A walk along the road : my reflective blog

As a nurse manager, you have a lot on your plate, and it can be overwhelming to manage your time effectively. However, by prioritising tasks, delegating responsibilities, setting realistic goals, and taking breaks, you can ensure that your unit runs smoothly and your patients receive the best possible care. Here are some additional tips to help you manage your time: Schedule your day: Creating a schedule can help you stay on track and ensure that you have enough time to complete all of your tasks. Block out time for important tasks and try to stick to your schedule as much as possible. Avoid multitasking: While it may seem like multitasking is an efficient way to get things done, it can actually be counterproductive. Instead, focus on one task at a time and give it your full attention. Communicate effectively: Clear communication with your team can help ensure that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goals. This can help avoid misunderstandings and save time in th

Today’s walk along the road was achieved by careful timing and watching the clouds to avoid the rain. I found myself wondering about a conversation I had last week about the language we use in work situations relating to how busy we all are.   I caught myself saying that I had ‘back to back meetings all day’ not sure if I was looking for admiration or pity.  The fact that I could feel the uncomfortableness of the fact, combined with an annoyance with myself for getting into this situation collided and I adopted a resigned to accept it outlook.  With the time to reflect today – I wonder how often I willingly allow myself to get into the too busy being busy mode.  The day goes so quickly – for sure ! Some around may marvel at my revolving office door and the constant foot fall ….  When I reflect on what I achieved during my day of meetings it is clear little or any of it could truly be called ‘deep work’ – in contrast to what is described as ‘shallow work’ – those non-productive meetings

I suspect I am not the only person currently or soon to be on a break or holiday from working as we enter the month of August. Acknowledging my natural need to be 'always doing' I do have moments where I enjoy doing nothing productive or nothing productive as I would have previously thought. I have had to learn to relax and find ways to renew my energy levels. I have spent years working without ever giving a seconds thought to my energy levels or the impact of low energy on my ability to work effectively. I wonder how many of us stress and constantly try to manage our time ? And yet as was so well identified by Tony Schwartz  ' the core problem with working longer hours is that time is a finite resource. Energy is a different story ' and of course Tony was right ... you can't save or store time ... or indeed out run it ! What we need to do is ensure we manage our ENERGY and build up energy reserves to sustain us. This requires a complete change of thinking and I hav