Work hard, rest hard:
• Great and I promise short post from Life in the Fast Lane on William Osler. The post starts with a long quote where Osler talks about the one master-word that opens doors and is a great equalizer. Work. Osler was able to find true joy in his work. I have heard others say work-life balance is not the most desirable goal. The goal is to make work meaningful, to have a calling that doesn’t feel like a job. Then you hardly need to worry about balance. • Osler’s argument for a prodigious work ethic is tempered by a later quote encouraging his students to have an outlet for stress. He says: “The young doctor should look about early for an avocation, a pastime, that will take him away from patients, pills, and potions…” He was basically saying have your own Practice of Wellness.
• What is your sport, hobby, or activity that you enjoy and practice regularly? Are you doing less of it each year? Do you think, “I will start back up tomorrow, next week, after this rotation, after residency.” Guess what, you are less and less likely with each day that passes. Start today, right now. Do 10 pushups and 10 squats. There is almost no acceptable excuse to get you out of that one minute of work right now.
Intense:
• Or you could “rest” by running 100+ miles without stopping. David Goggins was the Navy SEAL who lived with Jesse Itzler and inspired his book Living With a SEAL. Goggins released his own book, Can’t Hurt Me, on December 4 and it is the most hardcore, motivating book I have read since, well since Itzler’s.
• Not even sure where to start. Goggins had a rough childhood but uses his pain as fuel to accomplish things most mortals have trouble even picturing. He did Hell Week (part of BUD/S SEAL training) 3 times, and then went on to do Army Ranger school and complete the Air Force Tactical Air Control Party. His first ultramarathon was 100 miles in 18 hours, with no preparatory training! He has gone on to compete in the Ultraman World Championships Triathlon in Hawaii, placing 2nd after having no prior competitive bicycling experience. He is the epitome of Mind Over Matter, conquering physical and mental challenges that break most humans on earth. We should all read the book once a month just to get motivated to stretch our limits. The first step is the hardest.
Burnout or Moral Injury?:
• The term moral injury was used to “describe soldiers’ responses to their actions in war. It represents ‘perpetrating, failing to prevent, bearing witness to, or learning about acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.’”
• This article argues that what we are calling burnout is really moral injury. The moral injury of doctors relates to “being unable to provide high-quality care and healing in the context of health care.” People enter medicine as a vocation, to facilitate improved health and make connections with patients. The healthcare business complex has changed rewards and some say has corrupted the patient-doctor relationship.
• The article offers some ideas for improvement. But all of us can work on “role redesign” every day at work. Think about what is meaningful in your job. Take the perspective of the people with whom you interact, and you might be relieved of the cynicism and monotony. Thanks Tony Simms for the article.
QxMD:
• Ok for all of you who love to read journal articles, check out the Read app, by QXMD. They just completed a large update, finally optimizing the visuals for use on the larger iPhones. It is also available on Android devices.
• The app allows you to follow selected journals, chosen keywords, and get access to full text PDFs very easily. You set up your institutional login, and the app breaks through the paywall while you are reading the abstract. Game changer app for academics, and it is free! Great way to impress your attending.
Your electronic ball and chain:
• Most of us now keep our cell phones next to us at all times. In our pockets, on the nightstand, always within reach. As much as I can, I keep my phone in a different room, especially while at home. The social media allure alone can destroy family time and any productivity you are planning to achieve. But our maligned devices do offer excellent features that can make life easier when used wisely.
• This post on optimizing cellphone use is full of pearls. Some changes I made: turn off almost all notifications, turn on automatic app updates, disable app review requests, hide tempting apps in folders, turn OFF raise to wake, turn off ad tracking. You can skip around the (quite long) article by using the interactive table of contents.
Quote:
The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.
– attributed to Socrates by Plato
