burnout — Blog — Dr. Harjot Singh

What’s been discovered within the realm of physician (and other healthcare professionals) wellbeing, is startling, to say the least. The healthcare industry can be highly toxic, resulting in unprecedented levels of depression, suicide, suicidal ideations, physician turnover, presenteeism, and general dissatisfaction with work and life. But the condition that precedes these and is most readily associated with physician wellbeing is burnout. This, above all, is what we must be working against in our field.

Wellbeing Made Easy: Two Types of Wellbeing You Need to THRIVE!

In recent years, wellbeing has arrived as a science, complete with research and applications. But as a concept, it has existed for millennia. Religious leaders, poets, writers, and (in the last century) secular self-help experts have written about it ad nauseum. It’s no wonder our modern world is fascinated and mesmerized by the concept.

5 Mistakes Physician Leaders Should Avoid

Approximately 29% of healthcare organizations have an engagement program (MGMA 2018), which sounds like good news. The problem is that typically these programs are disjointed and separate from other programs that have direct bearing on physician engagement. For example, hospitals will have a burnout of wellbeing program that is completely separate from an engagement program, which ignores the important truths that, one, burnout is the opposite of engagement and, two, engagement is a fundamental element of wellbeing. Since we know that burnout and engagement are the opposite ends of the same spectrum (Maslach et al, 2014), we must keep in mind both burnout and engagement when designing a program to engage physicians.

Lack of Connectivity

To recap briefly (if you’ve been following the whole time feel free to skip this opening paragraph), we’ve been spending this fall semester bravely wading through the many, varied and interwoven problems in the healthcare industry. More specifically, we’ve been looking at issues related to physician overwhelm and burnout as well as leadership’s responsibilities to work toward a solution.

Lack of Training: When's the Time?

It feels strange, because a physician is arguably one of the “most-trained” positions in the modern world. Physicians spend longer in higher education that any other profession. Yet the career transition from physician to physician leader involves minimal and inadequate preparation in the best of situations.

Why aren’t our physician leaders as well prepared for their role as physicians are? And what can we do to change this for the future?

One of the reasons physician leaders aren’t properly trained is they aren’t given time.

The Athlete Needs a Coach

You’ve hit a dead end. Are sailing along at the same level, neither improving nor falling flat. You’re not content and unsure how to level up. Your goals are unclear, your future is fuzzy, your potential feels…untapped.

Step Zero: Don't Join the Empire!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there lived an angsty teenager named Luke Skywalker, who wanted nothing more than to attend the Imperial Academy and become a fighter pilot for the Empire.

Wait, what? That can’t be right…

This S.O.B.'s a Princess!

There are things that will only motivate you for a finite amount of time. It takes a special combination and renewed sense of purpose to create a true leader, bringing a dream from conception to reality. Without the proper combination of core and vision, it’s easy to fall into the trap of the drifter, sleeper or dreamer, instead of realizing one’s true potential as a leader.

Diversification in Action

We know that a trusted method to fight stress, overwhelm and burnout is to diversity our lives by having more than one support structure, many power initiatives and several career enhancement methods in place. (See our previous post if you missed it!) Yet, that sentence in and of itself may seem a bit overwhelming.

The S.O.B. Despises Diversity

Diversification is an invaluable tool in our fight against stress, overwhelm and burnout. It’s the golden rule of investment AND the key to healthy living. In 1952, Dr. Harold Markowitz wrote a groundbreaking paper which launched modern portfolio theory and eventually awarded him the Nobel Prize for Economics.

The Law of Diminishing S.O.B.'s

The thing about stress, overwhelm and burnout that’s imperative to understand is that at some point, the MORE we work, the less productive we become. I call this the Law of Diminishing S.O.B.’s. It’s like trying to scale an ever-increasing incline or a run up an exponential curve – eventually, you’re just falling backwards.

Tools to Defeat an S.O.B.

When strengthening your core in order to defeat the enemies of stress, overwhelm and burnout a mindset shift is necessary in order to be successful. Think of it as a change in strategy – if you’ve been defeated by the S.O.B. in the past, you’ll need to rethink your game plan in order to be successful in the future.

Get in Fighting Shape to take on the S.O.B.

Simply deciding to eliminate stress isn’t enough. It’s too simple, not specific and will ultimately fail. Just like New Year’s resolutions that statistically are abandoned by January 12 – trying to build a new habit without specifics will not bring the results you’re looking for.

The Number One Reason You Can't Break Free

You’re probably familiar with the “fight of flight” reactions to stressful situations, but recently another common response is being researched and understood more and more: Freeze. This is an increasingly common answer to perceived threats, especially among people dealing with our least favorite foes: Stress, Overwhelm and Burnout – that sneaky S.O.B. Freezing in stressful situations (or perceived stressful situations) is akin to…well, freezing.

How this S.O.B. Imprisons US

There’s no shortage of information about how to combat stress, overwhelm and burnout so why is it that most people seem to be stuck in a cycle, convinced “that’s just the way it is”? Many of us sit as unhappy prisoners for years without realizing that the door was never locked – we were always free to leave.

S.O.B.'s Sneakiest Trick

The sneakiest trick played by our S.O.B. (Stress, Overwhelm and Burnout) enemy is that it cuts you off from your most important tool – your mind. It keeps you confused and flustered so you forget who the real enemy is and start to feel as though the way you feel is normal, or simply “the way things are”. This S.O.B. is like an abusive partner, manipulating and gas-lighting you into thinking you’re the one who’s crazy – not the other way around.

Don't Get Trapped with this S.O.B.

When left unaddressed, stress, overwhelm and burnout (S.O.B.) can be deadly killers. There has been solid research on this for decades, yet we continue to ignore this information at personal, organizational, and societal levels. It’s as though we’ve been given the blueprints, materials, and tools to create a beautiful home, but we decide it’s too much work and we’d rather live in an apartment infested with black mold. The apartment – our current way of living – will definitely have negative effects on our health, but moving is too big of a hassle.

A Leader's Journey

A leader’s journey has two distinct parts: the inner and the outer. These can be difficult to reconcile. It’s like balancing shakily on a tightrope while trying to perform brain surgery. During your career, your outer journey will be easily visible to others. You move from your training to a technical expert to a manager to an executive. Along the way you’re using, perfecting and gaining valuable skills. But becoming a true leader amidst career growth, is an inner journey that’s difficult to categorize or observe.

Success, Leadership, HealthcareHarjot SinghJune 23, 2020healthcare, leadership, remote leadership, remote work, stress, overhwelm, burnoutComment

3 Long-Term Trends Leaders Know

If you’re going to be a successful leader in the twenty-first century and beyond, you’ll need to be aware of three long-term trends. Awareness, acceptance and integration of them will be a huge help in avoiding the scary S.O.B. (Stress, Overwhelm and Burnout) we’re working to avoid. Our S.O.B. would prefer to keep you in the dark and would rather you weren’t aware of these trends, like a nasty villain that keeps our hero in the dark.

Success, Healthcare, LeadershipHarjot SinghJune 16, 2020healthcare, healthcare leadership, stress, overhwlem, burnout

A Successful Leader Doesn't Succumb to this S.O.B.

These past few months have seen an incredible rise in stress, overwhelm, and burnout among healthcare workers and leaders in particular. We’re facing unprecedented times and working in extremely difficult situations. While it’s easy to blame the global pandemic, over the next few months here on our blog, we’ll be diving deep and getting up close and personal with our real enemy.

Success, Leadership, HealthcareHarjot SinghJune 9, 2020leadership, healthcare leadership, stress, overwhelm, burnout

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