Tick, tock, tick tock…The burnout clock is running.

 

The  longer burnout goes on, the harder it is to fix because you think it becomes a normal way of life. The longer it goes on, the more of your life has gone by. The longer it goes on, the more entrenched you are. It is more difficult to change your thought patterns and change your life and realize that there could be a better different way to do things. I’m not saying if you’re burned out for 10 years you can’t change, or if you’re burnt out for 10 minutes it’s gotta be easy.

 

• Always realize that you have a problem.

 

That’s our first step, you know, like a 12-step program. The first step is realizing you have a  problem. Maybe you’re having a bad day, maybe you’re having a bad day every day for a month every year. You’ve had changes in interactions with colleagues, you’ve had disciplinary action, you’ve had poor decision making, you’ve had poor outcomes on a number of fronts: financially, physically, health-wise, mental-health wise, just things were not going well. So, that’s kind of when you know the clock has started to tick. 

 

• The sooner you realize the burnout clock is running, the sooner you’ll raise your hand and get help.

 

Raise your hand and start to figure out what are the drivers of your burnout, in particular, what are the steps you’re going to take, and what deadlines are going to give yourself to help slow down and stop that clock.

 

• What if you don’t take any concrete action steps?

What if you don’t make those changes? For example: instead of having poor fitness, you’re going to have great fitness, instead of poor self-care, you’re going to have great self-care… you’re gonna flip those things around.

 

• What’s the real issue here?

A  week from now, a month from now, a year from now, if you’ve done nothing…You’ll be most likely worse. You won’t be better, and it’ll be that much harder to change. I’m not trying to scare you, not trying to force you anything, but there is a time value of money for your life. Your kids grow up and your spouse may get tired of your behavior around burnout. Your family has only so much patience.

 

The clock is running. Let’s get you some help. Let’s get going. 

Let’s start to figure out what are the drivers of your burnout, in particular, what are the steps you’re going to take and what deadlines are going to give yourself to help slow down and stop that clock because it really realistically.

~Jeff Moody, MD