Five Steps To Less Stress In Your Practice In 2015

Perhaps the letter for your New Year’s resolution should start: “Dear Stress, let’s break up.”

True, the holidays add just a little bit more stress to our already stressful lives. Day after day, it starts to feel normal but it is not. Those frequent bouts with bad stress are self-destructive because each time we give into them, another piece of our health chips away. As health professionals, we should know better and still, we allow everyday tensions to throw us into fight or flight mode. It is no longer the saber tooth tiger chase that sets us off.

Now our blood pressure rises because we’re in the 10 items or less checkout line and “I can’t count” is in front of us with 11 or someone cut us off on our drive into work, or your computer crashes two days after the warranty expires. We would like to blame others but the reality is most of our stress is self-inflicted because of the way we choose to handle it. The good news is we can handle it.

One way is to identify what your particular stressors are. Write them down. Since stress is difficult to define (someone once said it is like nailing Jell-O to a wall), it is not the same for everyone. Like any inefficient system in your practice, unless you first identify the problem, you cannot fix what is wrong. Next, prioritize your problems and tackle them head-on, one at a time. Understand the reasons why a particular activity or person stresses you out. Once you determine the source, you need to commit to making necessary changes. In most cases, the changes are not difficult to make and taking that first step can have a very positive outcome.

By the way, if you are expecting other people to change, forget it. You lose. They win.

In case you have not noticed, people enjoy being around others who have a good outlook on life and a smile is their first clue that you have a positive attitude. Not only that but a smile makes you look successful, confident and professional. So why not make it your New Year’s resolution to smile more and stress less? Start small. Here are five things you can do to lessen your stress.

1. If something is out of your control, let it go. Put aside for a moment the fact that you are not the master of the universe. Certain rules (insurance, HIPAA, OSHA, etc.) are made for folks to follow. You can choose to agree or disagree but you (and other offices) are obligated to adopt them. If you do not there are financial penalties, plain and simple. The more you try to control them, the more anger and frustration you will have so learn what you must do to comply and let go of the inevitable.

2. Stop trying to multitask or do everything yourself. Maybe it was necessary right out of school but those non-medical tasks you still insist on doing yourself are time wasters. Training your staff and delegating those duties to allow you to do more “doctoring” is far more productive. Avoid multitasking or expecting your staff to do the same, or you’ll be wasting more time correcting mistakes. Computers are wired to multitask. Human brains are not.

3. Take care of yourself. The airlines offer some great advice. Put your oxygen mask on first and then assist others. If you do not take care of yourself first, what good can you be to those around you? Lack of sleep and exercise coupled with poor eating habits are a health time bomb. Can’t make time to work out? Park 10 minutes away from work and walk to and from your car. Ditch the soda and drink water to refresh. When you are tired, you are grouchy. When you are grouchy, your mood deteriorates and voila, you stress over the littlest things. Being productive is great but you will never see a tombstone that reads, “I wish I worked just one more day!” Take the hint.

4. Focus. Be appreciative. It is usually when we are rushed that we forget to appreciate where we are in our lives and how far we have come. Consider all that you do have, not what you don’t. Unless you stop and look at the big picture, you might temporarily forget that you have your health, a career, family, friends, faith, etc. Not everyone is that lucky.

5. Re-evaluate. The start of a new year gives us all a moment, an opportunity, to reflect on what we did last year. What worked? What did not?  What we should eliminate? What we should keep? How we can simplify tasks/procedures to make things run smoother? What we should do differently? Have a “beginning of the year” staff meeting to review any potentially weak areas to encourage and share ideas on how to streamline patient flow.

The year 2015 is right around the corner. The best time to start anew is now. Even if you picked only one out of five, you are on your way. Happy New Year!