Proactive Practices Part 1: Triumph Over Reactive Tendencies

When I coached nurse leaders on a weekly basis, I wanted a magic wand to swish away all their daily reactive efforts. Imagine being responsible for the Emergency Department of a large hospital, or any size for that matter. The inability to predict the flow of your day may land you in a perpetual state of being overwhelmed and reactive. Or not. I have worked with amazing leaders who learned to build proactive practices that enabled them to control what they can control, so that all else has a shot at being manageable.

What can you, or the Emergency Department director, control? To start, you can create an ideal plan for your day that holds space for a certain amount of your priorities. We can control what we prioritize each day and every week. Regardless of the industry you are in, let’s assume these priorities: personal wellbeing, wellbeing of your team, wellbeing of those your team serves (clients, patients, internal or external customers).

Let’s do a quick exercise to tease out and align your priorities in three easy steps:

1. Take a look at your to-do list and pull together the things you desire to do today.
2. Mark each item with a P for personal, T for team, or O for other (clients, patients, internal or external customers).
3. Draw a line in front of those you will prioritize for today so you can celebrate with a checkmark once an item is completed.
   1. Example: ___ workout for 30 mins – P
   2. Example: ___ 1:1 meeting with ______ (team member) – T
   3. Example: ___ Meet with 6 patients – O

You will now have a list of your priorities for today. The next step is to calendar these things, meaning block the appropriate amount of time for each. If you struggle to find enough time blocks, consider what you do not have to do today, and what on your list can be done tomorrow.

We invite more reactivity when we do not plan accordingly for our priorities. At this point, you might be thinking, “That will never work for me, or my schedule.” For as long as you believe an obstacle is in your way, you will be correct. When you choose to look at your time and potential obstacles from the perspective of what serves you best and how you can plot priorities proactively, you will triumph over reactive tendances.