Managing stress. Increasing productivity.
The articles over the past two week have really gotten a reaction. Seems that I'm not alone in finding dentistry stressful.
Let's continue with the exploration of managing stress in the dental office and at the same time increasing productivity
Before we start I need to mention that I have no psychological qualifications whatsoever so I can't advise you from that point of view. These articles are about management tactics that work for me to reduce day-to-day stress in the office.
The side benefit (or main benefit, if you're not stressed!) of these tactics is that they will also make you more productive – you will achieve more per unit time.
Idea #2
Stop trying to be everything to everyone.
Early on in my career I found that I wasn't cut out to do children's dentistry. I was no good at it and found it stressful.
Treating 4 out of 5 children was sort of OK but the 5th one made me regret I ever became a dentist. I'm sure you've all been there.
You book a child in for a nice, easy "10-minute" filling. 45 minutes later the child has screamed the place down. You finally got a filling into the tooth but it is rubbish and will probably drop out tomorrow. You're running 30 minutes late, the practice is in chaos, you are frazzled and so is your nurse. The mother complains about the fee because "it's only a baby tooth".
Dentures too can be diabolical. I remember a dentist I worked with years ago – a lovely guy with a very even temper – dropping a denture on the floor and stamping on it when the patient came back for the 6th adjustment. He told the patient to collect a refund and "GET OUT!"
Also, it's impossible to get on with all personality types. Some people just rub you up the wrong way. Working with such people is a recipe for stress. You know the ones – you feel a knot in your stomach when you see their name on the day list.
Life is too short.
Stop doing treatments you don't like. Stop seeing people you don't like. Refer them to your friend down the hallway or down the street.