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Burnout: How to Recognize It, Recover, and Reclaim Your Life · Life and How to Live It with Dr Rocco

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Do you sometimes feel like life is passing you by?
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: How would you like to get more out of life?
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: We explore all things life on this podcast.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Life and How to Live It podcast with Dr.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Rocco.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Life and How to Live It.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Life and How to Live It.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Dream, create, connect, just live it.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to another episode of the Life and How to Live It podcast with me, Dr.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Rocco.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever woken up in the morning feeling just as tired as when you went to bed the night before?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Have you said to yourself, oh my goodness, how am I supposed to drag myself through this workday?
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: Have you felt that nothing you do matters?
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: That your work is meaningless, and you're not even very good at it?
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: If so, you may have been suffering from burnout.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you currently have burnout.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that is the topic of today's episode.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's a very common issue.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's something that I see all the time in my coaching practice.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought it would be an interesting thing to talk about today.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: Now, we have all heard this term burnout, but like so many things, people use this term in an inexact way.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, some people when they say burnout, they mean they're feeling stressed, they feel tired, you know, something like that.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: But there is an actual definition from the World Health Organization of this word burnout.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it is defined as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: So the important thing to note here is that you know the World Health Organization considers burnout to be really an occupational issue.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I think most of us know that you can be burned out in your regular daily life.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's not always about your job.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: You know, anybody who's taking care of an older uh disabled parent or has many young children maybe feels that they're suffering from burnout.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: And you'll see, you know, when the definition is given a little later here, whether maybe you are.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: So one of the things that um the World Health Organization says is that there should be three specific characteristics present if a person is really burned out.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: One is exhaustion.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: These is a feeling of energy depletion, which is physical and emotional.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: The second is depersonalization.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Depersonalization means that you have increased mental distance from your job, feelings of callousness and cynicism about your job.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: When I think of this, I think of that, you know, kind of stereotypical grizzled detective or cop in one of those TV shows who goes to a crime scene, there's blood everywhere, there's a dead body right there, and they're just telling, you know, kind of crude jokes.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that is a person who is callous and cynical about their job and is likely burned out.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the third thing, so there's exhaustion, there's depersonalization, and the third characteristic is inefficacy.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: Inefficacy means that you have a sense of reduced personal accomplishment or a feeling of decreased competence.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: So that's when you say, you know, what does it matter what I do?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's not important, you know, it's like it doesn't matter if I do it, it's it's not gonna make a difference.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm not really good at it anyway.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: Those kinds of things are feelings of inefficacy.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: So when we talk about burnout, we're talking about in a workplace setting, it's exhaustion, depersonalization, and inefficacy.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what burnout is.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, how common is burnout really?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the answer is it's very common.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Depending on the industry that uh you're looking at and the way surveys are done, anywhere from 40 to 70 percent of the US workforce is suffering from some sort of burnout.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Now, listen to that.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: 40 to 70, we'll say at least 50% in most cases of people in the workforce have burnout or have some symptoms of burnout.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: So if you are burnt out, um, you're not alone, don't feel alone.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully, I can give you some ideas in this episode to help with that.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you're a work uh a corporate leader, you know, a boss of some sort, um, you can be for sure that a lot of people in your workforce are are burnt out.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: So, what can you do to help them?
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: So we know what where burnout is, we know it's common, but what causes burnout?
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: The best framework that I've seen to kind of describe a burnout is to look at it as having three different factors.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: So there's personal factors, there's workplace factors, and there are global or societal factors.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about personal factors.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll talk about my own background as a physician and as a person who coaches a lot of physicians.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Physicians have personal factors that can make them prone to burnout.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this is not just physicians, like anyone can have these factors and and uh personality traits, but I'm just giving this as my example since this is what I know best.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: Perfectionism.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: A person who is a perfectionist has a tendency or or a risk toward burnout.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Often perfectionists are highly self-critical, they are very independent uh and very conscientious.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: These are all good things, you know.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's good, and and it's it's actually what helped them get into medical school and get into a good training program is that they have a high standard for themselves and they're, you know, they like to get things done and they like to do things on their own.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: However, as time goes on, those kinds of traits just put you at some risk for burnout.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: Another trait that you can have uh as a personal factor is having a lack of hobbies or other outlets in your life.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, a lot of people, a lot of doctors are are so focused and single-minded, especially as they go through their training, uh, that they really don't cultivate a lot of balance in their life.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: So these kinds of things are personal factors that can lead to burnout.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: There are workplace factors.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: In the workplace, you can have a work overload, you can have a lack of control, where everything's so top-down that you know you feel like you really have no say in what you're doing at your job.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, there can be a feeling of a lack of respect from the supervisors, managers, etc.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there can be a misalignment of values.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: So say you value certain things, but it seems like your the culture of your organization does not.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: That can lead to burnout eventually.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: And and then there's this um lack of camaraderie in the workplace that can lead to uh burnout.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'll say a few words about that because I think that's a very interesting phenomenon.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Going back once again to the world of of medicine and doctors.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: When I started my uh medical training, which would would have been the late 80s and early 90s, you know, the hospital was kind of the place where things happened.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there was the whole office setting.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna talk more about the hospital.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: But in the hospital, the doctors were always present uh doing their work, do writing in uh the charts because the charts were all paper.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so therefore, you know, the the nursing unit uh would be a buzzing place where there'd be a lot of activity.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: But of course, there'd be the nurses and and other uh people that work there, but there'd be doctors coming in and and bumping into each other all the time, uh, sometimes really having to wait for one doctor to write a note in a chart before they could write their note.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: The physician's lounge was a hopping place.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: There'd always be somebody in there, you know, having a coffee or or just taking a break from their day.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: Over the course of my career, I saw that really change.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: I saw mostly because of technology, but also because of an evolutions in the way medicine is done.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: Now in the hospital, there's there's a whole group of doctors called hospitalists who didn't exist when I first started my training.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: And hospitalists do the work that's in the hospital.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore, a lot of doctors never go to the hospital and they spend all their time at their office.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: If you spend all your time in your office, you don't tend to meet the other folks, the consultants and specialists and etc.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and so between electronic medical records and um different other evolutions, what we have is people tending to do their notes in other places, whether it's in their office, at home, uh, they're not sitting at the rehab unit or the um med surge unit uh writing a note in a chart, and they're not even in the hospital to go to the physician's lounge and meet their colleagues.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: And this has led to some burnout because we can do well with work, with all sorts of things, as long as we feel like we're part of something bigger than ourselves and we're part of a group and we know the people that we're interacting with.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: We can we can do a lot more.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: So that's just an example from my personal life.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: I've seen this change over the years.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and I'm I suspect that's the case in a lot of jobs, especially these days since COVID.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of uh offices have people who never come into the office and work remotely, or maybe people come in one or two days a week.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I believe that that contributes to a sense of disconnection from each other, which can also contribute to burnout.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: So moving on to global and societal factors.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: So these are things that are not personal to you, they're not uh personal to your job or your corporation, but they are larger factors, larger trends.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: One of them is the uh a pace that is constantly getting faster.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: So that's not just in you know your job, it's in every job, it's in the whole world, it's in everything that we do.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: Everything is constantly faster.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: There's more noise, there are more distractions, there are tighter margins in every business in order to uh make a profit.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, everything has been uh stripped down to be as efficient as possible, so there are fewer people doing more work than in the past, uh, and productivity demands um keep getting higher all the time.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: So, so those are just these global and societal factors that just trend to push us toward more burnout.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there is also remote work, which I've um kind of touched on a minute ago, but remote work has completely blurred that line between when you're when you're working and when you're not working.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: That line was being blurred by technology.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Going back to the experience of of being a doctor, you know, as I said, there used to be only paper charts.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: So all chart work had to be done either in the office or at the hospital uh nursing unit where the charts were.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but once there became um, you know, the ability to do the chart work from a different location with the electronic medical records, uh, a lot of doctors started taking a lot of charts home.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: So you would work all day seeing patients doing all the things that you do all day, and then go home and do you know two, three, four hours of chart work at night.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, so this, you know, and I'm sure that's the case in a lot of um other jobs besides medicine.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: For instance, you know, email, this expectation that you're always available to be checking your email, you know, blurred that distinction between being, you know, working and not working.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, think about some glory days in the past, like the 70s, the 80s, the 50s, who knows when, when you would work your day at work, go home, have a nice dinner, watch TV, go out to a ball game, who knows, watch Johnny Carson at night.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that doesn't exist anymore.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: Now everyone is on all the time.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I believe that this remote work has completely erased, you know, that line between work and home.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: And that is another trend that has led us toward more burnout.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: And one that is interesting is that that um women report a higher rate of burnout than men in general.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now, there may be many reasons for that, but one reason that I think is is probably pretty clear is that you know, even though women have been in the workforce for a very, very long time at this point, there is still a societal expectation that women are the ones who are the primary caregivers of their children, the ones who interact with the school system the most, the ones who take care of the aging parent, uh, the ones who tend to do more of the housework, you know, and and that uh is a recipe for increased burnout.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that could be a whole other podcast episode, but I think it's an important thing to mention in this one as a societal factor that can contribute to burnout and higher rates of burnout um among women.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, what can we do about burnout?
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: Going back to our framework, personal factors.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: So we can work on some things about ourselves in order to make ourselves more resilient and less prone to burnout.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: So there are three things that are really non-negotiable for all people.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: One is a healthy diet, another is exercise, and another is sleep.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: So when I say a healthy diet, I don't mean anything really, you know, specific, but I mean eating a consistent, nutritious diet that will help to replenish us because you know part of being resilient is being physically resilient and having the proper nutrients, avoiding excess alcohol, exercise, regular, consistent exercise helps us to be more resilient uh and and helps us to feel more positive.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: I think the simplest thing we can do is just go out and take a walk every day, maybe you know, every other day, a few days a week, uh, especially if we can go outdoors, especially if we can be in nature.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: There's something extremely replenishing about being in nature.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: So eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: Get consistent sleep.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: If you have some sort of sleep disorder, have that looked at.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's a lot of people with sleep apnea out there.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: If you can address your sleep apnea, you may actually help with your burnout, believe it or not.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: So sleep, exercise, diet.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: Those are non-negotiable.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, how about making more time for daily breaks?
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: So that means maybe getting up from your desk once every hour or so and just taking a walk around your office.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, maybe going out for some fresh air.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, a trend that we've seen in the workplace uh is this sitting at your desk having lunch while you look at email.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is really not a break, you know.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: Try to have your lunch, you know, with other people if you can, especially if you can do it outside.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe your lunch is like a quick bite of something and then you go out for a walk.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: That can be nice.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you can't get away from your desk, but maybe at least have your lunch without looking at your email, where you can just disconnect, take a break from work just for those little periods of time.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: When you take a vacation, take a real vacation.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: This doesn't mean that you have to go on some exotic vacation.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you go nowhere, but you you while you're home and you're not working, you're not checking your email, you're not available for phone calls.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's a vacation.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: Get a hobby.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: Hobbies are extremely, extremely healthy for people.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: There is an episode I did in season one called Flow State, where I talk about the benefits of the flow state and how many hobbies can get us into that flow state.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, flow state is really, really replenishing.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: So try to find a hobby.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: Meditation, prayer.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, these kinds of things can be extremely helpful with for people who are trying to prevent or address symptoms of burnout.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: Prayer specifically may be very good because it is a um acknowledgement of a higher higher power.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that acknowledging a higher power gives you a different sense of perspective, makes you feel less alone.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so prayer, you know, for those who are so inclined can be a very helpful practice.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yoga, tai chi, breathing exercises, these are all things that can help to increase your resilience and your your ability to like not succumb to the burnout.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: Take time for your family and friends.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: We we sometimes forget when we're very busy that we work, you know, largely, you know, because because we we're earning money so that we can enjoy our family and friends.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: There are other reasons to work, clearly, but that is one of the reasons that we work.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so spend quality time with those people.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: Look for meaning.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: Look for meaning in your work.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, think about like why did you start doing this job in the first place?
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what is it that attracted you to it?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, is there some meaning that you can find?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe the meaning is not in your work, but maybe you can have meaning in your life.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: Once again, going back to things like hobbies, spiritual and religious practices, and things like that.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: Now, there is an overlap between burnout and depression and anxiety.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: So if you do have depression or anxiety, it may be really hard to address these issues uh with you know on your own.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: And you should be seeking the help of a counselor, a therapist, a professional.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, another person who can be helpful for you if you're if these are more focused issues on the workplace and and not so much depression and anxiety.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: Those are for therapists and counselors, but a coach can be extremely helpful for workplace burnout.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about workplace factors.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: The most important thing is to objectively assess your situation, you know, which is sometimes hard for a person who's who's burned out.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's very hard to be objective.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and that's where someone like a therapist or a coach can be very helpful.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: But if you can assess what is the workplace issue, is it uh too big a workload?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: Is it too many interruptions?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: Is it too many meetings that really are meaningless?
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like meeting, we're having meetings, so we can have meetings.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there are different things that may be the issue for you.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: Once you have looked at that, once you have really assessed, you know, what are the issues for for me specifically, then you can do something that's really powerful, uh, which is also really tricky, which is going to your supervisor and talking about it.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: Now, um in episode um six of this season, season two, I had an episode called uh the influence advantage, where I had uh my guest, Paige Karstensen, a coach uh and uh friend of mine, who um she talked about This thing called the 80% solution.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the 80% solution is really pertinent to what we're talking about right here.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: The 80% solution means that when you are going to have this conversation with your supervisor, you don't just go in with a bunch of complaints.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: You go in with a solution, some solution.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: It does, and the 80% means it doesn't have to be, you know, haven't solved the problem 100%, but you've given it a good effort.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: In that episode, I talked to Paige and said, well, you know, maybe it could be like a 50% solution.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a 10% solution, but it's some attempt.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: So you don't walk into your supervisor's office and say, hey, you know, I can't handle this.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm overwhelmed.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: This is too much work, too many distractions.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: They're just going to look at you as a negative person, as someone who's kind of a whiner.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe they can't, you can't handle your job.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: But if you go in and say, for example, I think there are too many interruptions.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's getting difficult for me to be as effective in my role as I would like to be.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: And here is my idea about a solution.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: And the solution could be something like there is no expectation that emails are returned, you know, are responded to immediately.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe uh I will respond to emails in right before lunch and right before the end of the workday, or maybe just by the end of the workday.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: So so you're so that you're not constantly responding to emails and interrupting your workflow.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's one idea.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: You could also say, how about we have um a rule that no one drops into my office between nine and noon every day?
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: This way I am able to, in an uninterrupted way, work on my work.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, when you walk into your supervisor with that kind of an idea, they may um say, Wonderful, I love that idea, or they might be like, Okay, that's a good thought, but let's work on it, you know, like and and they'll work with you.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's very unlikely that they'll just shoot it down completely, although that might happen.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, another thing, you know, we talked about earlier about this idea of like decreased collegiality and and uh connection with people in the workplace.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you could do something in your workplace.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I think it's very hard.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: You're not going to change the trends that are out there, but you might be able to say, you know, once a month, maybe we all get together and have lunch.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, once a month we celebrate all the birthdays that happened that month with a cake in the office.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: We go out for drinks after work, you know, it could be anything.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: Could be uh every Friday this group meets uh at lunchtime and takes a walk together.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: Anything, any small step that can increase a sense of collegiality, connection, uh, we're all in it together, that kind of thing may help with the burnout that comes from the office.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: You can look for increasing increasing the meaningful part of your job.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe you really like 20% of what you do, you find it meaningful, but the 80% you look at as um as busy work.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, is it possible to maybe get that to be like 50-50?
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: You're never gonna have 100% meaningful um work that you love, but maybe 50-50.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe you can come up with some suggestion to your supervisor about how you can decrease busy work.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you can somehow harness the power of AI to like do some of the documentation so you can focus more on the part, you know, your part of the job.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then another workplace issue, which is a difficult one, is the possibility that no matter how uh creatively you approach your workplace, your supervisor, uh, they just may have no interest in changing anything about the work.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe it's not a good fit.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe, maybe you need to move on to another place where you could be happier.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of concerns there, you know.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: We need to not be naive.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: We need to remember that you know, the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Usually there's just more grass.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: So that is not always a solution, but sometimes it's what's necessary.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: And and and as a coach, I have never told anyone that they should leave their job.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: That isn't my role.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: My role is to have a conversation where we talk and and I help them to kind of step back and see their job, look at all these different aspects that I've been talking about, ways that they can improve their resilience, ways that they maybe can look at the situation, reframe, you're like, what is really going on here?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: How can we approach this differently?
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: And and sometimes people come to the conclusion that they really need to leave their job.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: So that kind of thing does happen.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and maybe that is the only solution.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: But I think there are many ways to improve your situation and decrease your burnout that are short of leaving your job.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: So, so that is, you know, basically my um presentation on this, on this topic today.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: And and what I'm wondering is like if you're if you're out there listening and you're saying, yes, yeah, yes, that's me, that's my job, please take it seriously.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: Talk to friends, talk to family, get a counselor, get a coach.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: There are things you can do, uh, or you can get your your workplace to do that can improve the situation.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're a leader and you're hearing me talk and you're a leader of an organization and has the power to make changes, you can be sure that you have employees who are suffering from burnout.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: And how can you make your workplace better?
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, because burned out employees are not productive employees, and they do tend to eventually leave.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: And when they do, that costs you money.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: Turnover is very expensive to an organization.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: So both, you know, the the employee and employer should be looking at this uh in constructive and creative ways, trying to improve the situation for everybody.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: Now it's time for Dr.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: Rocco's Rex.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: Dr.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: Rocco's now it's time for Dr.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: Rocco's Rex.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: My recommendation today is to listen to Mozart's clarinet concerto in A major K622.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: And when I say listen to it, I mean really listen to it.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: I don't mean have it playing in the background while you're cooking or having a dinner or while you're taking a walk.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: Mozart wrote this masterpiece and and so many others to be listened to in one sitting with undivided attention.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: This is something we never do today, and I think that's to our detriment.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: So try it.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: Try putting the phone away, telling the other folks in your house, listen, for half an hour, because this piece is basically like a half an hour long.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: For half an hour, I just want to do this thing and not be bothered.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: Find a nice comfortable chair, lie down somewhere, close your eyes, and listen to this incredible piece of music.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think you will be happy that you did.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: What do you plan to do?
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, think about it.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's exciting.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's exciting, it's a little scary, but it is an opportunity.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: What will you do with your one wild and precious life?
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much for listening today, for spending a little time with me.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you got something out of it.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, so long.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening to the Life and How to Live It podcast with Dr.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: Rocco.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: If you'd like to book a coaching session with me, simply visit the show notes and schedule a discovery call.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: And if today's episode encouraged you or added value to your life, please subscribe and leave a review.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, life is not a dress rehearsal.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, so long.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: Just live it, live it how to live it.