Welcome to A Scrub’s Life! I’m Leslie, and have been managing surgery centers for almost 20 years. I also provide support to ASC’s, from assisting with building new centers, to helping centers maintain accreditation and compliance. I have learned and experienced so much in my career, I decided to share some of those things with my colleagues. We live in a very responsible, highly regulated world, so I hope you’ll appreciate my lighthearted approach to the challenges we all face in taking good care of our patients, staff, doctors and facilities.
As you know, it takes a certain kind of person to manage a surgery center.
We have to be smart. We have to be great at multi-tasking, have a significant backbone and thick skin, super organized, and do it all with a smile. Some days are easier than others.
We get up 
with the birds and sometimes enjoy the stars at night as we are driving home. There are days when we feel appreciated, and days where, well, not so much.
You know those days..a nurse calls out when you were already short-staffed. You are missing a supply and a piece of equipment breaks. No one is getting lunch on time. Stressful is putting it mildly!
We need to be ever prepared for that scheduled, or worse, unexpected regulatory visit. We are Rock Stars. We keep our cool, and keep everything running.
One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.” He then pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table. He produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them one at a time into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes.” Then he said, “Really?”
He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing it to work down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not,” one of them answered. “Good!” he replied.
He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand and started dumping the sand in the jar until it filled the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Is this jar full?” “No!” the class shouted. Once again he said, “Good.”
Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?”
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!” “No,” the speaker replied, “that’s not the point.”
“The truth this illustration teaches us is that if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all. What are the ‘big rocks’ in your life? Your children, your loved ones, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching others, doing things that you love, your health; your mate. Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all. If you sweat about the little stuff then you’ll fill your life with little things and you’ll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff.”
So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the ‘big rocks’ in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.
– See more at: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadtime.html#sthash.YiNMdSMZ.dpuf
Stephen Covey (1996) tells a great story about the real things that we should devote our time to:
One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.” He then pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table. He produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them one at a time into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes.” Then he said, “Really?”
He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing it to work down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not,” one of them answered. “Good!” he replied.
He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand and started dumping the sand in the jar until it filled the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Is this jar full?” “No!” the class shouted. Once again he said, “Good.”
Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?”
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!” “No,” the speaker replied, “that’s not the point.”
“The truth this illustration teaches us is that if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all. What are the ‘big rocks’ in your life? Your children, your loved ones, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching others, doing things that you love, your health; your mate. Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all. If you sweat about the little stuff then you’ll fill your life with little things and you’ll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff.”
So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the ‘big rocks’ in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.
– See more at: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadtime.html#sthash.YiNMdSMZ.dpuf
So, thank you for what you do, and for checking out my blog! The goal is to be helpful, help you smile a little, and stress a little less! If it works, please subscribe and share. Thanks!
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