How to be organised and get the ward round finished eventually

Take a look around your ‘personal space,’ your desk, your office, your incoming letters, your piles of things needing to be done. Or perhaps your eyes might be drawn to your clothes where you keep them, what you do with them when they need a wash, what you do with them when they are clean; where you store your shoes, coats, umbrella, suitcases? You could look around at your day to day food supplies, your books, newspapers and journals and then say to yourself once more’ What do I have to do just be be a bit  more organised?’

There are three things you have to do:

1. Get your stuff sorted into categories:

• Put everything which is similar together: keep books on similar subjects; bills to be paid; clothes to take to charity shop; whatever it is sort similar together.
• Decide how you can keep it together: could be in boxes, files, folders, depending on what you are sorting.
• Make a pile of what has to be dealt with today: could be letters, bills, food which is at its use-by date, or clothes which must be washed today

2. Dispose of what you don’t need or want any more:

• moldy food
• clothes which are too small or you know you’ll never wear again
• broken appliances: get them mended or dispose of them

3. Store what you don’t need immediately in some sort of classified way.

• filing cabinet
• labelled boxes or folders
• jars or other containers as appropriate

You must adapt these suggestions into your own life.  Don’t allow your ‘to-do’ list overwhelm you. Start to deal with as much as possible with any new tasks as you are asked to do them. But also learn to say ‘no’ when you are really too busy to take on even more. Don’t agree to do something more until you have completed as much as possible of your current jobs.

Part of the stress of being a doctor is a result  of having more and more things to be done and also dealing with unexpected emergencies.  Become clear about the difference between routine days to day tasks which have to be done but not unnecessary this very minute if an emergency happens. If someone collapses  deal with them immediately rather than continuing doing your routine ward round. On the other hand if someone wants you to discuss something more routine tell them you can’t deal with that until the ward round is finished.