#58 – How to Recharge & Create Rhythm in Your Life

When’s the last time you put your cell phone down and did something relaxing or to recharge your energy? When’s the last time you felt relaxed and refreshed? Can you imagine feeling refreshed & relaxed, clear-minded and rested on a regular basis? Tanked up? Ready to charge? Finding rhythm and downtime to recharge seems wildly counterproductive at first and like a luxury serious people can’t afford (or successful people… or people who are on the path to become successful). That’s what this podcast is about. This is about how to recharge yourself and be well. You can find space for this even during anesthesia training. It’s actually crucial that you do so. It will help you perform at your top level and crush school & clinical. You can find space for this even if you lead a busy life with kids & jobs and a never-done to-do list. It’s actually crucial that you do so. Brené Brown talks about in her research on vulnerability and shame, she “discovered” that people who rated their lives high on markers of life satisfaction and well-being all consistently engaged in unstructured time designed to rejuvenate themselves. It turns out she wasn’t the first person to realize this. Other researchers and sociologists have studied this and call it “play.” That’s right. Like playtime. Time set aside to do things for fun. Things that fill your cup, restore your energy and help you whether the demands of the rest of your life. That’s what this podcast is about. I originally put out what you’re about to hear in February of 2019 on the podcast From the Head of the Bed. In the show I mention taking van trips and that references the Sprinter van that my wife and I built out a few years ago as a camper van. You can hear more about that and how one SRNA converted an old ambulance into his home on wheels for grad school in episode #6 of Anesthesia Guidebook, titled Van Life in Anesthesia School with Marcus House. AANA Ask For Help website AANA Student Wellness website References: * Tarantur, N., Deshur, M. (2018).  Anesthesia professional burnout – a clear and present danger.  APSF Newsletter. 33(2), 43-44.* Chipas, A., & McKenna, D. (2011). Stress and burnout in nurse anesthesia. AANA journal, 79(2). * Chipas, A, Cordrey, D., Floyd D., Grubbs, L., Miller S., & Tyre B. (2012). Stress: perceptions, manifestations, and coping mechanisms of student registered nurse anesthetists. AANA journal, 80(4), S49. * De Oliveira, G. S., Chang, R., Fitzgerald, P. C., Almeida, M. D., Castro-Alves, L. S., Ahmad, S., & McCarthy, R. J. (2013). The prevalence of burnout and depression and their association with adherence to safety and practice standards: a survey of United States anesthesiology trainees. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 117(1), 182-193.  * Raj, K. S. (2016). Well-being in residency: a systematic review. Journal of graduate medical education, 8(5), 674-684.  * Hettler, B. (1976). Six dimensions of wellness model. National Wellness Institute. Retrieved from https://cdn.