From Overwhelmed to Optimized: Streamlining Workflows for Introverts in Healthcare
Streamline Your Workflow,
Optimize Your Day
The Ideal Clinic Workflow Setting for Introverts
We spend much of our life at work, so it makes sense to optimize our days for flow and productivity that feels good. What does that look like for introverts?
Introverts feel most comfortable in quiet spaces with minimal background noise or visual clutter. Because the environment can significantly impact their energy levels, it's even better when they can control other environmental variables, such as adjusting the temperature or lighting level.
Next, having a dedicated space for solitude feels necessary, not simply nice to have. Access to alone time allows introverts to recharge their energy periodically throughout the day.
They appreciate smaller groups and, preferably, one-on-one interactions. Introverts like the opportunity to focus deeply on one or two people rather than attending to a large group of people all at once.
Introverts often enjoy the chance to work independently and without interruption. It's even better if that work fits snuggly into structured schedules.
Now, consider a typical day in medicine.
If you're an introverted clinician, compare the reality of your typical day to your ideal day. You can see why you may be more susceptible to burnout than your extroverted counterparts.
Before you start to face the myriad challenges of working within healthcare, you're already expending energy by simply functioning within a typical medical environment.
It makes you wonder….
How DO Introverts Survive at Work?
For introverts, thriving at work starts with respecting your unique needs for energy management.
One way to support yourself is through workflow streamlining. By harnessing your analytical powers to identify waste, optimize processes, and use technology, you can:
*reduce stress and anxiety
*allow improved focus and productivity
*increase your sense of control
The challenge of typical medical settings and clinic workflow is that they're often in stark juxtaposition to your needs as an introvert.
*It's not unusual to face a barrage of paperwork, emails, and patient data, resulting in information overload with minimal time for processing.
*Interruptions are a given. Your attention is scattered by EMR-generated alerts, the need to field patient and staff questions, and the inevitable urgent patient issues that can't be scheduled.
*Clinical medicine doesn't afford us the option of spending our workday in an office designed for our comfort. Multiple people generally share the same space while they work with and around each other. That means everyone's clutter is shared.
All of these things silently drain your energy.
Streamlining Healthcare Clinic Workflow
Once you know how your energy becomes depleted, you can start creating strategies to support yourself within a decidedly anti-introvert-friendly environment.
Here are four strategies for alleviating your introvert struggles at work.
1. Prioritizing tasks is a cornerstone to streamlining your clinic workflow.
Clinical medicine presents unique challenges in planning your day. Patient visits are often overlapping and in flux. Patients scheduled for brief check-ins may have significant issues requiring additional time and attention.
Recognizing the inherent uncertainty in your schedule makes it essential to focus on high-impact tasks as you move through your day. Which items contribute most significantly to patient care or creating ease in your day?
One task management method, the Eisenhower Matrix, helps create awareness and encourages you to use your energy most effectively. When approaching daily tasks, you can mentally assign each into one of four categories.
What needs action first? These are urgent or important tasks. Patient visits must be completed according to the established schedule, and critical labs need prompt attention.
Next, what can be scheduled? What's important but not urgent? Patient messages need to be addressed promptly but don't require interrupting your flow if they're more routine. Perhaps you can schedule a time in the morning and afternoon to review messages, which allows you to batch tasks. It also lets staff know when to expect your availability to address messages so they're not sporadically interrupting your flow.
Then, consider what can be delegated. These are less important tasks that may be urgent or not. Rather than completing routine prior authorization paperwork yourself, can you delegate that to a dedicated staff member who can streamline the process?
Finally, what can you let go of? If it's neither important nor urgent, consider whether you want to expend your energy on the task. If you don't have the capacity on a particular day, it may mean that you excuse yourself from attending a drug representative-sponsored lunch.
2. Consider what small changes that make your environment more calming.
To start, how can you decrease physical clutter? Have a dedicated place for supplies and equipment so they don't take up counter space in the exam rooms or workspaces. Even simple management of electrical cords may make your space feel less "noisy."
Embrace organizational systems. Consider creating a simple daily filing system to arrange paperwork for easier processing. Establish a dedicated place for messages rather than having sticky notes scattered about.
Get creative and determine if there's a place in your workplace that can be used as a quiet area. Having this space allows you to grab a few moments of solitude. It can also provide an opportunity for interruption-free, focused time to chart or process paperwork after patient visits.
3. Technology is ever-present. Make it work for you.
Take advantage of the communication systems within your EMR. If your EMR includes a patient flow tracker, use it. Make the tool work for you by letting it help you prioritize your next task or communicate with your staff during visits. This saves valuable time by avoiding the need to reassess clinic flow after each patient visit or searching for someone to assist you.
Use your scheduling program to arrange visits to complement your work style. Putting thought into how you cluster visit types can significantly impact your clinic workflow.
Master your EMR. The EMR trainers show you their best practices, but you may find workarounds and shortcuts that make more sense with how you process information. If you notice a specific EMR workflow creates daily frustration, explore how to make the EMR fit you.
4. Create buy-in with your colleagues and staff members.
Healthcare professionals can use all the help they can get, whether they're introverted or not.
Share your ideas and strategies with those around you. You might be pleasantly surprised that others are excited to brainstorm and implement processes to create ease and improve clinic workflow.
Streamlining Healthcare Workflow Benefits Everyone
The day-to-day in healthcare will likely never be an introvert's paradise, but you can take steps to make your environment and workflow better support your well-being.
Prioritizing tasks, letting your physical environment support you, taking advantage of technology, and enlisting the support of your colleagues can go a long way toward nurturing your needs as an introvert.
Want to learn more how to Beat Decision Fatigue and Reclaim Your Energy?
Create calm in the middle of your busy day using my free Mindful Minutes Toolkit.
You can access it for free here.
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Charity is a physician burnout coach helping introverts in healthcare escape feelings of apathy, irritability, and resentment brought on by the increasing demands and decreasing rewards of medicine.
She uses her 20 years of experience in clinical medicine combined with coaching to help introverts discover ways to be diligent, thoughtful clinicians while prioritizing their needs and protecting their energy. She wants you to know you don’t have to feel guilty for wanting a thriving life inside and outside of medicine.