In the blizzard of our daily work and internal and external pressures, maybe think of putting the blizzard aside at times, and focusing on Deep Work (which I reviewed previously) or pursuing ONE Thing (also previously reviewed). Sometimes it takes a second or third exposure (or many more) to have a new idea really stick. Well, here it is again.
When I have the discipline to be present, to be aware of the cacophany that constantly blares and swirls around my head and consciously place it to the side for a few hours, or even an entire morning or whole day (what a luxury, but also a necessity), then I feel like I can accomplish something substantial.
Here are a few distractions pulling me away:
- Post-office syndrome: 4000 items in my email inbox, 1000 unread.
- External crisis: Colleagues whose Citrix or EHR (electronic health record) or Dragon (speech recognition) or other EHR-related tool does not work and “DON’T YOU KNOW I CAN’T TAKE CARE OF PATIENTS RIGHT NOW?”
- “I would like a report pulled from the EHR and my request is too low priority, can you fix that?”
- “I need something fixed in the EHR, can you help me?”
- Shiny new object: “Hey, here’s a new opportunity to collaborate on a project!”
Here are a few BHAGs (big hairy audacious goals) just begging for time and effort from quadrant four (Low urgency, high importance, from Getting Things Done) :
- Design and write a follow-up paper on EHR optimization through Sprints
- Write the next QI/research proposal on patients viewing images online
- Write the next QI/research proposal on using speech recognition tools in the examination room
- Help an innovation partner company deliver a minimum viable product related to new prescribing tools linked to the EHR
- Help an innovation partner redesign physician training for EHR
- Help craft the vision and curriculum of EHRs role in telehealth for a national organization
- Help craft the vision and curriculum of informatics training for medical students
- Learn to be a better mentor: improve the quality of meetings-with and benefit-to mentees and direct reports
CMIO’s take? I realize that any ONE of my BHAGs could be THE ONE THING that I focus on and made substantial progress on. What are YOU focusing on?
