Hack #1: Know Your Unit Before Day One.

The fastest way to look sharp is not to look lost. So, do a quick lap of the ICU the day before you start. Find your designated seating area and charting location, learn the room numbers, and map your fastest routes to move between your main station and patient rooms, as well as nurse stations. Find the code cart. Locate the main supply closet. Knowing exactly where everything is projects instant confidence and saves you critical seconds when they matter most.

Hack #2: Plan Your Day — Don’t Leave It to Guesswork

One of the most underrated ICU hacks is this: Plan your day upfront. Don’t leave your workflow to chance.

Start with chart review first — go through vitals, labs, I&Os, cultures, other providers’ notes, etc. This sets the foundation. Then, round on your patients strategically, with a clear plan in hand.

When you review charts first, you walk into each room with purpose — you already know what to assess, what questions to ask, and what changes to make. You’re not scrambling at the bedside trying to figure things out.

This also helps you prioritize your sickest patients, flag pending issues early, and delegate tasks to your team sooner.

So remember: Don’t let the day dictate your actions — you dictate the day.

• ✅Chart review first
• ✅Rounds second.

Structure creates speed and clarity.

Hack #3: Systemize Your Chart Review — and Let the Note Write Itself!

To enhance your efficiency in the ICU, you must systematize your chart review. Don’t scroll aimlessly through the EMR. Instead, know exactly what information you need before you even walk into the patient’s room.

A well-structured chart review serves as the backbone of your daily progress note, bedside presentation, and sign-out to the night team.

That’s why I’ve created the Smart Chart Review template that does more than just organize your thinking — it can generate your entire ICU progress note instantly. The template captures all the critical data — some from chart review, some from the bedside, and some from the nurse. Once it’s filled out, your daily note and bedside presentation are just one click away.

While you can still download a PDF version of the template, I highly encourage you to join the waitlist for the ICU Tracker app that I am currently building😃.

This app takes the same template and brings it to life. Once you fill it out, your progress note, bedside presentation, and signout to the night teas are just a single tap away! Simply copy and paste it into your preferred note app or directly into the EMR.

The more thoroughly you fill out the tracker, the richer and more complete your note will be. Just imagine—your daily notes, done by the time rounds are over!

We’re rolling it out first to the initial 100 users on the waitlist before expanding access, so register now by filling out this Google form here to gain early access and be among the first to try this app!

Hack #4: Write the Story, Not the Problem List.

This is important to organize your thoughts about each patient and not get confused between them! Instead of thinking in bullet points, frame your patient’s course like a short story with three parts:

✅The Prologue

✅The Plot Twist

✅The Current Chapter.

The Prologue

Who is the person? It’s a one-sentence summary of who they are. For example: “Mr. K is a 65-year-old retired carpenter”, adding something unique for the patient (here is the fact he is a carpenter) will make it a lot easier to remember Mr. K particularly when you carry a heavy census.

The Plot Twist

What tried to kill the patient? What was the singular event that led to the patient’s hospitalization and subsequent escalation to the ICU, or their direct admission to the ICU? For example, we could say: ‘It all started five days ago with a simple pneumonia, but the key event was on Tuesday, when he suddenly became profoundly hypotensive and hypoxic, requiring intubation.’

This sentence anchors the entire ICU stay. Everything that follows is because of this event.”

The Current Chapter

This is where you connect the plot twist to today’s problem list. You’re not just listing problems; you’re explaining their consequences.

You could say something like: ‘…and as a result, he is now on day three of septic shock from that pneumonia, which is complicated by severe ARDS and an acute kidney injury now requiring dialysis.’”

And then we combine the three elements!

As an attending physician, this way of presentation is gold and tells me you know your patient very well!

The app we are building will help you create such a beautiful presentation.

Hack #5: Get Work Done in the Background

Maximize your time by working while you’re rounding. You’re already doing this if you’re using our chart review template—it lets you generate a progress note in seconds.

As you present your patient, have your teammate enter the orders your attending is requesting and jot them down in the To-Do List section of the template.

This way, you’re rounding, updating orders, and prepping your note—all at the same time.

Bonus hack: Set a hard start and stop to your day — and create a decompression ritual.

ICU work is draining — mentally, emotionally, and physically. And if you take that stress home every day, burnout becomes inevitable.

So here’s the hack: Before your shift, fuel up, hydrate, and take 5 minutes to mentally prep.

After your shift, do a quick brain dump — write down your lingering tasks or worries for tomorrow and leave them behind.

On the drive home, ditch the medical podcasts. Play anything that helps your brain disconnect.

This isn’t luxury. It’s survival.

Protect your energy so you can keep showing up — day after day — at your best.

In the end, if you found this helpful, don’t forget to like and share it with your colleagues.