Think of all of the ways you spend your time. Think of the things you enjoy doing, and the things you don’t enjoy doing. Think of the moments when you feel rushed, stressed, or short on time. In a perfect day, in a perfect world our time would be managed to our own uniquely ideal specifications. It would be enjoyable. There wouldn’t be traffic, your children would wake up with ease and make their way to school without a struggle, fresh coffee would be brewing as your alarm went off, and the meetings and appointments on your calendar would stand firm. At the end of the week, you wouldn’t feel like you survived a whirlwind of chaos.
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We live in a world marked by days on a calendar and hands on a clock and in order for us to take back control of our lives we have to start owning our time.
Owning your time eliminates chaos and stress. Owning your time means that you are managing your time so that your specific, individual needs are met. Owning your time means that you are prepared. It means that you are setting boundaries and creating expectations for yourself and the people that you interact with. It also means that you are holding yourself and the people you interact with accountable for respecting those boundaries.
Establishing boundaries and being prepared starts with identifying your chaos. Chaos for you might be when people cancel appointments last minute, it might be rushing to gather information before entering a meeting or an appointment, it could be cranky kids in the morning, someone nagging you about what to eat for dinner, or lunches that are getting packed as you walk out the door. Chaos can be running late and needing to stop for gas. Chaos might be saying yes when you should say no, or offering understanding and forgiveness when what you really need to offer is a boundary that protects you and your time.
Once you identify your chaos it becomes relatively easy to establish boundaries, make preparations, and manage your time in a way that is uniquely yours. It takes time to sift through the chaos, however once you sift through it, you’ll see how you can become more prepared and manage your time to meet your needs. You’ll demand respect when it comes to your schedule, and rather than always offering forgiveness and understanding you’ll begin to offer a boundary. You might set out your kids’ outfits and pack their bags and lunches the night before to cut down on the morning stress of getting them ready. You might preset your coffee pot the night before. A very ambitious person might plan out a weekly dinner menu to post up in the kitchen. Maybe you’ll always fill your gas tank on the way home in the evenings. You might consider dedicating time in the day or evening to review notes from meetings and appointments, create follow ups, and prepare questions and discussion topics for the meetings the next day. You are managing your time. You are preparing by planning ahead and circumventing problems and chaos. You are taking ownership of your time.
In managing chaos and setting boundaries you’ve also honed in on the art of preparation. Within our office, we thrive when we are prepared and when we have clearly defined boundaries. Prior to your appointment, a member of our team will thoroughly review each patient’s chart. She will review upcoming treatment, medical and dental history, allergies, letters from other providers, any notes or requests from the patient, and any educational information that we would like to share with each patient. Our hygienists and Dr. Roper will discuss each patient’s planned treatment to make sure that their periodontal treatment plan and restorative treatment plan align. This process is ongoing, however typically it begins a week before the appointment. Each morning we have a brief meeting to review our schedule and each team member shares relevant information for their corresponding patients. Your one-hour appointment isn’t just a one-hour appointment, in many cases it takes 2-3 team members several hours to prepare for this appointment. We have chosen to be prepared to the best of our ability for you.
When people show up late for appointments, cancel at the last possible moment, or even worse don’t show up at all they are causing a chain reaction of chaos. If someone shows up late and we ignore their tardiness and see them as planned without adjusting their appointment we will be behind for the rest of the day. This appointment will run into the appointment with the next patient. Every patient we meet with after the tardy person will also feel the effects of having their life turn to chaos. Their schedule will be skewed. They now have the potential to run late for other obligations throughout their day. What we do on an individual level impacts the world around us. We have to be aware of our actions and the chaos that they will cause. We also have to be aware of our inactions and the chaos that they will cause.
It isn’t harsh or unreasonable to hold each other accountable when it comes to time management. It’s easy to be understanding and ride out the wave of frustration to keep the peace, but unfortunately sometimes this sets us up for disaster and chaos. Sometimes people misinterpret understanding and forgiveness as an invitation to disregard how valuable time is. This is why boundaries are essential. Establishing a protocol requiring a 48-hour notice for a cancellation is a boundary. In many professional establishments a cancelation fee may be charged for not providing adequate notice. This is also a boundary.
Professional and medical establishments often get pushback for enforcing cancelation policies, when in reality they are setting healthy boundaries for their patients that will not create chaos in the lives of other patients and employees. We need to protect our time. If someone isn’t going to show up for a 10 am appointment on a Tuesday we’d like to know by 10 am the Friday before. Think of how much chaos we could resolve if we kept firm boundaries. Appointments would run on time. Staff members wouldn’t be working late. More people would have time to get gas on the way home, pack lunches the night before, and set their coffee pot. Let’s all do our part to help eliminate some of the chaos.
