The Best Tool That I Use Every Day

If you’ve been treated by me at Crux, you know that I’ve got my fair share of tools. Each one of these hand-picked tools has a purpose, a specific function to assist in achieving specific goals. Some help calm tight muscles to alleviate neck pain, while others mobilize joints to decrease low back pain. Some help scar tissue and connective tissue glide to decrease knee pain, while others decompress nerves and alleviate elbow pain. But of all these tools, which one is my favorite? Which one helps me to be my very best at my job?

IASTM tools to mobilize soft tissue

Taping and Cupping to decompress

Hypervolt for trigger points

Everybody’s favorite torture devices

This tool analysis started with a fantastic discussion I had with a patient this week about stress and anxiety. We talked about the feeling that can creep in during the day that we’d rather be doing something different or rather be somewhere else. For some of us, it’s the inability to focus and be productive because we have SO much on our plates that we are overwhelmed. This patient, in particular, was struggling with Mondays and the idea that she was not settled in her current job. Her discomfort on Mondays was a constant reminder that she was anxious to decide on and move toward her next step in life. 

For me personally, as a new business owner and a new(ish) father, it feels like I have 1000 plates spinning at once. It took me a while to realize that it’s impossible to have a hand on each spinning plate at the same time and, in fact, I can only focus my attention on one thing at a time.
When I’m in my office providing patient care, that One thing is the patient in front of me, which in some cases might be You. If I find my mind wandering, I give myself a gentle reminder that the most important thing in my world at that moment is providing the best possible care to the person in front of me. Giving that moment all of me; my very best. This goes along with the fact that most important Person to me at that moment is the patient in front of me. Although it may seem cliche, I mean this very genuinely. It allows me to not only be my best for each and every patient but to truly appreciate every moment of my day...whether that moment is in patient care, meeting with Travis and Meghan, chatting with my wife, or playing with my two daughters. 

So, how do I put aside the 999 other plates I have spinning??? 

I use my favorite tool:

To Do Lists can come in all sorts and sizes. They are SO SIMPLE, yet SO EFFECTIVE. When you use a To Do list, you can compartmentalize. You can focus your attention on one thing without worry that you’ll miss or forget something else. When you check an item off, you not only get the satisfaction of completing a task, but you file that item away as you no longer have to worry about it. This has been a tremendous help for me in decreasing a seemingly ever-present feeling of overwhelm. When I need to remember something but can’t work on it that moment, it goes on the To Do list. Then I can get back to focus without more than a hiccup in the process.

Whether your To Do list is on a phone app, on a notepad (Crux!), saved by your friend Alexa, or written on your hand, it’s an effective tool for getting stuff done, for decreasing anxiety, and for improving your relationship with the world around you.

One last thing! I specifically love these Crux To Do notepads because they are awesome reminders of where we came from. I bought 600 notepads before our first Crux event which was the 2018 Shorewood Bike Race in Tour of America’s Dairyland. Travis, Meghan, and I did not know a single person in Milwaukee. All we had was a plan, years of experience working together, a goal to change conservative healthcare in our community, and a box of Notepads that had our name on them. 

A year later, we have a few less notepads, we’ve met So many wonderful people, and we still drive toward the goal of changing the way our community moves, feels, and lives. 

Thanks for being a part of that movement. 

Get ‘er done!