ABSTRACT
Working in general practice may require you to be able to deal with a number of different requests and demands at the same time. While seeing patients during a busy surgery, you may be asked to go on an urgent visit, speak to a drug representative, sign urgent prescriptions or talk to an angry relative on the telephone. This may sometimes be rather overwhelming, as all these requests may seem equally pressing. Whenever this situation occurs, try to sit down for a minute and quickly write down all of the jobs you have to do. Although this may seem obvious, writing down your tasks really does help you to focus better. Then decide on the urgency and importance of each job and number them all in the order in which you want to tackle them - one job at a time. It is important to be flexible about this. If a job is not particularly urgent or important, you may still want to do it before the others if there is a clear advantage to doing so. For example, signing a prescription for someone who is waiting at the reception desk or looking at a wound before the treatment-room nurse puts on a new dressing can both be done very quickly. Responding to such tasks promptly will clear your mind and enable you to concentrate on the next job. It also helps others to work effectively, as their time is valuable, too.
Certain tasks - such as making an overdue apology or telephoning an angry patient - can tend to fall to the bottom of the list and be put off repeatedly. Why not make it a habit to tackle the most disagreeable job first? This will give you a feeling of relief and achievement, and it may give a positive feel to the whole day, as you will already have dealt with the most difficult piece of work. Many larger jobs become much easier if they are broken down into smaller, more manageable chunks, and this is best done in writing,
