373: Shorten Your To-Do Lists Over Time

Does your list of things you need to get done seem too looooooong? Kiera and Tiffanie are here today to provide tips for not letting your to-do list stress you out. The grand takeaway: Focus on the three items that’ll have the BIGGEST impact on your week, then time manage with what’s left over.

Other helpful things to consider: blocking out your schedule, finishing items to completion, and using your momentum.

To get started: Put all your to-do items in one place. Kiera and Tiff share the next steps from there in this episode.

Episode resources:

Reach out to Kiera & Tiff

Listen to episode 364, Block Schedule Around the Prime and Fluff

Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast

Visit The Dental A-Team website

Review the podcast on iTunes

Podcast Transcript

Kiera Dent:

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent and I had this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, biller, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants where we have traveled to over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yep, we don't just understand you, we are here.

            Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental and I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast.

            Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and who else is here? Say your name, girl.

Tiffanie Trader:

Oh, Tiffanie. I'm so excited. I love being here.

Kiera Dent:

It's Kiera and Tiffanie today on the podcast. You guys, I love when I convince Tiff to podcast with me. And if you guys did not catch her other episode where we talk about block scheduling, Tiff's going to be on here a lot more because we actually block scheduled podcasting into our life and it just feels good, doesn't it?

Tiffanie Trader:

It really does. It feels good because it's predictable and I know what's going to happen because it's on our schedules rather than us being like, "Oh, when you're on a drive, give me a call," because neither one of us are available at those times ever.

Kiera Dent:

No, I agree. And also I love that it doesn't feel stressful. It's like, "Hey." You remember that time. We got it done. We looked for things in offices. We were proactive on our podcasting versus reactive. So, you guys, just another plug for getting that scheduling done where you're proactive on your schedule. Speaking of that, that's a good segue in. As Tiff and I were chatting, I actually, I don't know how I got signed up on these awesome text messages. Sometimes they're annoying and sometimes they're great. It's part of Tony Robbins group and one of the people in the group, his name's Dean, and I truly don't know how I get these messages, but I actually got one and Tiff and I are actually going to dive into this. Because I thought this was so applicable for all of us and we're going to tie it into dentistry per usual, the Dental A Team podcast.

            But guys, before we dive into this, if you have yet to leave us a review, please do so. That review is so helpful. We love it. We read it. And also, it's how you guys can help us on our mission, join us, to positively impact the world of dental. So please, if you guys have not stopped right now, go leave us a review, five stars. We love it. Let us know what you love. And also share this podcast with somebody else, have them subscribe. We appreciate that so much.

            So with the quote today, it said, don't let your to-do list stress you out. And I was like read on. That feels really good because to-do lists feel stressful right now. Don't let your to-do list stress you out. Pick just one area you want to focus on most this week. You can't master every part of your life at once. And that just hit home for me. And I think it's probably because Tiff, you know in the dental team, we've been having a lot of moving pieces right now and I called you last night legitimately bawling, guys.

            It's not very often that I hit that moment in my life. Tiff, you are definitely privy to that last night. And I appreciate you for being there, but like it felt engulfing of the things to do. And so reading this, I'm like, "Yep, let's talk about it." So Tiff, what are some of your insights on that of like, don't let your to do-list stress you out. Pick just one area you want to focus on most this week. You can't master every part of your life at once.

            Hello, Dental A Team listeners. All right. One of my absolute favorite quotes is you are always one decision away from a totally different life. So what life do you want to have? Do you want more accountability? Do you want a team that's trained? Do you want to have somebody who thinks outside the box and creates just for you? Do you want to have a coach? Do you want to have team training? Do you just need somebody to kick you in the rear and get you going?

            Okay. Don't worry. I'm in every single one of those boxes and that's why we created Dental A Team Silver, Gold and Platinum. It's going to be customized team training for you on the terms you want. So Silver, Silver is more for accountability. Gold, Gold includes all of our online training plus the accountability, and Platinum includes all of that and in office. You guys, I would strongly suggest you go join Dental A Team Gold today because you're always one decision away from a totally different life. So what are you waiting for? Hop on over to the dentalateam.com today. You guys, we only have so many spaces so get over there today and sign up for Dental A Team Silver, Gold or Platinum.

Tiffanie Trader:

Yeah, first of all, I think that's applicable to everyone's entire life. So I want everyone to write that down, take it home. Look at it in every aspect, not just the office. But my second note on that is I work with a lot of practices every day. I work with tons of practices every single day and many, many, many times we're working on time management. So I'm working with doctors, I'm figuring out admin time doctors, I'm figuring out their to-do list. My beautiful female doctors are the best at coming up with mile long to-do lists. We take everything on and we just think we can get it all done. Office managers, TCs, billing reps, everyone. We all have all these lists that we create of ancillary projects, meaning projects that are not every day reports to pull, payroll to get in, things like that that are on our job tasks, but other items that pop into our lives, getting back to our patient or I don't know.

            I have a list over here that says I need to make two different doctor's appointments that have been there for two weeks because it's just not on my top to-do. So I always tell these offices and these people in my lives, "Every day, look at your to-do list. When you get to your schedule, I'll [inaudible 00:05:49] time, go listen to that podcast, if you haven't listened to it yet, take the top three items that are going to make the biggest impact and what's important right now."

            So going back to Kiera's quote for today, like what's the one thing this week that we're working on. So maybe we've got these giant goals every month that we're working on while we have these to-dos associated to them. So when you look at it, what are the three things today during this admin time that are going to push me closer to the goal that I'm working towards this week? What's the one item, what's the one area I want to improve this week and what are three things I can do off my list that's going to push me and project me towards that thing?

            That doesn't mean you only do three things. It means you're going to do at least three things, right? But if you can cut it down, you can pull out of that giant to-do list three items, looking at three items that you need to do compared to 15 items that you need to do is way less overwhelming. And what actually happens, it's like a psychological thing, right? What actually happens is you're going to be more efficient with your time management doing those three things because you're not overwhelmed by the amount of items you need to get done.

            So pull those three things out, knock those out, and then look at your time management. How much time do you have left? What could you get done with the remaining amount of time that's still on your to-do list and then work out from there. But make sure no matter what you are doing, again, that it's going to project you towards that goal that you're working towards.

            There might be things on it that's like, well, this is going to take me like, I don't know, four minutes compared to this one might take me 15. Okay, but if I have an hour and the 15-minute one is actually going to project me closer to the goals that I'm going towards, that four-minute one probably isn't the most important right now. If I don't have a lot of time and I'm just trying to bust things out, fine. Do the four-minute one, but allot yourself the amount of time, give yourself an hour here and there maybe two, three times a week if needed or one time a week, if that's all you need, and look at that list and say, "What are the top three items that re going to push me towards my goals this week? What is it that I'm working on?" and do those items.

            Do them to their completion but fully take them off of the big list. Because what you'll do is you'll say, "I'm going to work on these three items." Well, they're probably spread out within your list somewhere and your brain, your eyes are reading the rest of that list too. So you're still getting that little feeling of overwhelm. You're not pulling them out. So I literally make offices, I can think of one of my near and dear doctors, I can think of her right now because we do this all the time and it helped her so much. She is a list queen, but really just pulling those things completely off of that list onto a new list and only seeing those three items has helped her to bust through so much more of her to-do list than she ever thought possible.

            The great news is she's actually seeing her to-do lists decrease because as you know, we add to our to-do list every single day. So today, I might get two or three things done off my to-do list, but today, I'm also adding five, right? Well, with this method, the way that she's doing it, pulling them off and seeing what's the most important right now, her list is actually getting smaller on more days than it's getting longer.

Kiera Dent:

I love that, Tiff.

Tiffanie Trader:

So it's literally helping. I know.

Kiera Dent:

I love it because pulling those three things off and putting them on a different list, that goes from this overwhelming giant receipt. I think about those receipts. You know when you go to CVS or Walgreens and I don't know what they do, but they give you a mile-long receipt and you're like, "What the heck? I can't even read this" versus the short ones from Target. They're like dat, right there, easy peasy. And so just thinking about those two different mindsets feels exhausting and overwhelming when it's this long list versus those two or three items that you put onto a different list and that's all you're focused on for that day.

            I was also thinking a couple of those things. If you look at that list, are there any things that if you block scheduled and put them on a consistent routine, like when do you do your AR reports? When are you sending your statements? When are you doing your payroll? Just add that in so it's part of your routine. Like on my to-do list is never put on your makeup, Kiera. That never makes it to my to-do list because it's already a habit and a pattern that I have in my life. And so it's just, it's there. I don't even have to think and add it to my to-do list.

            So if there's any way on that to-do list that you have, any of those items, can they become a routine? I know for a fact, every Tuesday is coaching calls and podcast day. That is my Tuesday. Wednesdays are sales and marketing. Thursday's consultant day and Friday is whatever I choose it to be day or a catch-up day. And Monday is business development day. I know that is a theme for all of my days so I have certain things blocked in. So I know it's Tuesday, it's Wednesday. Tuesday's podcast day, get my podcast done for the week. That's just how I built my schedule. So if you guys can have a schedule like that, maybe that to-do list can actually be shrunk down. And then I love, love, love what you said, Tiff, because I know I have this whole long list. It's a laundry list all the time and I'm like, "Okay, who could I delegate this to? Who could I use this?" versus looking and saying, I can only get one thing done or I can get these three things done today because I'm the person who feels like #Essentialism.

            If you guys have not read that book, definitely read it. I'm the person who's like, "Okay, if I do a little bit on 100 projects, like sweet, I got them." But like my to-do list never gets done. So I actually feel like I'm just always spinning my wheels versus get this done to completion. Not like, "Oh, I'll just send the email so Concur feels like it's being done." No, I'm going to get Concur done so it crosses off my list for good. I'm going to get my hiring and onboarding packet. And I was talking to an office manager today, she said, "Kiera, I'm struggling with my operations manual." And I'm like, "Well, yeah, I don't blame you. You're trying to do a whole operations manual. No wonder that thing keeps getting pushed down to the bottom of the list forever. So instead, take one thing off the operations manual. I'm going to do job descriptions for hygiene. That is what I'm going to get done this week today and the rest of it, I'll finish another time."

            But like you said, Tiff, you start to actually make progress and momentum. And I believe momentum is like a snowball. Once you get little bit of it, you start to just add more and more and more by sticking to that simple three things that day. Accomplish those three things to completion. That was the piece that I picked up from you that I love. Finishing to completion so you actually check it off the list.

Tiffanie Trader:

Yeah. I love it. I like that you added that. Thank you. The to completion is key because I'm the same way. I will start a million things and complete maybe five. Think about when you put... I put laundry in this morning, right? I'm like, "Oh, I got a good 45 minutes before my call start. Let me put a load in because then at lunch, I can switch the load in a couple of hours." Well, guess what, it's still sitting in my washer. I just thought about it while you were talking because I filled my lunch with a training call with a consultant. So if I would've just waited to do my laundry when I knew I had dedicated time to at least cleaning. But I do, I start little projects. I still have the bread out this morning for my toast. I'm literally looking around my house right now and seeing all of the little projects that I started today because I wasn't being focused.

Kiera Dent:

And I think that happens to all of us, right? I mean, how many office managers and doctors and TCs and hygienists and assistants have sticky notes up the wazoo. I think the dental industry keeps Post-It in business because we're constantly just taking them off. And then I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I forgot this project and this project and this project." So I would say get those to-do first and foremost in one place. I have a little bit of an anxiety attack for offices that just feel like they've got to-dos everywhere. You have it in your email, you have it on your post-it notes. You have it in your planner, you have it at home. And I'm like, "Holy moly, no wonder this feels exhausting for you." So first and foremost, condense it all into one place. I know I have mine. I have it in a planner and I actually work on it every single week on Sunday or Monday are my days that I actually put it all together so I have my entire list there.

            I am now going to start taking three of those items and actually assigning it to every single day and having that as my simple list. Tiff, that was genius because when you have all of them there, it's all there. Like, yes, I've got things in my email, but I literally pull it from my email and stick it into my planner. It sounds ridiculous. I have a paper planner #2021. I feel like I have old grandma status over here, but for me on my phone and on a digital calendar, I could not see the white space of where I could actually add in my projects. And so I decided to try paper, old school status, and I've been much more productive when I proactively plan.

            So I just love this thought of don't get overwhelmed by your to-do list. Just focus on the one thing that will move you forward. Yes, you can. As I say that out loud, I'm like, but, but, but, like what about all these other things? And I just think, to your point, Tiffanie, finish one thing to completion because then you're actually making steady progress and consistency over time is what moves the boulder down the hill or up the hill, I guess if you will. It's pretty easy to shove it down the hill, but going up the hill, you got to do that consistently day in, day out. And not getting overwhelmed by it will actually create more progress, more things done by being consistent.

Tiffanie Trader:

I love it. I love it so go make your lists, go pull your three items, go do all the things.

Kiera Dent:

And if you struggle like Tiff and I do, hire a coach. That's what we do in consulting. Literally, we help people see outside of their worlds because they're so inundated with it. We have coaches ourselves, we call each other and I'm like, "Tiff, consult me. Pretend I'm an office. What would you tell me to do because that's what I need from you." So if you guys struggle with that or you just want help, we coach office managers, we coach doctors, we coach all team members. So you guys reach out [email protected]. We'd love to welcome you as our newest Dental A Team member.

            Tiff, as always, thanks for just bringing a ton of value to our company, to the podcast. Love, love, love podcasting with you. And I appreciate you so much.

Tiffanie Trader:

Thank you. Thank you for having me and making me put this in my calendar so we actually get it done.

Kiera Dent:

Yeah, girl. All right, you guys, that's a wrap. Get that to-do list. Remember, focus on the one thing, you can't master your entire life in one week so master it little by little. And as always, thank you guys for listening and we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

            That wraps it up for another episode of the Dental A Team podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.