There’s something you need to hear: you’ve got too much on your plate! But it’s not just you—every single member of your team has filled up their plates, too. Dentists tend to think “busy” and “productive” mean the same thing. You might be busy, but that doesn’t mean you’re productive!

The problem isn’t that you’ve filled up your plate. The problem is that you’ve filled it with the wrong things. As captain of the ship, you probably feel obligated to tackle everything on your own. When you don’t ask for help, you spend more time on random tasks than actual dentistry.

It’s no wonder you feel burned out. Your plate is filled with tasks that make you miserable. What’s even worse, you’re not even good at them!

Wanna make room on your plate? Start by putting each task into one of these categories:

• You like the task, and you’re great at it.
• You like the task, and you’re sort of good at it.
• You don’t like the task, but you’re great at it.
• You don’t like the task, and you’re bad at it.

The goal is to complete tasks in those top two categories. A task might be in the bottom category for you but in the top category for someone else. Delegate the right tasks to the right people for a happier, more efficient team.

Here’s a quick video that demonstrates how to assign tasks to these four categories.