Time Management and Motivation

I spend lots of time talking to interns about time management. I don't spend much time talking about motivation with them, and I've recently come to the realization that those two things have to go together before anything works. I have had little to no motivation to do my clinical documentation lately. That has led me to doing avoidance tasks rather than my work. I've paid for that decision as I have had to dedicate more and more of my time to documentation than I do when I am managing my time well. This week has to be a good time management week - I have lots of stuff to do and not as much time available to me to get it done.

I have a plan to help me with these tasks. It all starts with my to-do and my not-to-do lists. It continues with my 30-minute on and off strategy, and finishes with prioritization of every task I do for the next 48 hours.

If I didn't have to be at work for some of those hours, my to-do list would be really manageable. I do, though, so that makes things more complicated.

The to-do list looks like this, at the moment:

• Take shower
• Go to work
• Do six sessions with clients
• Finish documentation
• Arrange interview with prospective intern
• Review intern paperwork
• Send acceptance/rejection letters to applicants
• Finalize schedule for 3/9 training
• Find schedule board examples for presentation
• Pack materials for presentations
• Move packed bag out of view of cat
• Fill self-feeder and self-waterers
• Arrange services
• Fold laundry
• Make the bed
• Arrange to get tire looked at for slow leak
• Get allowance money
• Eat something somewhat nutritious
• Start to get acclimatized to new time zone - stay up late!
• Check admittance tickets to events for this weekend
• Keep up with OCMT certificates

That's nothing. Right? That is today's list, and I anticipate that I will get about 75% of it finished. In fact, I can get the tire appointment scheduled right now... I'll be back... That's finished. One thing to check off the list. I can also arrange other services from the computer, but those have to wait until later or the services that I need will be halted now and not when I need them. 

For me, the first step to motivation is figuring out what needs to be done. That's what my to-do list is for - it gives me that initial push towards doing something, anything. The second step to motivation is doing something on that list. It really starts me off into completing the things that need to be done. Lastly, time constraints really make things complicated - there is only so much time before everything on that list (and on the list for tomorrow and Wednesday) has to be done. It simply has to be finished.

I am currently motivated to get my shower finished so I can get on my way to work. Once there, documentation takes priority over everything except for client interactions. Once that documentation is finished, I'll knock out the other work tasks that I have before me. Then I'll keep going with the documentation for tomorrow's sessions. It will all get done, eventually - well, in the next 48 hours!

Already starting Tuesday's to-do list:

• check-in with airline
• get second half of allowance
• cuddle the cat as much as possible
• finish documentation for the week - Tuesday sessions
• stop mail

And Wednesday's list as well:

• tire appointment
• go!

Happy Monday. I will get this done!