Having an Intentional Weekend and Making the Right Moves to Meaningfully Recharge from a Busy Clinical Life.

Friends: As a surgeon, we have learned to sacrifice our social lives for our work. When you put your patients before everyone else it makes it difficult to have friends and social interactions. However, we all know this is a dead end. Take time to invest in friendships outside of the hospital and spend time each week catching up.  

Workout: This should be a given. Not only is it good for your health, but it will reinvigorate your mind. Research shows exercise improves cognitive function. So, should you just go for a run? No. The workouts must be balanced containing equal parts cardio (running or biking), strength (weights) and mobility (stretching)

Grooming: Nothing is more refreshing than getting a haircut or some other form of self-care. Taking the time to ensure your appearance is up to standard is part of good discipline for a reason, it helps us remain focused and undistracted. Your appearance mirrors your internal feelings and vice a versa. So, get a haircut, improve your wardrobe or participate in some other form of grooming.

Challenge yourself: In the OR we constantly challenge ourselves, but it’s always in the same way. For balanced growth we need more a more diverse set of challenges. Surgeons may paradoxically find themselves depressed on the weekend or during down time. Why? Because the challenge is missing. Get out and do something uncomfortable, that is not related to medicine.

Inspiration: Part of rejuvenation, is finding inspiration. But where do you find it? Luckily inspiration is all around us. For me this means basking in nature, but it could be art, music, food, family or friends.

Read: Take the time to recharge by diving deep into topics that during the week you would only have time to get into superficially. Read real books, not things on your phone or tablet.

Get out of town: Nothing can get you out of the doldrums like a change in scenery. This unlocks you from your normal cognitive and behavioral patterns that lead to chronic fatigue.  Getting out of town refreshes you in a way that I feel is incredibly difficult to achieve in medicine when we are constantly in the grind.

Research: Practice reviewing your week. Take the time to think in abstract and deep terms. See where you can make improvements. Inspiration will strike you when you lease expect it.