The arrival fallacy 

1. This was a term developed by a psychologist, Dr. Dr. Tal-Shahar 
   1. It’s the idea that once you’ve attained your goal, THEN you’ll be happy 
   2. Part of my burnout story here: ER – once I become an NP, NP – maybe I need my ENP/DNP, etc 

2. How does this relate to burnout? 

1. Because you’re making your happiness contingent on the future 
2. There’s no room for happiness in the present 
3. Then we can create stories about that and it’s how our brains filter information as well (confirmation bias is real!) 

3. what can you do about it?

1. First thing is awareness. Yes, I know I always say that, but that’s because it’s true. You can’t do something about it until you acknowledge what’s going on 
2. Second step: happiness is in the middle 
   1. With very few exceptions, nothing in life is 100% bad or 100% good. There is always a mixture. Meaning, in a circumstance that is mostly bad (cough cough COVID), there is something good (pushing us into telemedicine, calling attention to food insecurity among children, calling attention to family leave policies and introducing flexibility into the workplace without compromising productivity) 
3. Third step: Look for the good.  
   1. I didn’t do this well, but I did this better as an NP post-burnout 
   2. For example, i made it a point to look for the good things in spite of the bad. Early on in practice, I really struggled with my documentation and so much perfectionism at work. I’d end up staying 3-4 hours after my last patient left to finish up my notes, review my labs, refill prescriptions, answer patient portal messages, and fill out forms for WIC, social security, etc.  
   3. Did I hate that? Yep. It sucked. And there DEFINITELY is a role to optimize the EHR so that it serves clinicians and not billers and coders. And until that happens, I needed something to do right then.  
   4. For example, I had a fantastic medical assistant, I got to speak Spanish almost all day, and, even when I worked late, I could turn up my 2000’s Hip hop playlist on Spotify as loud as I wanted to while I worked. I could have a mini-concert and pretend my Dragon microphone was a real one (if you know, you know!) 

Conclusion 

As we close this episode, I want to recap the main takeaways from this episode 

1. The arrival fallacy is a real thing 
2. Nothing is ever purely good or bad, there is always a mix 
3. You can find the good if you’re looking for it.  
4. For your next work day, I want to challenge you to find 2 good things that happened to you. Just give it a try. It’s a small thing, but small things add up, too.  
5. 
   

I want to thank you for your time today. You’re busy, we all are. Time is your most precious resource because it’s not renewable.  Please give me a follow on social media @ reviving_wellness and send this episode to a friend or colleague who you think may benefit from this message My goal is to cultivate and grow a community of clinicians who believe what I believe: that healthcare workers deserve to be well, too.  

Quiz time

1. Sometimes, when I work with clinicians, they can have some difficulty with identifying their burnout. It's a lot of “I’m fine.” But are you? 
2. Just answer in your head to the following questions 
3. Do you feel tired all the time? I like to call it pre-tired, that tired you feel before your shift even starts 
4. Do you lack the energy to do the things you like and love in your “real life” outside of work? 
5. Do you notice that it only takes a few hours into your first day back from vacation and all the stress and frustration start to seep in and almost erase that post-vacation glow? 
6. Do you have a short fuse? Like even the smallest things really get under your skin? 
7. Do you feel anxious about everything? 
8. Do you have trouble remembering the last time you felt anything? Sometimes burnout shows up as numbness 
9. Do you feel like you work really hard and it doesn’t make a difference? And that no one notices it (patietns, coworkers, supervisors) 
10. Do you feel detatched from pateitns when you’re working with them? 
11. Are you answering yes to a lot of these questions? If so, you’re probably burned out! 

That’s ok! 

1. Primary drivers of burnout : it’s an occupational stress syndrome meaning it’s not a personal failing but rather a reaction to a broken system 
2.  and there’s an ICD10 code 
3. No shame, super common 

What can you do about it?

1. First thing is a gut check. Time for some radical self-honesty. Are you burned out? Are you feeling shame about it? Work through those feelings first, because if you don’t, you can’t make progress 
2. Second step: name the feeling 
   1. Ok, so you’re burned out 
   2. How is this showing up for you? Fatigue, frustration, anger, sadness? Numb? 
3. Third step: Process the emotion in a healthy way 
   1. The emotion tells you what to do.  
   2.  For example, anger is usually a high energy emotion; so movement is typically a good strategy for anger. Exercise or purposeful movement are excellent choices  
   3.  If you’re feeling numb, then it’s going to be about spending time with yourself to tap into what you’re feeling. This is soemtimes tricky because we’re master compartmentalizers. Our environments encourage us to bottle up our emotions for professionalism and logistics. It’s really hard to take care of patients if you’re crying your eyes out.   
4. Fourth step: Put it into context 
   1. There are no wrong emotions 
   2. Emotions only last 90 seconds 
   3. No one dies from an emotion. Now don’t come for me in the comments about Takotsubo cardiomyopathy you guys! You know what I mean! But in the moment, it can be hard to remember that emotions are harmless and that you can’t  really be harmed by them

Conclusion  

1. As we close this episode, I want to recap the four main takeaways from this episode 
   1. Burnout is an occupational stress syndrome with a specific definition. Remember, language matters. Using the word burnout correctly is so important because it reminds us of point number 2 which is that 
   2. It’s not your fault. Remember, you’re having a normal response to a broken system. I know I don’t have to tell you all here how broken our system is when you see it from the inside.  
   3. Burnout is common. Likely, somewhere around 2/3 of your coworkers are burned out. 
   4. You’re not alone and you’re not broken if you feel burned out.  I shared part of my story in the first episode so go and take a listen if you missed it.  And start asking around at work. I’m sure you’d be surprised by how common it really is.  

I want to thank you for your t

What is burnout ? A deep dive on burnout. Review of the definition of burnout, talking about shame around burnout, and mindset around burnout.

Hello and welcome to the Reviving Wellness Podcast.