Whenever an overwhelming sensation appears at the back door like an unwelcome family of raccoons clawing through the garbage, I feel the need to decompress. Part of the ‘stepping back’ process is trying to figure out exactly from where the worry stems.

Enter = lists

Sure, lists are archaic. It’s a call back to simpler times before your phone tracked your shopping habits and email inboxes spewed endless reminders about what to do when. Everybody has their own twist to organization, and I thought of myself as the last person who would buy a Dayminder to keep track of things, but it really came down to two simple but related items:

1. The more things I had to remember, the higher the anxiety and stress.
2. The energy expended to mentally keep track of everything took away from the energy needed to actually perform the tasks. Procrastination created a vicious cycle of more items leading to less production, leading to more items.

I like to think my memory is half-decent. I can be extremely rough on myself if refill requests are missed, phone calls aren’t returned on time, or communication isn’t clear and the team repeats mistakes as a result. When I managed smaller operations, there seemed to be time to address most tasks immediately. Any backlog items stood out and screamed to be completed. As I worked my way up to larger and more complex operations, those backlogs became a black cloud that hung around. The day-to-day quick hits were manageable but every new info request or investigation pushed the big picture/long-term growth items further down the list. I was reacting to everything, a trap in which we often find ourselves. I also find that the longer you’re in a role, your value to others increases because you have more ready answers than before. If I didn’t have a strategy to cope with the distractions and increased workload, before long I would be riding the hamster wheel to Burnout City.

My response was to purchase an agenda book, arranged by tabbed months and two calendar days on each page. The first step was to unload my mind by writing down every item, be it emails to be sent, phone calls to be made, references to check, or just thoughts about things I didn’t quite understand. Once it was on the page, I no longer had to remember it. Even though my first list was lengthy, I could look at it differently; instead of bouncing from one thing to another as it popped into my head (worried that I’d forget again) and juggling multiple half-completed tasks, I could now pick a few things that fit in to the time available that morning and afternoon. Might I add that physically crossing something off is much more satisfying than dismissing an alert or closing a window.

So at the beginning of every shift, I take two minutes and carry forward any items from the previous day and re-write them in priority groups. Throughout the day, if something comes up that isn’t immediately manageable, or if I get another brainwave for a project or opportunity, it’s pen to paper right away to be prioritized the following day. It sure saves on post-it notes scattered around the computer monitor. Over time, I can balance the quick and dirty jobs with one or two of the long-range projects so there’s always a feel of progression. Currently my list is somewhat smaller than when I started, but it still fills half a page. There are some payroll submissions to follow-up, narcotic reconciliation for the month, and narcotic destruction to complete. I have some incidents to report, policy and procedures to review, and obtain a status report on some store renovations. There are tasks to delegate to others, like hiring and onboarding practices, which require time for training. Finally, there are the bigger projects: analysis and revamping of our drug and wound care inventory, engagement initiatives for the staff, and clinical intervention activities for our consultant pharmacists including flu clinics and prescribing within our expanded scope.

If there are visitors scheduled in the upcoming weeks, it’s in the book. Any meetings or conference call commitments are in the book. The key really is that I keep it close by and refer to it often, as you never can tell when a distraction will come along (like a surprise College audit last week) and throw a wrench in your plans.

So whether your list is of the work or home variety, I suggest a purging of the mind, be it on paper or on a fancy tablet/phone/dictation machine. It helps me focus on things that are important to me now and later and keeps the stress level somewhat in check. As opposed to drowning in work, clear the mind and start swimming for the shore.

There. Completed the article. Time to cross it off my list 😉

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency, employer or affiliation.