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How can I find time to read all of my professional journals? Dear Kathy, Can you share any tips to deal with the large amout of reading material I receive as a medical professional? I have an initial storage problem until I get to the many journals I receive. Then I have trouble sorting through and reading/tossing them rapidly. Are you suggesting that I use a tickler system to put journals in for reading on a certain day, and then on that day allow a specifically designated time period to read them? As it stands now, I never seem to get to them, but I feel bad about throwing them away. If I toss them and discover I need them later, I have to pay to get articles through Medline and it takes a while. Looking at them sitting on my desk every day just makes me feel guilty. All my cabinets and surfaces are overflowing with reading materials! Any suggestions? Sincerely, Dear Aspiring Speed Reader, The problem you describe is a very common one. I have outlined a process that you can follow to help you make good decisions about what you read and what you toss. Identify your purpose for reading. Are you reading to deepen your own personal medical knowledge ... to find resources for staff teaching purposes ... for good resources to share with your patients? Do you need to read the article thoroughly, or would skimming it be sufficient? (If you skim an article, you can tear it out and file it away to come back to it when you need to draw on that knowledge more thoroughly.) Unsubscribe or toss. Once you are clear about your purpose for reading, determine which journals offer you consistent value. Here's my definition of clutter, which may help you make this decision. CLUTTER: anything you own, possess, or do that does not enhance your life on a regular basis. To help you decide, ask yourself these two powerful questions: (1) Will reading this journal (or this article) enhance my professional life? (2) What's the worst thing that could happen if I do not read this? Since you cannot read everything you receive -- even if you were to read full-time -- you must be discerning about what you keep. Some of the junk journals just show up without you subscribing, and it may be difficult for you to get off the mailing lists for many of those. Be clear about what you will toss, and throw those away the first time you handle them. If you have staff who sort the mail before it arrives in your inbox, give them a list of junk journals to toss so they never even reach your desk! Triage. Once you've reduced the journals you receive or keep, triage them into two groups -- one for very select journals you want to read more thoroughly, and one for the journals you will only skim through. Create two baskets (one for READ and one for SKIM) with a list of the appropriate journals posted above each one. Perhaps your staff can even put them in the appropriate basket for you. Once a month, go through the journals you want to skim through and tear out the articles to keep for future reference. Toss everything else. Then file them so you can find them when you need them. I highly recommend a software program called The Paper Tiger -- a filing system that offers great cross-referencing abilities so you can find the article by topic or key word, no matter how you filed it. Schedule time to read. If you're waiting until you "find" the time to read, it will never happen. If it's important enough to read, you'll need to carve out time to do it. Consider these possibilities:
You can use your tickler file to place specific reading materials in specific dates that correspond with some of the above possibilities. For example, if you are flying somewhere next Tuesday, identify what you will take with you to read and place it in your tickler file for that day (along with your airline ticket or printout of your e-ticket confirmation code). If you have scheduled exercise time into your calendar and you would like to read while doing stationery exercise, put reading materials in the tickler for the days you will go to the gym if that will help you remember to take it with you. In other words, tee yourself up for success in getting through your reading pile! Lose the guilt. Guilt only adds stress to your life. You have 168 hours in a week, and there's only so much you can do. Decide what's most important, and then let go of the rest. If you've paid good money for a subscription and you never read it, either cancel the subscription or carve out time to read it. Some professionals feel like they should subscribe to certain journals, yet they don't have the time to read them. Should, gotta, and have to are guilt words. "I choose to..." is empowering. When you catch yourself "shoulding" on yourself, ask "What do I choose to do?" If you need assistance juggling your responsibilites, check out my De-Clutter Your Life teleclass or the free tips on organizing your time and your life. Sincerely,
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