While other jobs only require employees to work eight hours a day, working as a nurse demands more working hours. Nurses usually work up to ten hours a day, as the job is quite demanding and tasks have more tendencies of changing.
As a nurse, it is always best to manage one’s time. Through time management, your job gets done faster and you get to leave work earlier. Here are some very helpful tips to help you manage your time.
1. Have careful planning.
Many nurses would disagree with this first tip because they always think that their tasks are usually unpredictable. Regardless of having an unpredictable day or not, planning is always a good idea. Merely jotting your daily tasks down can help go through with work without the added stress. By planning your tasks, you get a clear idea of what you are supposed to do during your shift. You do not have to waste time thinking and remembering what you need to be doing.
The good thing with writing your tasks down is that it enables you to rank them by importance. This gives you a clearer idea of how much time is needed for each task and which to task to focus on first.
2. Learn the Art of Delegation
This is especially important if you are holding a managerial position. If you have so many tasks to do, make sure that you have all them done through proper delegation. It is also quite common to feel dissatisfied with your assigned person’s work. So, it is important that you choose the right people for the task. Choose them according to their strengths and abilities.
3. Do not let yourself get distracted.
Stay away from distractions. Everyone has his or her own distractions. If noise distracts you from working, choose a quieter space. If you can’t help yourself from staying connected on Facebook or Twitter, turn your notifications off. If you are working with a really close friend and you always seem to end up chatting more than working, it would be best to have different breaks and to ask less questions to one another, unless they are actually patient-related.
With the right management, you can have a less stressful day at work. The bottom line is, you have to know your priorities and learn to focus on them.
Come to work with a plan and stick to it as possibly as you can.