If you’re a busy clinician like me, it’s easy to overlook small things that can make a big difference in how you manage your workflow during a typical work day.
Investing a little time up front can save you a lot of time on the back end.
One of the best uses of this planning time is by asking yourself empowering questions.
An empowering question is a question that helps focus your brain for solutions. It immediately puts your mind to work coming up with answers that help you achieve a result that you want.
A disempowering question, on the other hand, keeps you stuck in problem mode and does not move you forward in the direction you want to go.
Here are some examples of empowering questions that you can ask yourself when it comes to your work day:
Empowering Questions:
How can I make my day feel lighter and more fun?
How can I take care of myself while I take care of others?
When is the best time of day for me to see new patients? Return patients?
When is the best time of day for me to answer patient messages and calls? Address test results? Do other necessary tasks?
How can I stay on time?
How can I best use extra pockets of time?
What decisions can I make ahead of time that will help make my day run smoother?
Where is the best place for me to work to have the most focus?
What times of the year do I want to take my vacations?
How can I best balance productivity and rest time or breaks?
Just by reading these questions to yourself, your brain will naturally start coming up with all kinds of ideas to help fill in the gap and answer the question.
Empowering questions stimulate creativity and put your brain to work to find good solutions.
Mindful Doc Mom
Empowering questions stimulate creativity.
Disempowering questions have the opposite effect.
Here are some examples of disempowering questions that you may have inadvertently asked yourself when it comes to your work day:
Disempowering Questions:
Why does this feel so hard?
Why am I always running behind?
Why are my patients always late?
Why is there always so much to do?
Why is there never enough time?
Why can’t I catch a break?
Why won’t they do their job?
Why won’t they follow my advice?
Why am I here?
Disempowering questions lead your brain to come up with more evidence for your problem and keep you stuck.
Mindful Doc Mom
When you ask yourself disempowering questions like these, your brain will naturally also start to come up with a bunch of answers. But this time, the answers will NOT be solutions, but rather MORE evidence of the problem.
Instead of improving your situation, you have just magnified the problem with the type of question you decided to ask.
Poor planning means either not taking time at all to look at your situation and see what is happening versus what you want to be happening.
But the other, very important part of poor planning, is actually taking the time to look at what is happening, but asking yourself the wrong questions. Disempowering questions will keep you exactly where you are instead of where you want to be.
So plan well and start taking control of your time and your life by asking great, empowering questions that will lead you to the best solutions and where you actually want to go.
If you want to see how coaching can focus your mind, give you more time and more joy in your life, hop on a free 45 minute private Zoom call with me by scheduling on my calendar link below. I would love to hear about your goals and show you how I can help you reach them.
