This article was originally published on LinkedIn as a part of their Influencer series.
Summer is traditionally the slow time of the year for healthcare. Summer in medical settings means vacations and staff coverage, new physicians fresh from residency, and more chances for the local kids to get creatively injured with school out. Even though summer might not have the intense volume of cold and flu season, or the intense number-crunching of the end of/beginning of the year, as a manager there’s always something demanding your attention. So when you need a vacation, you Need A Vacation. How do you achieve the balance of taking time off with being able to step in and manage if the need arises?
Access is the name of the game in achieving balance. I want to be able to go away knowing that I can easily get to things I need without a lot of fuss. That’s why I am such a fan of mobile technology that lets me stay informed or in touch when I’m away – whether at a conference, on vacation, or fitting in family or personal time.
The key to access is using your phone or tablet to enhance and protect your out-of-the-office time, not invade it. Access equals peace of mind and allows the total unwinding that is so critical to rebuilding your energy for the next round. While I’m taking time off this summer, these are the apps I’m using to stay in touch and give me the confidence to let go!
Access to My Comfort Zone: Chrome
A web browser as a must-have? Definitely.
Before I started using Chrome, my passwords, bookmarks, and web-history were all-over the place. Places, actually. I had one for my office PC, home Mac, iPad and my phone. No more. Now by signing into Chrome on my phone, I get a ton of enhanced usability for my phone’s mobile browser. I can close my laptop with 10 tabs open in the browser, open the phone’s version and have all 10 right back at my fingertips. The access to my desktop browser’s info means I don’t have to think about making sure what I want is saved to the right device.
Access to Documents: Box
Disclosure: Our firm resells Box to our clients
You’ve got files, you’ve got colleagues and staff, and you’ve got projects to get in on time. Content management and file sharing services like Dropbox, Google Drive and SugarSync are absolutely huge on phones and tablets and it’s not hard to see why: people want their stuff! Contracts, proposals, big media files, spreadsheets, cat pictures – everybody has something they want to to share, store, and work on with somebody else. Box sets itself apart in the healthcare industry with two things: a commitment to HIPAA compliance and integration with legacy enterprise applications. Box keeps your PHI secure, and works with the software you already have. Have you ever reviewed a press release and suggested changes from a balcony overlooking the beach? You should try it!
Access to Industry News: Flipboard
You may not want to read the news on vacation but if you do..
I love car rides. And train and plane rides too! But there can be a lot of waiting. Waiting in the airport, waiting in the train station, waiting for the journey to be over. I’m a pretty voracious reader of industry news and message boards. I also love Twitter and LinkedIn, and of course Facebook. Flipboard lets me aggregate all that into one place on my phone so I can crunch through updates and make sure I don’t miss any of the “good stuff.” And having all that at my fingertips means that I can stay on top of things when it’s convenient for me – and ignore the feeling that I am missing something.
What mobile apps are you using to achieve sanity and balance this summer?
