Practice Plan Area Manager, Suki Singh, looks at four ways of dealing with burnout when you’re rushed off your feet in your practice…
For many of you, and I know I’ve felt like this sometimes, there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day at the moment does there? Everything is 100 miles per hour, the patient lists are growing and things are just getting busier and busier.
But then you go home and you find yourself doing work on various different things. Many of you will be reading this and thinking, this sounds a lot like me. A lot of you will be sitting there, watching the television in the evening while replying to work messages on your phone. We’re all guilty of it, but it is something that can lead us to suffer with burnout. At a time where practice life is so busy, burnout is the last thing you need to be suffering with.
There have been a lot of guides over the last year or so to help you deal with these sorts of things, but here are four tips that could really help you to relax when out of the practice, to make sure you are firing on all cylinders when in work…
Get some sleep
This is easy to say but it is the number one thing that can help with burnout. To assist you with this I have a reading recommendation for you, it is a book called ‘Why We Sleep’ by Matthew Walker. I know a lot of people who have read this book and they have said this is a game changer and after reading it, their sleep issues have gone away.
Keep an eye on nutrition
Again, this is easier said than done when you are rushing around at 100 miles per hour trying to get everything done. But it has an impact on how you’re feeling and how well you work.
If you have a good, balanced diet and are getting the right levels of nutrition, then you are more than likely going to be performing at 80% or more most of the time and that is the level that you want to be at and remain at.
If it drops below that level, then you are in danger of not being fully on it at work, so keep an eye on your diet and make sure you’re getting the right nutrition.
Exercise
When people say you need to exercise to prevent burnout and make you feel more alert, some think it might add to burnout as you’re putting your body through more.
Others think you have to be an athlete and run marathons to be fit and healthy, but it doesn’t have to be like that. Your exercise could simply be walking the dog, taking a walk or a park run on a Saturday. Anything light like that can have a big difference, it can help you relax, it will stimulate you and help combat any burnout you are suffering.
Have fun
How many times does work get in the way and makes us neglect having fun and enjoying ourselves? A lot. We haven’t been able to do many fun things over the last couple of years due to the pandemic but now it is time to go out and have some of that fun.
We still have certain restrictions coming in and out of force, so of course when I say that I mean within reason. However, it is a massive help and another way to de-stress and get away from practice life.