Dentaltown June 2020 - 22

Taking a "break"
I did take "a week off," which is funny to say considering the circumstances. I had originally
had the week of my kids' spring break scheduled off from the office. Because my kids didn't
have any distance-learning obligations and I was originally planning to be out of the office,
I stayed at home during that week. My time during the day was nice. We didn't start any of
the home projects we were originally planning to undertake during the break, and we didn't
do our weekend trip to visit friends in Ohio, but taking a break from going in to the office
and thinking about everything was nice.
During normal times, though, it always seemed like taking any time off from the office
resulted in an exponential increase in dramatic emergencies-and this time was no different.
I seem to be getting even more calls every day, and a higher percentage can't be handled over
the phone.
Speaking of handling things over the phone: Good lord, those phone calls take forever!
I much prefer delegating those calls to my staff. It seems like I can never get anything done
when I'm alone in the office because I spend so much time on the phone!
I've been keeping up with little projects around the office. Everything does take longer
when I don't have people following me around cleaning up after me. My staff all know I have
a habit of leaving messes everywhere I go, and they have been fantastic cleaning up my slack.
I've finished up with most of the little side projects and am starting to get into more of the "big"
stuff. I tore out a cabinet and mounted sliding shelves for all the autoclaves. I'm rearranging
the sterilization area for a better flow. I'm also planning out a centralized instrument storage
center, instead of having various packs tucked away in all the individual rooms. It's more of
an undertaking than I anticipated: I first need to inventory everything I use for procedures,
then figure out an efficient distribution of those items to try to minimize "waste." I almost
feel like I'm not going to have enough time to finish before the shutdowns end!
On the subject of shutdowns ending: There has been a lot of talk recently in the media and
on Dentaltown about things needing to open back up. In Illinois, things are still ambiguous.
The official stay-at-home order is in place until the end of the month, but there have been no
assurances and only vague responses from the governor about extending that time period.
Schools have been closed officially for the rest of the school year, so to me, the chances of the
orders not being extended into May are unlikely.
I did decide to pull the trigger on officially hunting for an associate. I put up my first listing
and decided to give the "active recruiting" service offered a try. In the ideal situation, I'd find
someone while everything is still shut down. I have the time available to conduct interviews
and such, but I don't want to settle for the wrong associate simply because I'm in a hurry. It
is another thing I'll have to balance when things pick back up again, but I think in the long
term, the juice will be worth the squeeze.
That does bring my thoughts back to the hunt for an assistant. I still have concerns about
timing. Even if I decide to hire the one strong candidate I interviewed, how much time do I
need to get her trained in our systems and my practice style? I also have the fast-approaching
deadlines of my current assistant leaving for dental school and another going on maternity
leave shortly after. ■

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Dentaltown June 2020

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