Working as a dental administrator will make you flex your multitasking muscles frequently, and your job will be to make sure office functions are running smoothly. As the glue holding a busy dental office together, you’ll have many duties on your hands, as you’ll likely be responsible for tasks like clerical work, financial/billing duties, taking phone calls, and scheduling appointments. Things can pile up as the days get busier, but with the right attitude and strategies, you can get through your workload with ease.
Read on to learn some important time management tips you can use throughout your career as a dental administrator.
Manage Your Tasks Effectively and Work Downward Based on Deadlines
Since you’ll probably be working in a fast-paced environment, it’s important you make sure you know which office tasks need to get done soonest and organize everything you have to do for the day based on time sensitivity. If your boss gives you something that needs to be done within a very timeframe, hold off on your other tasks and be sure it gets done. Making a list with a plan for your day is an important part of the job, but even more important is ensuring that all your tasks are completed in the correct order. Especially since you will likely learn how to maximize your efficacy with practice management while at dental administration school, the importance of prioritizing tasks cannot be understated.
Tasks can pile up in dental administration, but it’s extremely important to prioritize them
Manage Distractions Well in Your Dental Administrator Career
Working in a busy dental office can pave the way for all kinds of variables in your day at work. Appointments can get cancelled and rescheduled. Your information database on patients can fill up quickly. Tasks can unexpectedly get placed on your workflow at the last minute. Even random noises or your telephone ringing can act as a distraction and threaten your momentum. It’s important you don’t let these situations — or other such distractions — throw you off while working, as these are things you can’t necessarily plan for to begin with. Be calm and focused, and make sure you have a plan in mind for completing your tasks in case distractions show themselves.
Be wary of distractions, and stay focused on your day to day tasks
Multitask — But Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin
Just like in your practical training, you’ll be using dental software on the job for scheduling appointments and billing patients, among other things — and as we’ve said already, things can stack up quickly. Therefore, being able to multitask is extremely important for your dental administrator career. Although being able to jump between tasks easily is a great skill to have, it’s also important to remember that you shouldn’t let yourself get too easily overwhelmed. Be sure to focus on one thing at a time whenever possible, and don’t give yourself unnecessary stress by trying to flip between tasks at a lightning-fast pace. You can’t get everything done at the same time, so don’t push yourself further than your limits.
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