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I applaude all who are able to balance all their jobs; I doubt I could even do 2I!! nm

Posted By: tired fingers on 2007-06-19
In Reply to: Attn: people with 3 jobs - romey

xx


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Yes, if I could have the right balance of
administrative support and the power to hire/fire employees who are worth keeping/letting go.

Yes, I would.

How to balance it all.
I've been doing MT for 7 looooong years now and have recently gone back to school (pre-med).  I've had to find a new job, a child with ADD/depression who takes massive amounts of one on one time to get school work done, etc., and another little one.  I'm struggling getting work done and my homework.  I took a fairly light load (13 credits) but am just feeling overwhelmed.  Any time saving tips would be greatly appreciated!
It's tough to balance it all.
I've got a very full life, too. DH puts in a lot of hours at his job, but he doesn't see that I put in just as many. When he takes a break at work, he gets to sit down somewhere and actually eat or drink a Starbucks coffee. I have to make my own coffee, drop a kid off, pick a kid up or swap out a load of laundry during my "breaks" just to keep up. He does put in long hours at his job, and he's too tired to help out with household chores. He doesn't have time to get his errands done during the day either because he's got a demanding job. The kids do help out around here, too, but they have really full schedules with school, sports, jobs and friends. We've got pets contributing to the mess. Even my relatives call during the day for help with stuff. Cooking, grocery shopping, errands, bills and finances all fall on me to do. It's a load of bunk. I told DH I wasn't going to do MT full-time any more because of everything else I do around here. Why should I make as much money (or more) than he does, work just as many hours, and do EVERYTHING else that is expected of me? I even got hired part-time at an MT job, but they're trying to creep the hours up on me again. Plus, I have a second part-time job that's pretty demanding and just not worth what they pay me. I've got people demanding of me from sunrise to sunset, and I'm sick of it all! I'd like to sit on my backside and watch a TV program or movie for a change. I'd like to be have time to pursue my hobbies.

You (we) gotta get mean! JUST SAY NO to all the people badgering you all the time. Don't answer the phone or the door. Use caller ID and put a "do not disturb" note on the door. Lock or close your office door if you have one. Stay focused. Set work goals for yourself. I type at least 30 minutes of dictation before taking a break to go swap out laundry and stretch, then I get back to it. Assess your life and see what you can cut back on or streamline. Make a list of daily chores that take less than 5 minutes to do, and do those throughout the day. Delegate, ask for help.
How do you balance time
This especially causes problems for me working at home. I help take care of grandchildren and help my children also, hubby, pets, housework, cooking, errands, etc. I can't seem to balance that with my work. It cuts my production with the constant interruptions.
There is a balance though, people who are too social
People who tend to spend a lot of time alone seem to be a little sad.  Just mix it up a little and find your balance.  For me, if i'm around people too much, I feel absolutely drained, but if i'm totally isolated, I feel trapped and sad.  So I socialize a couple times a week by taking classes, seeing family members, talking to neighbors, meeting up with a friend, and thats enough.  Just not everyday, maybe not even every two days!
Balance Ball chair. Has anyone tried?
I found this in a catalogue: http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product/95-1004

I have a balance ball, and now and then I sit on it at my desk. It really does feel great, but the problem is keeping it steady. It's large and I have a hard time keeping myself at a comfy distance from the keyboard. I was thinking of getting this chair as a "supplemental" chair. I don't think it would work for 8 hours a day, but I think it would help alleviate some pressure and strain for periods during my work sessions.

And, this may be TMI - but this past summer I had a breast reduction. (Best thing I've ever done for myself!) The change in my body has definitely affected my posture and has alleviated pain in my back and shoulders. But I really need to strengthen my back and obliques more. I thought this chair might help with that.

Has anyone used this type of chair, or even used a balance ball at their desks? What do you think?
balance...sm (long message)
just wanted to encourage you. i suffer from burnout too (30+ years in this industry would burn out anyone!) =) ...but I have found ways to overcome it.

i would suggest that you NOT change companies. often when we're really stressed, making major changes is the LAST thing we should do.

for me, i find if i lower my MT expectations and quit being as perfectionistic as i want to be, i decrease the stress load. if you have the ESL from h*ll leave the allowed amounts of blanks or let QA deal with them and move on! you have nothing to prove to these difficult dictators...i try not to take it personally that they don't give a rip that they make our job nearly impossible....

i also need to keep my work life and home/personal/creative/school/community/family roles in balance. i work 2 jobs (1 MT, 1 not, go to school--online, and am a single mom raising 2 kids--older now) IT CAN BE DONE! And burnout can be BEAT!

if you need some moral support let me know--i'll give you my email addy.

ALSO, as far as the CTS, for YEARS I've had to wear typing gloves...best ones I've found are "MouseMitts" http://www.mousemitt.com/wrist.html
i have no affiliation with them...just passing on a good product that's saved me from having to have surgery...

hang in there...there is a creative solution to your burnout...

now, back to MT work for me!!!
=)
The OP was asking how other MTs balance homelife and work....
she didn't ask to be judged on whether or not she had experience working outside the home, et cetera...if you don't have anything productive to say to her than why bothering posting a response...obviously it sounds like she has a lot going on in her life and just needs some positive encouragement not judgement by others who feel they are more "grounded"....
Any advice on finding balance... sm

with working as an MT, the ebb and flow of the business of IC working from a pool, being a mother of a 10 year-old and a wife.  How do you find the time for a well balanced family and work life?  Finding time to be with your growing children, teaching them values, finding time for your relationship with spouse so that all of your family are happy, working as and MT at home.  I find I work way too long although I am still in the learning phase of my company just starting full time.  I find my daughter is growing up and I barely have time for her or for my husband.  I want to provide a happy home and I want my daughter to learn values.  She is having trouble at school and at home with her attitude. 


Due to finanancial difficulties we had to move in with my mother-in-law and father-in-law and it really is not the best situation but could not be helped.  I am slow as an MT.  I just have a hard time finding a good balance for my family and working.  I wondered how some of you out there do it and are happy with your work life and family life raising children and finding time for a well-balanced relationship with your spouse.   My huband is trying to find a job now working as a cook in a hospital.  He just has to wait for the hiring manager to contact him. 


I appreciate any advice.


Having a couple zero-balance accounts open is okay . . .
but the available credit DOES count just the same as having that same amount charged.  Lenders want to see open, good-rated accounts . . . just not so many that you have the potential for LA arge debt-to-income ratio.  Keeping 2-3 is good.  More than that isn't.  Hth. 
They are trying desperately to balance their runaway budget
Have you heard about the new naturalization process aimed at 11 million illegals in the country... along with some hoops to jump through (Learning English - ???) etc., they must pay 2000 dollars.

Do the math 11 million x 2000
its not a lot but its something
How do you find a balance in this type of work...

with family, friends, hobbies, etc and still have time to type!  Is it possible, if so, how?


Do not close credit card accts with 0 balance
I get offered and have used no interest credit cards for years.  They are usually no interest for 1-1/2 years.  When it is time for them to start charging interest, I roll them over into another no interest card.  I have never closed an acct, just cut up the cards and forget about them.  My FICO score is excellent, as is my credit.  I get offers for no interest cards at least once a week so it obviously hasn't hurt me. 
I read a book once that burnout was caused by being out of balance. sm
Working too much and not giving time to other parts of your life is the culprit in the job arena. Variety is the spice of life, so focusing on balancing your job, your need for a good cash flow, with times to enjoy yourself is essential.

It takes work, and fortunately I have an S/O that demands that I take time for us to have fun and for "me" to have fun as an individual.

Well, that is incorrect information. You should leave your 0 balance accounts open sm
that shows that you are responsible and not over your head in debt. When you have a credit line of 15,000 and your balance is 0, that is a great asset. I am a mortgage loan officer myself, and the mortgage brokers want to see open accounts with 0 balances. That also helps you debt to income ratio, which in turn increases your credit score!
Most banks have auto numbers to call to find out balance. SM
You could call bank tomorrow morning. Maybe put some charges on credit card, but anyway call them.

As stated, it is taken out immediately. When I purchase stuff and use it, but forget to put it in checkbook, recording will tell me as soon as I arrive home what was spent.
They are checking accounts with higher interest, minimum balance required, I believe.
dd
Started yesterday, August 1st...balance calender year in Tennessee..nm
=
supposed to be, after people lose their jobs, they are forced to take part-time, lower-paying jobs..
with little to no benefits. service jobs. where are you going to work in a few years, when Medical Transcription is replaced by technology? McDonald's, Walmart? you really going to like that?
Several jobs on Monster & CareerBuilder for inhouse office jobs down there through an
s
I did 3 jobs for a while about 3 years ago, you burn out quick, I was doing 3 MT jobs though...after
10 months I cut down to 2 as I don't like to have all my eggs in one basket.  But I am considering going down to 1 in September for my sanity, its a good steady job so financally it should not be an issue.  I have 2 right but have not worked the 1 in about 3 weeks due to some problems at their end, supposed to learn a VA account but not sure if I want to pursue it right now or not, they are waiting to hear from me at this point. I still have a lot going on with chemo, etc. so am mulling things over.  But if you have a full-time day job, then I would just go with 1 part-time MT job at night, unless 1 is during the week, and the other weekends only, then of course you will be working 7 days a week, very tiring I know.  I have been working 7 days a week for 3 years now but I do slack off now and then of course to recharge and get sleep etc. But burnout happens fast and I doubt you want to lose your day job so be careful. Good luck.
Two jobs very common, 3 jobs not unheard of.
x
The two sentence normal reports will balance out the 3 page reports.
I am Wendy too
i am like you, i doubt it was even sent given her sm
flakiness it sounds. i would send her a certified letter demanding your money back within so and so days or you will contact the police dept for theft as well as sue her in small claims. however, small claims doesn't help much. you have to file in the county she lives in, which you can do via fax, but around here it costs like $60-70 just to file. then i assume you would have to go to OK for the court date so a lot of added expenses adding to much more than the $100. even if the court orders her to pay, there is no follow through with small claims. hey, you can contact judge judy, lol, and might even get a semi-vacation out of it for free. i would threaten her though and call her with a blocked # or use someone else's # to call her.
yep, when in doubt
Just laugh at them.   In the olden days of the Lanier stations, we had a female dictator that would keep cutting herself off like that.  The report would be in like 20 pieces, and she would keep coming back on, didn't even sound frustrated or anything, just kept saying, "I am continuing."  What a DOPE  - SPEAK UP!!!!
NO DOUBT
This country is so screwed up right now it is not even funny. Do not believe the "lowest unemployment rate ever". It is LOW because people have RUN OUT OF unemployment and are off the books. He needs to be on unemployment, waiting for his checks and see how he likes buying gas at these prices. By the way, going up another 10 cents per gallon here today so they say.
Doubt it
Probably not qualified.
Doubt it.
x
Doubt it.
x
Doubt it!
I am sure someone else will come along before too long and enlighten us! At least we can hope so or this place is going to the birds because it is b-o-r-i-n-g!
No doubt....
Saw was scariest I have seen in a long time.  Not for the squeamish!
I doubt it would help.
Not being negative here, but I've tried it. I don't think your company would approve of you using it, and I don't know if it would even work with their platform since it's not Word-based. Do you use an expander? Which platform are you working on? How many accounts are you bounced around on? Have to look up patient info?
I Doubt That. It happens all over.

8 years working for a hospital and we always had our "dry" periods around the holidays. Sometimes, it would be a month, sometimes 2 months. Last year it was 4 months! There was work, but very, very slow.


I now work for a national and am in the same boat. It started drying up around the holidays. I'm working a couple days a week, but not a full week. . . but I really don't care. I worked 7 days a week for 8 years and with everything else I do, time off is like heaven...but in the end, it will be like the 'other world' when the bills start piling up.


without a doubt (OP)

I think the MT profession needs more respect, and no, we are not losers.  Its work smarter, not harder.  We earn what people with BA's earn, without the stress, in the comfort of our own home.  Who wants to be stressed their entire life??  The corporate world is taking over, but they are all having heart attacks in their 40s.


My hats off to you for going back to school.  Sometimes it takes a no choice situation for us to get out of our comfort zone, and just throw ourselves out there and see what income we can scare up.  The past couple years I have really been exploring my passions, and that is what I want to take into retirement, something I feel fulfilled doing.  Like you said, creatitivity. Even if I have to work 2-3 jobs.  Thanks for your post, I figured I wasn't the only one a little worried.


Don't know, I doubt it - sm
but perhaps a system restore if you have Windows XP

good luck
I doubt it.
,
I doubt you need it

If you are an employee, you don't need it for sure as the finish product belongs to them, not you.


If you are an IC with a contract that the notes belong to them/the provider, you don't need it.


If you are working for  a clinic on your own, always put a clause in there that either you don't support electronic signatures or the CYA "dictated but not read" at the bottom of the note. 


In any case whatsoever, if you are doing your job properly you shouldn't have an issue.  Also it is very plainly the physcian's responsibility to read their notes before signing.  I know most don't but it falls on them.  We are not the MD, PA, whatever.  If you question things you think may not be right and don't guess, that should be enough.


Thanks, but I seriously doubt that she will--sm
It seems like she has already made her decision, as I have read previous posts from her on the same subject. Personally I think she knows this is a subject that is going to evoke responses and she is just trying to stir things up, but she is pointing her blaming finger in the wrong direction...in my opinion. I wish her luck.
Sorry, no doubt BOS says that..nm
nm
#6 without a doubt
I was a legal secretary in litigation for many years.  Only time I worked under daily pressure like this was right before a trial and that wasn't that often and I got paid supremely well for it too, especially before a trial, and I didn't know squat compared to what I need to know to do this.  Then I ran a word processing/editing service with an emphasis on doctoral dissertations.  Compared to each, THIS is by far the most difficult.  We are typing and UNDERSTANDING and CORRECTING DICTATED ERRORS IN a foreign language all day under pressure day after day.  Our job requires education and experience and skills the former did not.  Besides that, what we do affects human lives and our mistakes will follow them the rest of their lives so we must be accurate.  By all means it deserves a least a #6, especially if we go EMR and most docs don't check our work and that's pricing it LOW. 
I rather doubt that, but if that's what you
then go for it.

I actually don't send mine very much. But even if I send them just ONE question a month, they still gripe about it. Pulls them away from their potato-chip and cookie binge-eating and their soap-operas, I guess.
Yes no doubt you do
And if you are good at what you do, filling in the blanks, the more power to you. I am sure it is not an easy job unless you are a superduper MT/QA person with a ton of experience. There is no silver lining in QA work from your perspecti
I doubt it has anything to do...
with creating an electronic medical record; in fact, the documents may already be uploaded to an EMR format.  It sounds quite simple.  They are trying to save money.  I have had many clients over the years who operate in a similar fashion.  It's not something new.
I seriously doubt it

I think it is just when the doctor dictates an "abbreviation" such as 'insert my usual physical exam,' or something similar to that.  Obviously I can't know for sure, since I don't even know which company you are talking about, but it does say "after an abbreviation has been dictated," not transcribed. 


I for one had little doubt when you

asked the question in the first place that Welfare would be your choice. 


Why don't you rise to this new challenge in your life and get another job just to prove to us that you can pay your baby?  Do it just to spite all of us @*?ches. 



I doubt she has done this very much
She says - To do this for a living, do all mt's have to be 100% accurate ALL the time? I thought that was what the editors were for or was I mistaken?
I am not new to this, just new to doing it full time at home (with no other job duties in between). I see no where she has told of any training, reminds me of another poster that came on her and never told where she had worked or if she had and asking questions, loads answering and yet did not know beans about the work.
When in doubt, MYOB
nm
If you are really in India, which I doubt, but is entirely
possible, you may be interested to know that legislation is in the works to STOP all offshoring of any/all work which might "compromise the security" of U.S. "entities."  This includes, of course, healthcare records. 
I don't doubt you, anyone knows statistics
can be manipulated to show anything you want them to.
I would highly doubt that considering
you had been "riding" your horse all day. That stench will carry for awhile!
I doubt there are many who are going to care. SM

It's the nature of the beast.  I used to care more about it, but I found no one else really did.  So if both are correct, I guess it's something that probably won't be standardized.