My talk for trainees for the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation

1. Joyce Lee, MD, MPH
http://www.doctorasdesigner.com/
Twitter: @joyclee
@joyclee 1
Decreasing Attention Residue,
Increasing Productivity, and
Optimally Using Distraction

2. JAMA Pediatrics (Social Media
Editor)
Unitio
Samuelson Associates
Verily

3. Lifehacking
“any trick, shortcut, skill, or
novelty method that increases
productivity and efficiency, in all
walks of life”
@joyclee 3

4. @joyclee 4

5. -Gloria Mark
@joyclee 5
11 minutes Time spent by each
employee on any given project before
being interrupted and whisked off to do
something else
3 minute tasks comprised the 11-
minute projects (e-mail messages, reading
a Web page working on a spreadsheet)
25 minutes for worker to return
to the task after distraction

6. Attention Residue
Task A -> Task B
A residue of your attention remains
stuck thinking about the original task
The word puzzle experiment:
Group A: interrupt subject doing word
puzzle & tell them that they needed to
move on to a new task
Group B: let the subjects finish before
giving them the next task
@joyclee 6

7. “To learn hard
things quickly, you
must focus intensely
without distraction”
-Cal Newport
@joyclee 7

8. Deep Work Scheduling
DO NOT do this:
Ad hoc scheduling of blocks of time
for writing
DO this:
A set daily starting time for writing
@joyclee 8

9. Batching at
multiple
levels
@joyclee 9
Year: Teaching=fall semester;
Research=spring/summer
Semester: For 3-4 days=close door and use
email out-of-office auto-responder

10. Location: Decide on a location for
deep work
Rules: Ban Internet use, or maintain a
metric such as words produced per
twenty-minute interval
Ritual: Start with a good cup of
coffee or integrate light exercise
@joyclee 10

11. The round-trip business-class
ticket to Tokyo
@joyclee 11

12. @joyclee 12

13. I stopped taking advice.
I created a "feelgood" email folder.
I work fixed hours and in fixed
amounts.
I try to be the best "whole" person I
can.
I found real friends.
I have fun "now".
@joyclee 13

14. Fixed-schedule productivity:
Set a limit of fifty hours a week and
work backwards
Reduce shallow work:
Quotas on the major sources of shallow
academic endeavors
@joyclee 14

15. Meetings
Limit to 25 minutes
Group the timing of meetings
Cancel if not necessary
Talk by phone/videoconference
“Standing” meetings “literally”
Block out days in your calendar
@joyclee 15

16. E-mail
@joyclee 17
Do not email first thing in the AM
Turn off notify
Do not leave e-mail open
Check e-mail infrequently (12 PM &
4 PM)
Process to zero (Inbox Zero)

17. Tip #1: Make People Who Send You
E-mail Do More Work
Sender Filter:
“If you have an offer, opportunity, or
introduction that might make my life
more interesting, e-mail me at
interesting [at] calnewport.com. For
the reasons stated above, I’ll only
respond to those proposals that are a
good match for my schedule and
interests”
@joyclee 18

18. @joyclee 19

19. @joyclee 20

20. Tip #2: Do More Work When You
Send or Reply to E-mails
E-mail: “It was great to meet you last week.
I’d love to follow up on some of those
issues we discussed. Do you want to grab
coffee?”
“I’d love to grab coffee. Let’s meet at the
Starbucks on campus. Below I listed two days
next week when I’m free. For each day, I
listed three times. If any of those day and
time combinations work for you, let me know.
I’ll consider your reply confirmation for
the meeting. If none of those date and time
combinations work, give me a call at the
number below and we’ll hash out a time that
works. Looking forward to it.”
@joyclee 21

21. Tip #2: Do More Work When You
Send or Reply to E-mails
E-mail: “I took a stab at that article we
discussed. It’s attached. Thoughts?”
“Thanks for getting back to me. I’m going
to read this draft of the article and
send you back an edited version annotated
with comments on Friday (the 10th). In
this version I send back, I’ll edit what
I can do myself, and add comments to draw
your attention to places where I think
you’re better suited to”
@joyclee 22

22. Inbox Zero
@joyclee 23
(<2 minutes)
(Do the task)
(>2 min)

23. @joyclee 24
http://pomodorotechnique.com/

24. Decide on the task to be done
Set the pomodoro to 25 minutes
Work on the task until the timer
rings; record “x”
Take a short break (5 minutes)
Every four "pomodoros" take a
longer break (15–20 minutes)
@joyclee 25

25. Cut down on interruptions
Improve mental agility
Decrease time-related anxiety
@joyclee 26

26. Be Lazy: Delegate
Pulling PDF’s
Formatting slides
Manuscript submission
formatting/websites
@joyclee 27

27. People completed the tasks 10 to 44
percent more quickly on a 42 inch
screen vs a 15 inch screen
@joyclee 28

28. @joyclee 29

29. @joyclee 30

30. @joyclee 31

31. @joyclee 32

32. @joyclee 33

33. @joyclee 34

36. Q: Are there any other uses
of social media in clinical
medicine or research that
you want to learn about?
A: “No. This is a complete
waste of time. This is not
real research. The fad will
die out soon.”

37. You are a
Public Physician
whether you like
it or not

41. Conversations cannot be controlled,
they can only be joined
-Facebook Effect

43. When a physician asks, “Should I post this
on social media?” the answer does not
depend on whether the content is
professional or personal but instead
depends on whether it is appropriate for a
physician in a public space

47. Twitter: @joyclee
http://www.doctorasdesigner.com/
http://twittersuperuser.com/
http://www.healthdesignby.us/

50. @joyclee 51