What did you do last week?

The NY Times reported that Elon Musk deepened the confusion and alarm of workers across the federal government by ordering them to summarize their accomplishments for the week, warning that a failure to do so would be taken as a resignation.

Shortly after Mr. Musk’s demand, which he posted on X, civil servants across the government received an email from the Office of Personnel Management with the subject line, “What did you do last week?”

The Google 10% rule, also known as the 70-20-10 principle, was instituted by Eric Schmidt during his time as CEO at Google. It suggests that employees should allocate 70% of their time to core business tasks, 20% to related projects, and 10% to new and unrelated projects.

In other words, what are you doing to bridge the now with the next with the new?

Documenting what you did last week can have several pros and cons depending on your goals and how you go about it.

Pros:

1. Increased Accountability:
2. Better Time Management:
3. Tracking Progress:
4. Reflection and Improvement:
5. Memory Aid:
6. Documentation for Meetings or Reports:
7. It creates a paper trail when you file suit
8. It helps you prepare for your worthless exit interview
9. Notes for your tell all book
10. More things to add to your LinkedIn profile defining all the things you did well so you can get promoted to your next level of incompetence

Cons:

1. Time-Consuming:
2. Potential for Overthinking:
3. Might Lead to Redundancy:
4. Risk of Being Too Vague:
5. Pressure to Document Everything:
6. Can Cause Focus Drift:
7. Emphasizing inputs, not outputs or impact or value
8. Minimizes the value of creative boredom
9. Intimidating, demoralizing and possibly illegal
10. Gives you less time to find your next job

Employees across America are feeling increasingly detached from their jobs.

They are seeking new job opportunities at the highest rate since 2015, while overall satisfaction with their employer has returned to a record low.

Yet, unlike the “Great Resignation,” many frustrated employees are struggling to make the leap to a new employer in a cooling job market and economy marred by inflation. Instead, they are left feeling stuck with their discontent.

Gallup refers to this shift as the “Great Detachment.”

Are you stuck? Frame it to tame it.

There is an easy answer for why Michael Phelps, the most decorated and accomplished Olympian of all time, knows the idiosyncrasies about himself: He writes down even the most minuscule details of his day in a journal, then reads over his entries later on, viewing it as a tool to better understand himself.

Intrinsic motivation is a much more compelling way to get results than external threats, sticks and intimidation.

Most doctors' list will include:

• Addressing administrative tasks
• Using inefficient EHR systems
• Dealing with patient no-shows
• Spending excessive time on paperwork
• Sacrificing personal and family time to complete administrative tasks outside of regular work hours.
• Calling IT to come and fix their computer or Epic software
• Fixing their fax machine
• Responding to AI generated prior authorization denials
• Contesting reimbursement denials
• Figuring out how to use the latest shiny new objects that are neither safe nor effective
• Taking care of their older parents who live 1500 miiles away
• Trying to book childcare and make enough to pay for it
• Finding time to go to gun safety and self-defense school
• Wasting endless hours applying for an NIH RO1 grant that you probably won't get because the people who select the winners have been fired for approving too many grants with unacceptable indirect costs attached

Is it time for a dose of the Department of Sick care Efficiency (DOSE) at the federal and state levels too?

Make your bed every day. Then write something or create a YouTube.. Welcome to the GSD Club.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs on Substack