Start with a frank look at yourself. This is a difficult, sometimes painful process, but you won't get the desired results if your approach to better time management is based on inaccurate assumptions about your strengths and weaknesses. Scrutinize your workload. These questions are as relevant to patient care as they are to the business side of practice. Each doctor decides how much emotional support to give patients, how long to listen before ending an office visit and how available to be for after-hours care.
Patients welcome the personal touch.
It is an important therapeutic tool, if not overused. Each physician, however, has the right and obligation to set boundaries and limits based on his or her best judgment. Seek input from other physicians and co-workers and compare their observations with your own. Encourage comments on your work style, communication skills and management abilities. So don't become defensive if someone criticizes you.