When you start the day, you know that it is going to be a busy one. You know that there will not be enough time to do all you want to do. So, do you know what you’re going to focus your limited time on before you start your working day or do you, like most others, figure it out as you go?
Which you do will have a big impact on you, your people and your care home.
What will you really achieve?
If you often get into work and think, “What am I doing today?” it’s highly likely that you’ll not get everything done that you wanted to.
This is because by not having a firm idea – a plan – of what you need to get done, it’s far more likely that you will take what’s at the top of your pile, that you will pick the easier tasks, that you will accept being interrupted by others, that your meetings will drag out far longer than they need to.
At the end you will have had a busy day but what will have really achieved?
Because you haven’t planned your day, then over the ensuing weeks you will fall further behind and your to-do list will grow, the demands on others who need your input will increase and your stress levels will sky rocket.
And what of the impact on your people who need your help and guidance but who might find themselves waiting longer for it because you have a mountain of other stuff that you need to get through?
On a day-to-day basis, the impact of not knowing what you are going to do today may not be noticeable. But accumulate this uncertainty over weeks and you will find your lack of planning having a huge impact on the successful running of your care home.
What you achieve – or don’t – today will impact what you achieve this week, which will impact what you achieve this month, this quarter, this year.
What are you doing today?
Knowing what you aim to achieve each day is vital. It’s also much easier to do if you have a bigger plan – a strategy.
Know what you need to achieve to get and keep your care home running how you want it to run and break it down into what that means quarterly, monthly and weekly.
Do that and you will have a clear idea of what you need to do achieve this week and hence what you need to do today.
