If you have been working towards your medical coding and billing certification for a long time these 7 tips may help you go from student to certified.
Starting your medical coding and billing journey can be very exciting and set you up on the road to success. However, there can be a few delays on this road.
If you are stuck or feel like giving up, these 7 tips may help pull you out of that rut and put you back on track to being a certified medical coder or biller.
I will share the same 7 tips that stopped me from quitting (again), helped motivate me, and the system I use to keep myself disciplined when procrastination starts to become a daily habit.
This post is all about staying focused and disciplined as a medical coding or medical billing student.
An Unplanned Break
As a medical coding student, I am very familiar with how you can fall behind in your studies, lose motivation, procrastinate, or feel overwhelmed. Don't worry it happens to the best of us, but a stop doesn't have to mean the end. Sometimes it is just an unplanned break.
My journey to becoming a medical coder has been like a stop-and-go choreographic routine. Almost like that game Red Light, Green Light. Somehow this childhood game has manifested into adulthood, but I was the one choosing when to call out red light or green light. In October 2020 I called out red light.
There was no intention to take a break. Looking back now I can't pinpoint one main thing. It would be easy to say there was this major life event but honestly, it was the sum of many little things. Each day I became untethered to my goals and the future I wanted for myself. I fell into a routine, and I lost all sense of time. I guess living in a pandemic made it easy to settle, give excuses legitimate sway over my actions, and fall into a new routine that freed me of any responsibilities. More than anything I just wanted an easier life so there was no urgency to complete my certification because I wanted to let go of anything that seemed to add fuel to the anxiety I already felt. Gradually, it all came to a stop.
Have you ever stopped only to begin again?
Starting something new is always exciting. In the beginning, I would feel this bundle of energy and motivation that pushed me to study. Inevitably it would taper off. After that happened my motivation came in any form of memes I could find on Pinterest or Instagram.
A day would go by without opening my textbook. Then another day would go by with guilt and a promise to study later. And another day would go by, and I would feel anxiety that I was falling behind. After a while, the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months. The day-to-day priorities of my daily life gradually trumped the goals I set out for myself.
The can-do attitude I had, in the beginning, was gone and memories of me failing and stopping played like a montage on repeat in my head. Red light. Just as inevitably as it tapered off it began again. Green light. The same bundle of energy, can-do attitude, and power of motivation were my fuel to begin again.
This constant loop was in rotation for years. Yes, years and it would be a while before I learned how to break the cycle.
Starting Over
At one point I decided I didn't need to be certified because I have years of experience in billing and a great job. However, during this time my life felt like an upended puzzle box with pieces scattered everywhere. I wanted to do more, but I stopped so many times I felt like a failure. So, what's a girl to do? I decided to begin at the beginning and started a new medical coding online program.
Starting over is not as hard as we might believe because one of the best things about starting over is that we bring the knowledge and lessons we learned with us. And I've learned some important ones over the years. The lessons I learned gave me the knowledge of what I needed to do to be focused and disciplined as I started my courses again.
Now, I'm not suggesting you do this too. Yes, this was a wild choice, but it was the best thing for me. However, anywhere in your journey, you can use the same tips to help get back on track or start over.
Here are the 7 easy tips I used to restart my medical coding courses and what I implement daily to stay on track.
Learn from past mistakes
Look back and identify the "time wasters". These are the non-productive activities that swallowed up your time. Look at your phone and check out how much screen time you use. It may be shocking. Identify the excuses you gave yourself to procrastinate. This will be key in setting up your daily study routine. It's easy to feel justified by saying, "I don't have enough time." But if you monitor your daily activities you may learn the most common "time wasters" are:
- Binge watching t.v. (Thank you Netflix!)
- Scrolling through social media
- Playing games on your phone
- Sleeping in
- Going out every night
Create a schedule
This is the key to starting fresh, progressing through your courses, and succeeding. Think of your schedule as your North star or your compass. This will always lead you back to the path of finishing your course. Start with your syllabus. Map out how long it will take you to finish your course, then break it down with chapters and assignments you will complete every week. Most importantly, find time to commit to your studies. Wake up earlier or if you are a night owl stay up later. Find gaps in your schedule that you can fit in time to study.
Show up
Treat your classes as a job that you must show up to at your scheduled time. If you can show up for your employer, then you can show up for yourself too. This goes hand in hand with creating a schedule. What is the point of creating a schedule if you don't show up? A terrific way to ensure you show up is to time block your schedule. Look at your daily routine and block off time to study. This is a lot easier if you are enrolled in on-site courses, but if you are enrolled in an online course, it will require more discipline. So, set a time when you plan to study and stick to it as if you're physically going to that class. Even if it is a half hour or more, block off this time, show up, and put in the work.
Have an accountability partner
Some schools and programs offer mentors. This is beneficial because it's like having a built-in accountability partner. But don't worry if your program does not offer this because an accountability partner can be anyone supportive of your goals. Who your accountability partner is, is not as important as how they will help hold you accountable. One way they can help is to set a time to meet with them to talk about your classes or lectures. If your accountability partner is a significant other or a friend, talk to them about your assignments or what you just learned while eating dinner or hanging out with them. The purpose of an accountability partner is to offer support and feedback. At times adding courses to everything else you have going on will seem overwhelming and even frustrating, but your partner will be there to remind you that you got this! Keep going!
Take breaks
Take one day out of the week and make it your day. This is vital for your well-being. It's easy to get burnout if you're taking courses, raising a family, working a full-time job, or just trying to live your best life. Now, don't confuse this with a time waster, and take a break by scrolling through social media for a while every day. Taking a break is setting aside a day or a specific block of time reserved just for you. This time should be spent doing something you love or relaxing to you. Also, it could be the time you use to sleep in or exercise, or catch up on errands. Whatever you use this time for remember it is just as important as studying. This one day a week will help recharge your batteries and it allows time to be given to other important areas in your life.
Keep your head in the game
Immerse yourself into the world of medical billing and coding by learning from other billers and coders. Surround yourself with people in this field especially if you are currently not in the medical field yet. Thankfully, social media has made this easy. Follow IG accounts, listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos, or read articles. This will keep you interested and focused on your end goal. Additionally, you will learn more about this line of work and career opportunities.
Review
I can't stress this tip enough. It is important to set up a review process. Actually, after you create your schedule, set aside time at the end of every week to review your work. A review process at the end of your week is basically a personal scorecard. Did you complete your chapter or finish all your assignments? Did you do well on your quizzes or exam? How comfortable do you feel with the subject? Setting up a review process will keep you aware of your studies. It is so easy to get lost in the day-to-day routine of our lives, but your review process will inform you of what you did or didn't do. Also, you will be conscious of your areas of weaknesses and strengths. Based on how well you did that week, you can determine what you need to do that upcoming week to be better. Pro tip: A review process can hold you accountable. If you don't have supportive people in your life, set up a review system that will hold you accountable to your goals.
Starting over can be nerve nerve-wracking and exciting. If you are still interested in a career as a medical coder or biller, please know that a break is not the end. Start again or pick up where you left off. You can do it!
Try implementing these tips to see which one works best for you. Have you ever used any of these tips? Comment below your favorite one.
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