The typical worker is terrible at taking time off and seeing a doctor as often as they should. As the year nears its end, consider taking an entire day off of work to get all of your medical appointments out of the way.
Lifehacker has suggested taking a day off of work to check off items on your to-do list — a mini productivity vacation, of sorts. This is similar, but instead of cleaning out your closets and renewing your driver’s licence, you’re taking care of your health to put yourself in the best position possible for 2019.
[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/05/take-a-micro-holiday-to-tackle-your-personal-to-do-list/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/jgteeusyhlsxpfekuu9c.jpg” title=”Take A Micro-Holiday To Tackle Your Personal To-Do List” excerpt=”The point of a holiday, however long, is to help you de-stress. And sometimes that means doing something instead of lounging around doing nothing. If you have a pile of personal to-dos that are weighing you down, using a leave day to get to those things you never seem to have time for can go a long way for your well-being.”]
Health care professionals say two appointments in a day make sense, maybe three at the most, so you’ll need to pick and choose what to schedule. A physical, teeth cleaning, mammogram, dermatology appointment or gynecological visit, among others, are good options. (A colonoscopy, on the other hand, requires anesthesia — so it’s best to reserve a day for that on its own.)
Call your doctors’ offices and see when they have availability. Line up appointments on that day, leaving enough room for the inevitable delays that come with seeing a doctor/dentist. Call the office and ask when they’re busiest and avoid making an appointment during that time, when the wait time is likely to be longer. If you don’t have go-to doctors yet, you can use a service like DoctorPortal, which will find you a local doctor via the Medical Directory of Australia.
Remember, when you go to your appointments, bring your Medicare/insurance card and ID. It’s also a good idea to bring a list of all medications you take plus the dosages, and a list of any questions you have or issues you’d like to talk about so that you can reference it when you’re with your doctor.
And while you’re there, schedule a follow up appointment or next year’s visit. It’s easy to forget to see the doctor for preventive measures, or simply keep putting them off, but doing so can be a detriment to your health—and cost you a lot more than a day off in the future.
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