Work. It’s inescapable, and part of survival. Most of us engage in some form of work. We have bills to pay, busy lives to manage, or families that need assistance to varying degrees. And there are many kinds of work that people undertake. There’s ‘Reactionary Work’, which entails our responses to messages and requests, and is based on our reactions to what comes into our lives rather than being proactive in what matters most to us. There’s ‘Planning Work’, where we design our methods for getting things done – and decide how our energy should be allocated. It helps us become more efficient. Then there’s ‘Procedural Work’, which encompasses the administrative / maintenance areas of our lives – paying bills, tracking old emails, updating a deck for a business presentation. We also need to list a category called ‘Insecurity Work’ – which refers to the activities we undertake out of our own insecurities, like obsessively checking statistics related to our business. This work doesn’t move the ball forward for us in any measurable way – it only briefly reassures us that everything is okay. Our last category is ‘Problem-Solving’ Work – which is the field that requires our full brain power and focus, whether it be writing a new business plan or analyzing the features of a new product. When we’re in Problem-Solving Work mode, we’re utilizing raw creativity to find answers.

As one of Canada’s foremost travel nursing agencies, Advanced Home Care Solutions considers our travel nursing team as one of our most valuable resources and consistently encourages and models best practices for these hand-picked professionals – especially when it comes to maximizing the workday. With this in mind, and considering the various types of work most of us engage in daily, we think it’s important to talk about how to get the most out of our workdays – no matter what they look like. And in the travel nursing industry, making the most of every workday can have a huge payoff in terms of job satisfaction and personal rewards.

These are simple concepts, but they ring truer than ever. First, the best workdays are possible when you choose your attitude. Sometimes that means focusing on solutions as opposed to problems – but being able to decide how you approach circumstances can be a life-changing skill. Along with that positive attitude, great benefit can be derived from embracing change. If you’re able to stay involved, keep your skills current and even become a stakeholder in the implementation of new changes, your relevancy will remain unquestionable. Another way to truly maximize your workday is to make time for focused work. That ‘Problem-Solving Work’ we talked about earlier? You need fuel to harness that engine – and if you designate some ‘you time’ to really focus, the results will speak for themselves. Optimizing your workday can also happen when you seek out mentors. These are the people we look up to and emulate, who believe in us and offer support with work challenges and difficult decisions – and they can make a difference. And finally, work at learning and growing. This dynamic is generated by developing networks, volunteering, writing down goals and reviewing them with your superiors. People who learn are people who advance – both professionally and personally.

So let’s all leverage our time and efforts to make the most of every workday – wherever they are and whatever they look like.