In last month's blog, we peeked into my office and yours and discussed how we can rid some of the outdated or unused items that physically clutter our practices. In this month’s message, I'd like to expand that discussion to include our electronic worlds.
If you're anything like me, you probably receive and send a fair number of emails each day. Do you "file" the incoming messages in folders once you've responded or taken the appropriate actions so that you can keep your general "in-box" relatively free of emails? I typically prefer to keep most e-mails in a general in-box then sort by the person's name, or topic, or date received or sent, but this sorting takes valuable time. Is your inbox filled with “FYI” messages that aren’t necessary to keep? Are you still keeping and sending "Thank You" and "Got it" messages to every email message you receive? Is this really necessary especially when we have a close relationship with that person and they know we are thankful or that we are responsible to open and address issues that are brought to us? How many of us sign up for marketing promotionals (e.g., Win a Free Tablet at a trade show) then receive daily promotional emails that we don't open or even delete? At a minimum, let us together commit to spend a few minutes this week unsubscribing to email services that are not directly benefiting our professional lives.
Believe it or not, until just recently, I was still using a paper calendar. In my ongoing efforts to de-clutter my life I've embraced using electronic calendars and am leaving my physical calendar at the office or at home. This is really tough for me (yes, I'm a laggard in many ways), but I definitely see its value. Now, my appointments appear on my cell phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer at work and I don’t miss carrying around my three pound planner.
Similarly, many on our hospital leadership team used to file everything in binders. With electronic storage readily accessible and at a relatively inexpensive cost, there really is no need to store things in binders like so many of us once did. I have begun scanning departmental meeting agendas, including my rough handwritten notes, and storing them electronically. I typically keep the hard copy until all follow up items are attended then send it to shredding.
We have a general rule of thumb in our practice that whoever generates an e-mail or other document is responsible for its safekeeping. Years ago several of us would maintain physical binders or copious file folders containing communications from others. This "sender shall be keeper" rule has been of great help.
Also, we try to communicate often with our doctors and support staff via email. We place protocols, schedules, employee phone lists, and other important items on a networked drive so that anyone throughout the hospital can locate the information with very little effort. We find that these steps often save time and paper resources.
Overall, we (and me most importantly) should be taking advantage of technology to ensure that our time and resources are used most efficiently. Clutter, even electronic clutter can bog us down. I challenge you to review your electronic systems; are they as efficient as they can be?