Doctors and Improving Their Productivity

Most doctors already consider themselves productive, but is there a way to improve productivity even further?

Things like to-do lists, making sure every minute of a long working day is used efficiently is already happening for most of us, doctors. There are also lots of productivity books which we read, and some of them are undoubtedly great. Online space offers various articles and resources on productivity which are useful. 

The issue here, though, is that many doctors cannot apply these productivity tips to their unique and crazy-busy lifestyle. 

This is because most productivity tips are aimed at those who work regular office hours from 9 to 5. Doctors are not those people. Our work hours are all over the place, and I'm not talking about shift work either (which is a somewhat established routine), as often it's not the case for many doctors. Despite all of this, I still believe there is a way to improve productivity among doctors. 

When I look at my productivity output, I always ask myself these questions:

1. What is my energy/attention level today?

2. Where and what I am supposed to be doing today (or tomorrow)?

3. What tasks should I prioritise? Is this operating, clinic, or creative work (research, blogs, videos)?

Graham Allcott talks about three levels of attention in his book "How to be a Productivity Ninja":

1. Proactive attention: being fully alert, in the Zone, and ready to make the most important decisions and tackle most important tasks.

2. Active attention: plugged in, ticking along, but easily distracted.

3. Inactive attention: not too much brainpower left, struggling with complex and challenging tasks.

If my energy levels are low, there are usually two reasons. The most common one is I am tired from not getting enough sleep. The second one is that I need cardiovascular exercise.

Lack of sleep often happens for me when I am on call, but there are numerous reasons why this can be the case for others (illness, poor sleeping environment, menopause, stress, etc.).

In this case, I plan to get more sleep the next night or the night after. When I'm tired due to lack of sleep, my attention is not in the proactive stage; it is in the active attention for 1 to 4 hours at most, before it goes into the inactive attention. 

So what happens during such days? 

If I work with operations planned, I would only operate for up to 4hrs using my active attention and then cancel other operations. Patients are the most important people in my working life, and I do not want to do anything to endanger their health. So it would be safer for me to rebook their operation to a different date than operating when I am exhausted. 

If I am on call and cannot postpone operating (inactive attention) and feel like I will struggle to operate later due to the lack of sleep, I ask one of my colleagues to do my call for a few hours so I can get some sleep. Often my colleagues know that I would do the same for them when they need me to help them as well.

If I am not operating, but rather working in a clinic, I can often do the clinic with lots of coffee (active attention). However, if I need to research, write blogs or create videos, I postpone it to a different day, as I need to be in proactive attention to do any creative work. 

If my energy levels are good, I usually have 2 to 4 hours of the proactive state that day. For me it is usually in the morning, between 8 and 11 am and then again around 3 and 4 pm. My active state is between 11 - 12 pm and 4 - 5 pm. The inactive level is before 8 am and just after lunch. So knowing this helps me organise my days better. 

Most of my creative work happens in the morning, so I organise my schedule around this. I understand, however, that not everyone is like me. Some people, like my cousin, work the best in the evening or late at night.

Do you know when your proactive, active and inactive attention times are? 

How do you schedule your days now? 

Would they look different if you were aware of your productive states and best active times after reading this?

As doctors, we can increase our productivity by knowing our best energy and attention levels and scheduling the most important tasks during appropriate times.