December 28, 2007

Practice Management, Consulting, & Coaching - without the hassle, without the hustle

Dear Doctors, I want to thank you for all the calls this week, and welcome our newest members to the Perfect Practice Family. Again, you are looking at a very big new year ahead. This is the time to be putting all the finishing touches on 2008 too. We are here to help!                                                               ~ No Later than Monday, I will be unveiling a New Silver Test Drive Membership, so stay tuned!  (these are less than the cost of an office visit and are growing rapidly!) Learn More About Our Gold Membership and read my earlier email carefully!                              Holiday Scratch and Dent Sale: We have 9 copies of Getting to YES, and 10 of "Maximum Referrals" that  have minor cosmetic blemishes that we are selling first come until 8PM EST Sunday 12/30/07. The 100$ OFF Price shows in your Cart ONLY before check out, as this is for Members and SubScribers ONLY! These are only $297 each, while they last! Visit them in products and enrollment. Have a great weekend, and please stay in touch! Dr. John Hayes, Jr. Perfect Practice Web P.S.: Here's a special Gift: Would you spend 39$ to study with one of my Mentors? Would you like to accomplish more in 12 months, than the previous 12 years of your life? Then Go here to get a sneak preview of an unbelievable new tool, which so compliments what we do at PPW (for under 40$!) http://johnhayes.helpmeachievemore.com

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                               On Just doing it all.

Time is the one commodity that we only have finite amounts of.  Some use it so well, phenomenal accomplishments result.  For others, even basic functions seem to elude them.  Some seem to know how to parcel out time to the different parts of their lives and success and growth seems to just migrate to them.  Others are chasing one thing after another and never seem to have enough time to accomplish anything.

Keys to time management.

Are there really any keys to doing more with the time we have? Yes! And it's not nearly as difficult as you may think. What I want to discuss is a very simple time management system I suggest you try. You only need a black pen and 2 or 3 white legal pads.  How much time is this going to cost you?  Just a few minutes every day that will save countless hours of wasted effort and time.  Why two or three white legal pads and a black ink pen?  Black ink stands out well and is easy to read against a white background.  Have one pad for each aspect of your life:  Professional, Personal, and Social.  Professional is for your practice, your profession and your success.    The personal is as a person what you need to improve on and make you better.  The third is social and this one is sometimes the hardest.  What are your goals as a husband, father, friend, or mentor or all of them?  Start with where you will be in one month, then one year, then five years and finally ten years.  Now we are ready to start filling in the steps to get to those points.

Clear directions

The first is to be very clear on what you want.  Write it all out in black ink on white paper.  It has been said that most people never get what they want, because they never figure out exactly what they do want.  So, this has got to be task number 1. If you want to be a better husband, don't just write a better husband; spell it out exactly and identify specific items.   IMPORTANT!  If you find yourself in a crisis, this should be the ONLY item for now.  The crisis MUST be resolved before you can move to other goals!  When the problem is solved, then and only then can you deal with all the rest of the goals you want to reach.

Maintaining the lists

Once done, you should be refining these lists every week or so.  These lists should change almost constantly at first.  Why?  You are learning what these directions are and how to write them.  You are also learning about yourself and what it is you really want.  Sometimes what you want is disguised as something else but you do not know it until you start to work at it. Sometimes you find things in one place that you want to include in other areas.  One doctor wanted to be a better husband and said he needed to be a better listener and more attentive to what his wife said and found out that that same attitude to his patients made him a better doctor so he added it to his professional goals.  It's OK to change these lists, in fact you should be updating your targets every week or so.  Your lists should change periodically.  Why?  Because you will have a better idea of what it is you are looking for as you work towards it and secondly as you may find that what you once thought was important no longer is and that another goal that is now important to you has taken its place.  And that is okay it is part of your growth.

Charting the path

Then, I write out a list of action steps that move me closer to the goals every day.  This does not have to be elaborate!  It doesn't need to be a paragraph.  A sequence of events can be as brief as to or three words for each item.  I still find large legal pads; one for each important area of my life clipped together works best.  It can be as simple as if you were describing how to getting dressed: 1-get out of bed, 2- shower, 3- dry off, 4 put on your clothes.  As you work with this formula you will find that you will want to include more detail.  I keep it simple on the pads.  More elaborate data of course lives in my computer, cell phone and handheld.

At least three times per day the goal sheet and three pads come out.   I read the targets, then do what I can that's on the list for that area, and then cross it off!  Next, I move on down the line.  And I keep the same list until all actions are completed or eliminated by other accomplishments.  You may find that as you accomplish one thing on one list and cross it off it actually takes care of another item on another list, if so cross that one off too!

Morning and night, I spend quiet time, even just a few minutes on some days reviewing, updating and really internalizing where I am going, by using these simple lists.  It has been said that the single most productive time is the first 30 minutes after you wake up when your mind is free before being burdened by the thoughts of the day.  Use this time to review your lists and make adjustments.  This will give you a chance to look at where you're going without the pressure of the day coming at you.

What is the total daily time for all these steps? Less than one hour.  What are the results:  Priceless.   Peace of mind, a sense of accomplishment and financial security.  If you want to see the difference and accomplishments, file the completed lists, then a year later, pull them out and see what you have done and compare that to what you have been doing the last four or five years.  Which was more fulfilling?  This is what living and Practicing by Design is all about.