5 Habits for Ensuring a Successful Insurance Workday

January 12, 2022

Whether you are working from home or are back in the office, creating and maintaining a proper routine is vital for a successful workday. How you structure your day can essentially set up how productive the rest of your day, and even your week, will be. To help you maintain focus and motivation throughout the day, below we share five strategies that you can use to maximize your efficiency and keep that overwhelming feeling at bay.

1. Write Out a Daily To-Do List

Start your day by asking, “What items are of utmost importance? Is there anything I promised to deliver today?” Write it all down and prioritize it, with the most important at the top. That way, you know you need to accomplish these items by the end of the day, no matter what. Having a visual list of tasks also ensures nothing is missed and provides you a sense of accomplishment when you cross a completed item off. You can move anything that did not get accomplished to the next day’s list, but make sure urgent items remain a priority.

2. Check Email, Voicemail and Your Epic Home Screen

Review your inbox and make sure that there are no more than 100 emails. The goal is to have all insurance emails attached in Epic, so be sure to frequently review your correspondences to identify what you should move to a client file. If you have any voicemails, address those first, especially if a client called to request a change in their policy or has a question regarding coverage. Next, review your open activities on your Epic Home Screen. It can be overwhelming to see a long list of open activities; however, taking the time to triage them helps you avoid becoming stressed throughout the day. Work on what is urgent first and go down from there. If there is an activity that is not urgent and you do not think you will be able to address it that day, update the follow-up date to the next day. Again, just make sure that it is still taken care of in a timely fashion.

3. Schedule Your Time and Set Reasonable Timeframes

Use your calendar to your advantage to block out time to work on specific items. Try to refrain from multitasking, as stretching your attention across multiple tasks could lead to forgetting to fully complete aspects of a workflow. Setting reminders on deliverables will also be helpful to ensure items are completed on time and sent to the client in the timeframe promised. It can also be more efficient to group similar types of tasks together. For example, if you have a bunch of endorsements to complete, work on those concurrently, then move on to the next set (i.e., new business, claims, renewals, etc.). Grouping similar tasks together keeps you focused on one process instead of jumping back and forth through multiple workflows.

4. Work Efficiently in Epic

To make the most out of your workday, make sure you work as efficiently as possible within Applied Epic. First, start by customizing your Home screen. Choose what data you want to see by selecting the appropriate columns and setting how many days in advance you want to see open Activities. Next, make sure you set up Field Defaults – many workflows can be formatted to auto-populate information to save you the time from manually typing it in. For example, configure the Client Add workflow to preselect your Business Type, Format, Structure, and Servicing Roles. That way, when you add a new client, you do not need to add this information manually. When you can auto-fill as much information as possible, it saves you time and navigating Epic becomes faster and more convenient.

Lastly, make sure you attach files and correspondences to the appropriate policy, activity, claim, etc. Associating the attachment correctly in Epic keeps the client file organized and makes finding those files easier and quicker. There are many other ways to ensure efficiency within Applied Epic, so make sure you are familiar with your company’s workflows and check out our previous articles for additional Epic guidance.

5. Give Yourself Breaks

No matter how busy your day may be, your mental health should always remain a priority. To avoid burnout, make sure to take to your lunch breaks. It can be so easy to fall into a habit of staying at your desk all day but take a few minutes throughout the day to stand up and stretch. Whenever possible, spend your breaks outside to get some fresh air. This will help your brain reset, and you will be able to return to your work refreshed and more ready to tackle the rest of your day. It is also critical to end your workday at a reasonable time. While there may be days when working late is necessary to finish an important task, like a client’s policy renewal, that should be the exception, not the rule. A consistent work-life balance prevents job fatigue and keeps you mentally and physically healthy.

Following a daily work routine helps you establish habits that support your goals and ensure you have a successful day. Implementing any of these strategies will assist in maintaining focus and motivation throughout your workday. While everyone’s routine will look different, the important thing is making sure it works for you and that you can stick to it consistently.

KiteTech’s Agency Consulting team is passionate about helping our clients supercharge their productivity. If you would like to learn more about how we can help you optimize your Epic system for better efficiency, reach out to us at consult@kitetechgroup.com. We are here to help!