Med spa directors can crush vampire tasks and boost productivity with these hacks

Garlic won’t scare these vampires away–but building an arsenal of productivity hacks will.

“Vampire tasks” are repetitive or tedious administrative tasks that zap your energy and keep you from completing more critical job responsibilities.

Though necessary, these tasks distract you from high-value projects and activities like following up with patients or training a new injector. 

Some common vampire tasks include:

• Checking and responding to emails

• Organizing computer files

• Tracking expenses

• Scheduling and organizing meetings

• Posting completed content to your website or socials

Vampire tasks aren’t just energy-zapping, they can also cause “productivity guilt” that makes you less engaged and satisfied at work.

And women are particularly susceptible to it. 

One research study showed that three in five women feel like they don’t do or achieve enough in the workplace.

As a med spa director, you’ve got a lot on your plate and productivity is key to your success.

Instead of getting lost in your inbox or fussing over the perfect Instagram post, try these tricks to optimize every hour of your day and keep vampire tasks at bay.

List out your tasks for the day

Before you say “sounds obvious,” ask yourself, is this something you do?

Taking a few minutes at the beginning of your day to create a to-do list of your tasks will keep you focused, productive, and accountable. 

If you have clinical responsibilities, include patient appointments and any necessary prep work for the treatments on your list.

Use whatever system works best for you. It can be as simple as a Google Doc or spreadsheet, or you can use a work management tool like Asana or Monday. It’s probably easiest to use a doc or spreadsheet and then plug them into your work management tool (if you use one) after you’ve completed the two steps below.

Identify and label your vampire tasks 

After you’ve written out your to-dos for the day, identify the vampire tasks on your list.

Though vampire tasks can vary person to person, you typically have these characteristics. They are: 

• Tedious

• Repetitive 

• Energy draining

Use these guidelines and the list of examples at the beginning of this article to help you identify your vampire tasks.

Then, create a separate section or header on your to-do list for vampire tasks, or if you’re using a work management tool, you can create a designated board. Doing so will help you keep an eye on them so you can prevent them from sucking up your day. 

Put your other tasks in order of priority 

Prioritizing the items on your list ensures that the urgent and time-sensitive tasks get completed before their deadlines. While there are lots of methods out there for determining priority level, using your best judgment is usually sufficient. 

For example, if some of your high-impact tasks include:

• Place orders for filler, gauze, and soap

• Prep work for tox appointments

• Review new applications for nurse injector role

• Tox appointment - 1pm

• Tox appointment - 3pm

• Create an SMS campaign for your upcoming promo

You might reorder them as follows:

• Prep work for tox appointments

• Tox appointment - 1pm

• Tox appointment - 3pm

• Create an SMS campaign for your upcoming promo

• Place orders for filler, gauze, and soap

• Review new applications for nurse injector role

Once you have your list of vampire tasks and your list priority tasks, devote your full attention to completing one at a time. Start with your priority tasks and sprinkle vampire tasks between projects or when you need a break from things that require more thought and focus.

The reality is that as the day goes on, there’s less of a chance priority items will get done if you don't start them early.

As you complete each task, check them off your list. It can be really satisfying.

Timebox some of your workload

Timeboxing is a productivity hack that’s been proven to sharpen focus and reduce the amount of time it takes to complete tasks.

It involves limiting a task to a fixed but realistic period of time. 

In timeboxing, you estimate how much time a task should take, set a timer, and move onto the next task when the timer goes off, even if you’re not done.

And vampire tasks are great candidates for this tactic.

Here’s how to do it.

1. Create a timebox for your task.

The first step is to pick a task to timebox and estimate how long it will take to complete. Checking your practice inbox and responding to emails or posting already-created content to your website are great ones to try. You can block the time off on your calendar or use any system that works for you to keep track of the time limit you set. The time limit will motivate you to work efficiently and help you get to other important tasks.

2. Set a timer.

Next, set a timer for your timebox and start working on your task. When the timer goes off, it’s time to move on.

3. Take a short break.

Though it may be tempting to move right on to the next timebox, it’s important to take a few minutes between each task. Chat with a patient, check your phone or instant messages, eat lunch, or have a snack. Stepping away can actually boost productivity and give you a fresh perspective. 

4. Repeat the process.

Move on to your next to-do item even if you didn’t finish the task you timeboxed. You’ll want to leave a little time at the end of the day or the next morning to finish any tasks you didn’t finish. Over time, you should get better at predicting how long tasks take and complete most of them within the timeboxes you set.

You can also check in with yourself to see what you learned about how long tasks take or what tends to distract you or slow your progress. Apply those learnings to the next day’s timeboxes.

Delegate to team members 

People in leadership roles often fall into the trap of thinking they need to complete everything themselves.

You don’t, and you shouldn’t.

Instead, delegate.

Delegating a few tasks to your front desk or one of your injectors who has more bandwidth is an excellent way to get more done and help your teammates grow at the same time. Most people are happy to have the opportunity to learn new things and have a greater impact on the business. 

Spending a little time upfront to teach them how to accomplish the task if it's new to them is worth it. Going forward, you can assign that task to them and they’ll get faster over time.

There are plenty of time-saving tricks out there, and these are just a few you can try. There’s no silver bullet for maximizing productivity and everyone is different. Start with listing out your tasks, timeboxing, and delegating. Over time, you and your team will get into a groove that works best for you.