Doctors have recently been under pressure to write prescriptions for patients for over the counter meds, just so the purchases can conform with new rules regarding flexible spending accounts. What this results in is doctors who are already WAY over worked, over stressed and generally ready to stop doctoring, having to deal extra, tedious hassles just to serve their patient’s financial needs.
EVERY profession and component of life has a list of things that are unavoidable hassles. Those are the things that are hidden in the ‘cost of doing business’ or in ‘the cost of being on a staff/team’, or in ‘the cost of being in the family’. The question isn’t “do they exist?” but rather, “how can I make sure I am not controlled by them?”
1. Eliminate them if possible. Ask yourself the question: “Do I really need to be doing this? Does it really help my (co-workers/client/patient/family) enough to keep doing this?” If the answer is ‘no’, then stop doing it. When people ask you to, graciously say ‘no’.
2. Minimize them if you can’t eliminate. Are there ways to isolate the hassle?
2. Delegate them if possible. Maybe even to a virtual assistant if you are a solo-entrepreneur. Michael Hyatt had a great post recently on hiring a virtual assistant. These kinds of tasks are perfect for an assistant.
3. Lump them together. By writing my blog posts for the entire week at the same time (the first half of Monday), I find that I’m not ruled by my blog or by social media on a daily basis. My time is used most effectively. You can find more on time blocking by downloading the resource at the bottom of my homepage Writing isn’t a hassle for me, I really enjoy it, but posting to the blog every day can dominate my work life, unless I put it all together.
4. Turn them into service opportunities for clients. One of the great things about these little ‘nuisances’ is that we can begin to celebrate them as ways that we serve our family and our customers. I HATE cleaning the bathroom for instance, but it is a great way to let my wife know that I love her.
5. Remember EVERY field is about people, and when you are doing something, your doing it for people! Every career path, no matter how technical, is about people. When you engage in those ‘hassles’ that bless or serve people around you (be they clients or not), your really creating a way to say to them ‘I care about you’. They’ll remember it!
What are the hassle areas for your job or career path? How can you eliminate, or minimize or leverage them?
Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I am a life and leadership coach, a parent, a husband and follower of God...in inverse order. I love baseball, movies and cooking too!
