Feeling swamped with burnout? Apply this practice from busy ERs to your own life to reduce burnout.
In the ER, I never know what’s coming next.
I could always use more hands; people are tired, no one likes the food, no one can sleep, there are occasional strange smells. And I’m trying to do 60 things at once.
Sound like your life, too? Fact is, you don’t need to be an ER doctor to understand crazy busy. and to take steps to reduce burnout. So, how do we handle it in the ER? Key word: Triage – a skill that you can also learn.
Because in the ER, we don’t have time to feel crazy busy. There’s no way I can be at my best if I’m swamped with feeling overwhelmed.
Solution: TRIAGE. Triage trains you to differentiate what is an EMERGENCY / MUST respond(!), from a non-emergency / can respond later. And science shows that’s key for our stress levels.
THE Truth
The reason you feel burnout is because you’re subconsciously triaging EVERYTHING as if it is a DROP-IT-ALL EMERGENCY. You’re constantly on high alert.
Reduce burnout in your life by taking these 3 steps to shape up your to-do’s.
3 Steps to reduce burnout
Cut
Mercilessly cut! What does NOT need to be done right now? Because these items are constant cargo. They distract you from what matters. Trouble identifying these items? Ask yourself:
- What did you agree to do out of guilt?
- What action did you accept out of a need to ‘react’? (and what would happen if you released this?)
- Think of one thing you *should* do, but never get around to because it’s not actually a priority?
Isolate one item on your to-do list RIGHT NOW that you can cut without culpability. Let it go. Goodbye! (Note – if it’s a dream that you don’t want to let go of – categorize it on a separate notes sheet on your phone called, “Long Term Dreams” – and pull it out when you’re prepared).
Delegate
Is there a task or responsibility that you can (or really should) delegate to someone else? Your partner? Your child? Is it something you can outsource? Not even Wonder Woman gets every single bad guy by herself (and SHE has a lasso of truth).
- Maybe it’s a small (and necessary) task like gathering the library books that can be your child’s responsibility.
- Maybe it’s an action a coworker could execute.
- Maybe it’s a deed that would advantage someone else to accomplish. After all if there’s someone who has more time/interest/capability to do it, AND it would benefit them, delegate it. Take it OFF your list, and MOVE ON.
Try to focus on the things that only you can do (because of your knowledge, your skills, etc.) – allow others to step in for the things that do not have to be you
Automate
What decisions do you make the same EVERY SINGLE DAY – and how can you automate them to yield one less decision per day?
Many of our demands are chronic – and constrain us into the same decision patterns every day or week. Producing decisions makes our brains TIRED – so eliminate any that are repetitive / unnecessary.
When you find yourself repeatedly making the SAME CHOICES, consider automating at least portions of your actions. Automation means the demand no longer requires decision-making energy from you – rendering the results less resource-intensive.
For example:
- Meal-planning (for my quick and easy guide, click here).
- Subscribe and save for staples (TP, dog food, peanut butter…).
- Saved grocery lists (can do in online grocery orders, or I just have a post-it that has the staples that we purchase every week, and I consult it before each weekly trip).
- Save packing lists into apps like Evernote, and never arrive at your destination without Jimmy’s underwear again.
- School/activity pickups – if you split pickup with anyone else, don’t make these ad hoc. Create a schedule, so that on Sunday, you know exactly what days you’re driving (and can plan around them).
Find yourself sending some version of the same email every day? Save a note to your computer with common responses you can copy and paste instead of re-typing a version of the same thing!
Clearing out the extra weight off your to-do list lets you focus on your most important priorities – that need your attention NOW. Because sometimes, the most important step, is just knowing what you need to do NEXT.
Xoxo,
- Dr. Darria
Co-Authors: Dr. Darria Long, Dr. Christopher Cunningham, and Dr. Kristen Jennings Black
P.S. What other Q’s do you have for the TrueveLab? Submit them here for us to answer in future TrueveLab Reports!
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