If you do not manage your e-mail it would manage you. Start with deleting, unsubscribing, archiving, and removing your to-do items from your inbox. Inbox zero is not the ultimate goal but having your e-mail down to a few active items should be the goal. Tasks should be completed immediately less than 2 minutes. Delegate tasks early and diligently follow-up. Repeated checking of e-mail can be a huge time sink and dealing with e-mail 2-3 times a day is ideal. The shorter your e-mails, the better. Writing fewer e-mails and speaking to your colleagues directly can significantly decrease your e-mail burden. Getting Things Done model has worked well for me for the last several years, including for e-mail. Evernote and ToDoist are central to my workflow. I suggest some experimentation with e-mail plug-ins; they are a huge time-saver. My favorite plug-ins for Apple Mail are MailHub, Mail Act-On, and MailButler. I also like using text expanders and am constantly growing my repository of my e-mail macros for quick responses.
projects to achieve your goals. Try experimenting with mind mapping tools to plan out your career path on a granular level. Rather than focusing on annual goals, focus on 3 month intervals and reassess progress. Consider journaling to track and reflect on your successes and failures. Keep Learning At All Times Make a routine to constantly keep learning. Reading a self-help or a business book for a few minutes before bed is worth considering. For the last several years, I have used my work commute to listen to innumerable audiobooks on topics such as personal finance, and a wide variety of business-related topics. Although these do not count for strictly work-related learning, the materials have prepared me really well for future potential leadership opportunities. I have also been able to connect several topics on organizational psychology with radiology that have translated into several presentations at conferences. I encourage you to experiment and bring some of these business ideas to the radiology realm to help navigate the complex challenges in the era of health care reform. Small changes implemented consistently over time can deliver big results. Give it a shot! Puneet Bhargava, MD, FSAR Editor Department of Radiology University of Washington School of Medicine Seattle, WA E-mail address: [email protected]
Prioritize: It Is Not How Much You Do, It Is What You Do That Matters It is very easy to get into this constant state of busyness and feel that we are working hard to becoming successful. However, prioritizing the tasks that get us closer to our life goals is key. It helps to complete the most difficult, often neglected and postponed task first thing in the morning and deal with smaller inconsequential tasks in the less-productive second-half of the day. Save some time every day to deal with day-to-day workrelated tasks that come up all the time. Although doing 3 tasks per day consistently may not sound too much, it does mean doing approximately 90 tasks per month and that is frankly phenomenal! Say no often as your career advances and carefully align your
http://dx.doi.org/10.1067/j.cpradiol.2016.09.001 0363-0188/& 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
References 1. Bhargava P, Lackey AE. The art of productivity: A radiologist’s primer for getting stuff done. ARRS InPractice 2013;7:6–8. 2. Lackey AE, Moshiri M, Pandey T, et al. Productivity, Part 1: Getting things done, using e-mail, scanners, reference managers, note-taking applications, and text expanders. J Am Coll Radiol 2014;11:481–9. 3. Lackey AE, Pandey T, Moshiri M, et al. Productivity, Part 2: Cloud storage, remote meeting tools, screen-casting, speech recognition software, pass-word managers, and online data backup. J Am Coll Radiol 2014;11:580–8. 4. Bhargava P. What’s all the fuss about productivity? Should you care? Curr Probl Diagn Radiol 2014;43:233–4. 5. Bhargava P. The psychology of creativity. J Am Coll Radiol 2015;12:1000–1.