The coronavirus pandemic is causing many people to experience information overload. Reports (and misinformation) about the virus and the illness it causes are everywhere. The situation is made even worse by the fact that details about COVID-19 are rapidly evolving, practices are overwhelmed with patients, and so much is still unknown.
As such, it’s understandably difficult for practice managers to sift through the tons of information they’re barraged with, while still running their practices efficiently.
Nevertheless, information overload makes you distracted, significantly less productive, and more prone to making costly mistakes—things you certainly cannot afford.
Here are some tips to help you overcome information overload in these challenging times.
Filter messages
Your inbox likely keeps filling up daily with companies’ COVID responses, marketing emails from service providers, and safety information from health agencies—to name a few. It’s easy to get bogged down by the sheer amount of emails in your inbox.
Rather than spend time opening and reading (likely repeated information), set up filters in your email inbox. Right now, you only need to focus on essential emails. There’s no need to read emails from the owners of every single company you’ve ever interacted with or given your email address.
Allow email updates from a few trusted healthcare organizations and government agencies—this way, you avoid being overwhelmed while still keeping abreast of the most important COVID developments. You can also make a list of a few companies and associations whose thought leadership you find useful, and let their emails come through too.
Schedule your time
Without a defined schedule, your productivity levels will drop markedly. And trying to multitask prevents you from putting in sufficient effort and attention to tasks. You’ll end up oscillating between many different tasks, but not efficiently completing any.
Start each day by making a list of tasks you need to get done and tick items off one at a time. To make things easier, schedule tasks that are related together. Understandably, there will be days that your to-do list gets upended, but having a defined list of tasks will help you prioritize your time. At the end of each day, review your list. Note where you made progress, which tasks need your focus tomorrow, and what is ok to push off until later.
Also, be sure to pencil in time for rest. Whether it’s a quick coffee break or a walk around the block, taking a few moments to yourself is crucial for mental health. Overworking yourself will ultimately slow you down and lead to suboptimal work.
Automate manual tasks
Now more than ever, you need to automate tasks that you’d otherwise have to do manually. Examine your daily to-do list and identify items that technology could help you accomplish.
Some typical time-consuming processes that practices can automate include patient scheduling, rep scheduling, reputation management, and insurance eligibility verification. Additionally, ask yourself if there are any frequent workflow interruptions that automation could eliminate. For example, if you are fielding calls or emails for life science experts, look to automated scheduling and communication tools to address that community.
Furthermore, given new office closures and protocols, practices are overwhelmed with patients requesting video consultations with their physicians. As such, patient scheduling on your telehealth platforms is an important process that needs to be defined and fully automated.
Limit media consumption
It’s easy to find yourself looking up new COVID-19 developments every time you get the chance. But, you need adequate rest and separation. Put time limits on your consumption and usage of TV, newspapers, phones, and social media apps. Consider muting news notifications on your personal device or setting snooze notifications once you are home for the evening. For healthcare providers, you are on the frontlines and need the latest information, but you are also human and deserve some mental rest. Define these limits for yourself, and stick to them as much as possible.
These are very different and overwhelming times. It’s understandable if you falter at overcoming information overload—just keep trying.
