I’ve been interviewing high performers in a range of fields about how they win the mental game of time management. Some themes come up again and again. Other things are very individualized, such as the systems each person has built to fit their own life and work. I’ll be sharing the best of it here, starting with a surgeon who is refreshingly clear about where perfection matters and where it doesn’t.
Dr. Janelle Moulder is a gynecologic surgeon, a division director, and the medical director for surgical services in her department. When I asked what she would tell her 25-year-old self, she knew right away: done is better than perfect.
She sorts everything she does into three categories. Clinical care and surgical education get A+ effort. That is not negotiable. She works hard to be fully present with each of her patients, and doubly so on their day of surgery. A second category is things that just need to get done, without polish or perfection. The third group is things that aren’t clear priorities or don’t align with her goals. Those get a no, or better, a sponsorship. When she’s asked to write a book chapter, as an example, she might not take that on herself, solo. Instead, she’ll recruit an eager junior colleague, and offer to mentor them through it. Three people come out ahead. She is not up at 5am on a Saturday writing the chapter, the junior colleague gets an opportunity they’re thrilled about, and the person who asked gets what they needed.
“Patients are entrusting me, they deserve me 100% while I’m with them.”
It takes maturity to accept that we can’t do A+ work on everything. Part of the mental game is budgeting our energy and focus, and recognizing that spreading them evenly across everything leaves less for the work that actually needs them.
This week, pick one thing on your list that only needs to be done, not perfect, and hold yourself to that. More from my conversation with Janelle and other high performers in coming emails, including how she makes decisions once instead of over and over.
Christina
A self-guided online course that transforms how you think about and use your time.
