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Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills

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to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.

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As clinicians, we spend a decade or more as trainees learning to take care of patients.

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When we finally start our careers, we want to build research programs, but then we find

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that our years of clinical training did not adequately prepare us to lead our research

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program.

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Through no fault of our own, we struggle to find mentors, and when we can't, we quit.

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However, clinicians hold the keys to the greatest research breakthroughs.

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For this reason, the Clinician Researcher podcast exists to give academic clinicians

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the tools to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.

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Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene.

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Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast.

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I'm your host, Toyosi Onwuemene, and what an absolute pleasure it is to be talking with

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you today.

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Thank you for tuning in.

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Today I'm talking about lessons learned from being too busy.

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Lessons learned from being too busy.

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And I'm so excited to share this episode as a learning lesson for myself in my life right

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now.

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Okay, so why do I bring you this episode?

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I bring you this episode because recently I've gotten into a place where I can say,

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you know what, I'm too busy right now.

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I'm doing too much, right, this moment.

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And why do I say that?

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Well, so in general, I want to take a step back and say in general, I tend to stay on

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the side of, err, on the side of busy.

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I have a strategic plan I made at the beginning of a quarter, of the quarter, and I say these

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are the main things I want to accomplish.

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And these are usually my research and writing goals, not counting the things that are already

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on my schedule.

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So I said yes to a webinar a few months ago that's going to be happening.

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I said yes to this.

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So, so there are other things that are already on the schedule.

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And then I say, well, with all those things that are happening on the schedule, these

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are the things I want to accomplish.

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Okay, great.

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And then that's, that's usually not my usual schedule.

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So it tends to, it's busy.

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I always have things to do.

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And my strategic plan, contrary to the way I was taught to do it, I'm supposed to just

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put a few things on there and then accomplish those few things and then celebrate the few

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things I accomplished.

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But I tend to do this, but a lot of things and just see how much time I got done exactly.

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And I'm not saying that should be our strategy.

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I'm just saying that I really love that game of saying, well, I said I would do seven things

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and I accomplished five.

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And in reality, I should have done three.

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I'm so excited that I got five done.

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So I really do enjoy that.

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But anyway, that's my usual schedule.

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So a couple of weeks ago, we had a conversation with a program officer.

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It was a great conversation.

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And the program officer said, ah, your ESI status is running out.

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You should put in a grant for this next cycle.

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So we have a grant that's already under review and we're thinking, we're thinking it's going

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to be funded.

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And so this person recommended that we actually submit a grant, an R01, before the next funding

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cycle.

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I mean, before the next submission cycle.

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So here's the thing, though.

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It was five weeks from the deadline when the person said, or five weeks from when we would

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have to turn in the grant from when the person made the recommendation.

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And so my co-investigator and I are looking at each other saying, we're going to take

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up this opportunity.

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It is an opportunity.

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Should we do it?

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And we also knew it was like, well, when it comes to grant writing, you create space for

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grant writing.

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You clear the table to be able to write grants.

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At least that's been my experience.

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And I had not cleared the table.

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I don't know if she had either.

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But we decided we were going to take up this opportunity.

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We thought it was a great opportunity that we shouldn't miss.

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It was not on our radar.

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And we were going to take advantage of it.

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But at first, though, we needed to try to get some other loose ends tied up so that

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we could move this work forward because I tend to be a person who always has a project

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on hand.

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And it's important, again, one of the reasons it's important to me is because when people

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come with their projects that they want me to work on, I want to be clear about the projects

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I want to move forward.

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So I don't let somebody else's great ideas, which are always great, get in the way of

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the work I actually want to accomplish.

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So this is why I keep a running list of work to do so that I'm not confused about the

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fact that my schedule is already full.

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OK.

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But then if there's a greater priority thing that comes up, usually there isn't.

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But if there is, then I can say, OK, well, why don't I move my work so that I can get

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this other work accomplished?

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But this was one of those situations where this grant was a real opportunity.

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And let me share the real opportunity.

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So although I have other funding, as a clinician, it takes time really to build up.

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And your ESI status is your ESI status.

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That's 10 years from your terminal degree.

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Most of us in medicine, our terminal degree, if it's a residency, it takes a long time

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to get to your faculty position, to build up your faculty position, to learn to be able

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to do the research, to then get to submit the R01.

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And there are benefits that come from your early stage investigator status.

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So there is this clock that's ticking from a perspective of NIH that gives you an advantage.

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You get a couple of points towards your score.

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It gives you an advantage in peer review because you're an ESI.

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For physicians, it takes you longer to get to your first R01 or to get your first R100

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relative to, say, our PhD college.

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So let's just say that it is important and it does help to be able to have this ESI status.

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But for physicians, the clock tends to run out a little bit sooner.

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Anyway, so I say that to say that my clock was running out, but I wasn't too worried

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about it because to be honest, I like not to be bothered by these kinds of things.

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I'm like, yeah, I know that's important.

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Is it going to kill me to get there?

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Not going to do it.

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Okay, so this came up where the program officer said, well, you should submit anyway.

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And here's the benefit of submitting.

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Even if you are not funded, you still have a window to be able to turn around and resubmit

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and still keep your ESI status.

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Now that was really, really helpful counsel.

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And we knew that we needed to take advantage of it.

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So for this particular situation, we're submitting a grant as two ESIs.

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And so at least at the time at which we were submitting two ESIs, they get a special consideration

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as opposed to one ESI and the other person's not an ESI.

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So because we knew we were going to submit this application, at least in the future as

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co-PIs who are both ESIs, we knew it was important to take care of this.

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Okay, so that meant that on top of my very busy schedule, I added now an R01 grant, which

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takes a lot of time.

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And maybe if you've been writing R01s for 20 years, maybe it doesn't take you as much

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time, and you have a whole team that writes it for you.

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Not there yet.

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So let's just say it definitely took time.

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Okay, so on top of that, I'm also rounding on service the week it's due.

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Okay, so that means busy, busy, busy time and not really realistic for getting a bunch

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of grant writing done.

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Oh, and in the midst of that, I'm moving.

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So I hope it's coming together to help you understand how busy a season it is.

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I should say has been, but it's not over yet.

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It has been and it still is right now.

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And it's been one of those seasons where I am literally just moving from one space to

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the next, trying to like cut corners to make things happen.

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For example, when I say cut corners, hopefully it's not terrible cutting corners.

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But for example, I went around at...

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Oh, and okay, so the other thing that comes up is that it's the end of the semester for

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kids who are going to school.

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So I have kids in elementary and middle school.

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And this was the time of year where it's like, oh, this is the band end of year band party.

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And this is the end of year celebration.

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There were a lot of end of year things.

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And I was determined to attend all of them.

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Yeah, yeah, it's getting crazy and crazier as I talk about it.

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But so this particular day, I'm trying to explain to you the shortcut and I need to

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get to the points of this particular episode shortly, but let me just set it up.

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I go to the end of the year party because my daughter wants me to be there and I do

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want to honor her and be there.

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So I go and then I go and continue my writing and then I go round.

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And then instead of seeing the patients after rounds, I stop and I do my writing and then

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I go see patients.

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So I actually am the person who is going around at 8 p.m. still seeing patients.

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And I run into a couple of my anesthesia colleagues or one anesthesia colleague who was finishing

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a cardiac surgery.

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He was like, are you here at 8 p.m. seeing patients?

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And I'm like, yes, I am.

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But it's that kind of season.

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Okay, so busy, busy, busy.

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And I want to just share learnings from being super busy.

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I don't want to say too busy because at the end of the day, who defines what's too busy?

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I certainly feel as if right now it's a little busy.

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But I want to share learnings from being super busy.

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And you know, sometimes people we talk about how, you know, you shouldn't be and all the

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things you shouldn't do.

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But I want to talk about what is important from seasons of being too busy, what you learn.

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It's five things.

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So the first thing I want to share is that it tells you very quickly what you prioritize,

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very quickly, because a lot of things, the fact that you have so much on your plate means

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that there are things that are not getting done.

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It's just the reality.

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You have so many things on your plate.

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There's things that are not there, things not getting done.

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But the things you prioritize are clear in your priority list.

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So clear.

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So looking back on this week, and all the channel or I should say it was last week,

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because this is the beginning of a new week at the time I'm recording this.

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But when I look back, I see the things I did get done all through last week.

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And I'll tell you, one thing I did get done is we got the grant submitted.

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We did.

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And what does it tell me?

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It tells me that I prioritize my research and writing.

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I absolutely do.

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I got the grants that we got the grant submitted.

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And you know, it might be to you like, oh, okay, great.

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So you prioritize the grant application.

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Whoop-de-doo.

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It's not a big deal.

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I'm not saying it's a big deal.

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I'm just telling you that I learned a lesson of what I prioritize.

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If I go beyond the fact that it was a grant submission I prioritized, I think what is

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clear to me is that I prioritize the academic things I'm supposed to do.

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So let me tell you why I do prioritize grant writing.

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I really enjoy creating the future through my writing.

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And that's how I see grant writing.

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It's a creation of a future that does not exist.

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And it's built on the potential.

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It's built on reality.

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I hope it is.

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But to some extent, I'm making some stuff up.

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I'm like, yeah, if we do this and we do this, then we're going to discover this and then

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we're going to move on.

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We're going to do this.

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And I'm creating a future that's not yet.

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So I really, really, really, especially in my area of interest, I love grant writing

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because I'm well aware that I'm creating a future that does not yet exist, that will

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not exist unless I declare its existence.

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And the grant may not get me to, I may not get the funding from the grant, but what it's

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doing, it's laying for me a very clear understanding of how I move forward to make this future

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possible.

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I really enjoy that.

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I enjoy the benefits that come from that, enjoy the fruit that come from that.

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Now, do I love all the other parts of the grant that are not like the background and

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significance and the approach?

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Not necessarily.

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They're the things that get me to where I want to be.

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And the grant deadline is a forcing function.

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It's like, well, you can think about the future when you have time or there's this deadline

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and why don't you create the future right now?

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And so I do prioritize that because I love the idea of creating a future that does not

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yet exist.

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So you learn about the things that you prioritize when you're super busy because these are the

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things you do not let fall even when other things fall.

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The other thing I didn't share that I prioritize that I maybe have came through in the story

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is that I prioritize being there with the children.

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I did.

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I absolutely went to the end of year party.

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Now was I required to be there?

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No.

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But I enjoy being there because the skits that they put on are so funny and it's a great

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laugh and to be honest, it's so lovely in my life to be able to sit and do something

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that has nothing to do with my work.

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And so I prioritize family time and I prioritize the rest that comes from doing things that

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are so unrelated to my work.

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So yes, I have more than one priority because I can and you can too.

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But I recognize that as I look back on the week and how I spent my very busy week, I

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definitely had those two things rise to the four things that I prioritize.

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Okay.

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Number two is that it shows you the things that you do not prioritize.

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So I know that that feels a little circular like, okay, great.

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It shows you the things you prioritize or the things you don't prioritize.

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How great is that?

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But what I'm saying is that there are things that are at the bottom of your list that tells

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you that you actually don't care for.

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You're like, you know what?

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The skin fall and I don't care.

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This is important because remember we always talk about, I talk a lot about the 80-20 rule,

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but it's the 20% of things you do that really move you forward versus the things that you

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do that don't move you forward.

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And very quickly, when you get into a season where it's super busy, you recognize the things

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that you let fall to the bottom and you're not even bothered that they fell to the bottom.

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Now here's the thing.

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They may be important things, but you're letting them fall to the bottom.

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It shows you that you don't value them at least to the level that you say you value

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them.

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And so this particular scenario helps you recognize, well, so should I care about those

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things and what can I change in my life so that those things rise to the core?

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For example, maybe what you let fall to the bottom was your family and you're like, oh,

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well, yeah, I guess I don't prioritize them at all.

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And you can decide that's okay for you or you can decide, well, I don't want that to

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be the case.

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I want a scenario in which I prioritize family.

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And then you can choose.

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Right?

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So it shows you things.

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It doesn't judge you.

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This is not a judgment.

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It just shows you things.

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It's like, oh, when you were super busy, you let X, Y, Z fall to the bottom of your list.

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What does that say?

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What would you like it to say?

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How would you like your priorities to look like to you?

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So what it helps you do, it just helps you level set.

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It's not to judge you.

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It's not to say you're a bad parent or it's not to say you're a bad this or that's not

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about good or bad.

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It's just about, hey, when it gets super busy, we can see what you bring or what you prioritize

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and we can see the things that you let fall.

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Is this how you want it to be?

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Now I will tell you just in case I'm making it up or it's appearing as if I'm great at

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prioritizing family and my grant in the same week.

284
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I did not exercise.

285
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I exercise daily.

286
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I let exercise fall to the wayside.

287
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Until your second thing, I let fall to the wayside.

288
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I did not sleep well.

289
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So I'm not doing great in those two areas.

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I want exercise to be one of my highest priorities.

291
00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:32,840
I want sleep to be one of my highest priorities.

292
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And what it showed me in this past week is that I let sleep fall to the wayside.

293
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Now some of that is that I'm on call and if they call me at night, here I go.

294
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I get up and I make that happen.

295
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But I said that's not a priority.

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Whether that is that my work made sleep not a priority or that I made sleep not a priority.

297
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It was not a priority on my list last week.

298
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The other thing that was not a priority on my list last week that showed is that I did

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not, I did not, I took out sleep.

300
00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:04,360
Oh, exercise, my goodness, I let it fall to the wayside.

301
00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:09,320
I've said, and when I look at my list, I've said exercise is optional.

302
00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:10,320
And it's not optional.

303
00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:11,440
I don't want it to be optional.

304
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:16,400
I want exercise to be one of my highest priority items daily because it makes me feel good.

305
00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:21,040
And I love the benefits that come from exercise, all the health benefits and the good feeling

306
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benefits too.

307
00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:25,120
So it's at the bottom of my list this week.

308
00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:29,320
I can tell because I see what I did, but I don't want it to be there.

309
00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:34,800
So it's just telling me that, KLC, you want exercise to be a priority, but it's clearly

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00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:35,800
not.

311
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How can you change that?

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That's the gift that being super busy gives you is that you're able to align the things

313
00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:47,520
that maybe you do want to be higher priority list, but they're not.

314
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And what do you want to do about them?

315
00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:50,760
All right.

316
00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:57,360
Number three is that you discover the limits of your sanity.

317
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What do I mean by that?

318
00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:06,360
You discover what triggers you a little bit more easily than in scenarios where everything

319
00:17:06,360 --> 00:17:09,160
is cool and calm and not so busy.

320
00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:14,000
And I want to bring this up because to be honest, I'm talking to an audience that gets

321
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,480
really busy and you've had your busy weeks.

322
00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,840
And it's funny, you've had busy weeks where you're like, it could never get busier than

323
00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:21,840
this.

324
00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,360
And then of course next week comes and it's like, oh, this is crazy busy.

325
00:17:24,360 --> 00:17:25,360
Oh my gosh.

326
00:17:25,360 --> 00:17:26,360
Right?

327
00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:28,380
So you, you've had busy needs, sir.

328
00:17:28,380 --> 00:17:31,000
This is applicable to you, I hope.

329
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:37,680
There are times where you are so busy that it does not take much to push you over the

330
00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:41,920
edge and it will happen a lot more when you're so busy.

331
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:47,960
So you recognize that, okay, this is how I behave when I'm triggered.

332
00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:49,440
This is how mad I get.

333
00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:51,040
Or maybe you're not triggered.

334
00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:54,880
And that's important to say, wow, the work you've been doing is paying off.

335
00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:58,280
This didn't trigger you even when you were super busy.

336
00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,560
And why is that important to understand the limits of your sanity?

337
00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:02,560
Okay.

338
00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:07,800
You know, you work with people who, if you're in academic medicine, you work with trainees

339
00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:11,040
and it may be okay for you to get super mad around your college and you probably know

340
00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,200
better about, you know better not to do that.

341
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:19,480
Or it may be okay to get, it probably isn't okay to get mad when any significant amount

342
00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:24,620
of weight around your division chief or your mentors, right, you know, better.

343
00:18:24,620 --> 00:18:28,640
But sometimes you feel like your guard is let down and you might get mad in front of

344
00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:32,800
a trainee and now that's the problem, right?

345
00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:33,800
That's a problem.

346
00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:36,600
Maybe the trainee does something and you suddenly snap.

347
00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:38,920
Oh, that's a problem, right?

348
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:40,300
That's a problem.

349
00:18:40,300 --> 00:18:45,600
And you want to be aware of the limits to which being so busy pushes you so that you

350
00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:50,800
can decide that number one, you're either going to dial it back or, you know, do what

351
00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:55,220
it takes to exercise the kind of self-control that no matter how busy you get, you're still

352
00:18:55,220 --> 00:18:58,960
pleasant and kind and respectful to everybody around you.

353
00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:06,000
And so this is very important because then you learn very quickly what your limits are

354
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:11,840
and then you can choose in a non-judgmental way how you're going to respond to that.

355
00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:15,960
And maybe you find that, hey, no matter how busy I get, I'm still kind of courteous to

356
00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:16,960
everybody.

357
00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:17,960
That's beautiful.

358
00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:23,240
So you're doing the work that helps you continue to show up as your best self even when things

359
00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:24,240
get super busy.

360
00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,520
But if you're finding out that you're snapping, you're yelling at people, people think you're

361
00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:31,280
a monster, okay, maybe dial the busy list down.

362
00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:33,680
That's hard to do in that lesson.

363
00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:39,600
Or do the work, the internal work that's needed to show up in a way that's respectful and

364
00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:42,960
honorable to the people around you even when you get super busy.

365
00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:47,060
So you learn when you're super busy the limits of your sanity and the things that trigger

366
00:19:47,060 --> 00:19:48,060
you.

367
00:19:48,060 --> 00:19:52,160
Okay, number four, you learn what it is you still need to learn.

368
00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:57,560
Now that's how it came back to me in my example where I cut out exercise and I certainly was

369
00:19:57,560 --> 00:19:59,360
not getting enough sleep.

370
00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:01,800
I want those things to be a priority.

371
00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:09,120
So I'm learning in this experience of being super busy what I still need to help myself

372
00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:11,320
learn as high priorities.

373
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:16,640
So what I'm seeing in the way I behaved or the things I didn't prioritize is that I've

374
00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:18,920
decided that exercise is optional.

375
00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:20,320
I don't want that to be the case.

376
00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:22,760
I want it to be fully required.

377
00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:29,520
And so what work do I need to do to tell myself to help myself learn that no, no, no, this

378
00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:30,820
doesn't fall aside.

379
00:20:30,820 --> 00:20:33,280
So I learned the things that I need to learn.

380
00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:39,560
I'm learning that I need to work hard to prioritize exercise in my mind so that it's something

381
00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:41,760
I do consistently.

382
00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:42,760
How about sleep?

383
00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:47,640
One of the things I've learned is that I want to be able to continue to do this work no

384
00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:50,120
matter the work I have to do in the hospital.

385
00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:56,040
And so maybe this clinical work I do that keeps me up at night is not what I want to

386
00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:57,040
do.

387
00:20:57,040 --> 00:20:58,040
Right?

388
00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,400
So now I have the opportunity to say, well, how do I want to structure my clinical work

389
00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:03,480
so that I'm not waking up in the middle of the night?

390
00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:08,080
And I can do that because I'm building my career as I'm moving forward, building my

391
00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:13,640
career as I'm living it, and everything I do is optional.

392
00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:15,920
And I need to decide how do I live?

393
00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:18,480
So I'm doing clinical care.

394
00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:20,640
Clinical care is still part of what I do.

395
00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:25,700
How do I do the clinical care such that it doesn't interfere with my research and writing?

396
00:21:25,700 --> 00:21:30,840
So for example, maybe what I do is I sign up for the Fellows Clinic because I know that

397
00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,920
the Fellows Clinic does not involve overnight call.

398
00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:39,400
So it just shows me different strategies that I can use so that I can prioritize sleep even

399
00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:41,240
when things get super busy.

400
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:44,040
It's hard to prioritize sleep when you're being paged in the middle of the night.

401
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:46,640
And I recognize that that's extrinsic to me.

402
00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:51,520
But the choice that I make is whether I continue to show up in the space that limits my ability

403
00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:53,480
to sleep in times of busyness.

404
00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,600
So that's one example of the way I'm thinking about it.

405
00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:02,040
So you learn things that you still need to learn or you learn about opportunities to

406
00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:05,880
adjust things in your life so that you can show up the way you want to.

407
00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:06,880
Okay?

408
00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:08,420
All right, wonderful.

409
00:22:08,420 --> 00:22:10,760
You learn that only you can stop the train.

410
00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:15,680
So can I be honest and say that I'm really busy this week where I'm falling asleep while

411
00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:17,680
having conversations with people?

412
00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:19,080
That is really crazy busy.

413
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:21,160
And I think it's a little too busy.

414
00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:25,240
And in reality, I'm the one.

415
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:26,680
Is nobody making me busy?

416
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,400
It's not the clinical work.

417
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:29,400
It's not the grant.

418
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:30,400
I chose, right?

419
00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,920
I chose to keep my schedule the same.

420
00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:35,360
I chose not to take time off in the middle of a move.

421
00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:36,360
I am choosing.

422
00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:39,240
And so the train is mine.

423
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:43,400
If I'm like, wow, this train is going at a really high speed, that's because I'm driving

424
00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:44,400
the train.

425
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,960
And if I want the train to slow down, guess who slows the train down?

426
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:48,960
I do.

427
00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,280
And if I want the train to come to a crash and stop, guess who does that?

428
00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:53,280
I do.

429
00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:54,280
I do.

430
00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:55,280
I choose.

431
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:59,960
And nobody can stop the train of busyness except me.

432
00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:04,800
And I have to say that when these kind of scenarios come up where things get super busy,

433
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:09,960
it really is a great opportunity for rest and reflection and to say, hey, what does

434
00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:11,560
it take to not be so busy?

435
00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:17,360
What does it take to not let things that should be a priority not be a priority?

436
00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:21,320
What does it take to make the priorities, to fix the priorities so that the things you

437
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,640
want to prioritize are the things you're prioritizing?

438
00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:32,640
And so I recognize that I fully have the power to make change happen.

439
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,500
And so am I going to exercise my power?

440
00:23:35,500 --> 00:23:38,160
Of course I'm going to because this is crazy.

441
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:42,280
I also recognize that it's for a very defined period of time because by this time next week,

442
00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:43,680
my life is over.

443
00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:44,680
And so it's gone.

444
00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:50,120
But I also recognize that what I have is a pattern.

445
00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:55,640
What I have also is to some extent, it's a structure for busyness and only me can dismantle

446
00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:02,080
the structure and create a structure for sustainability over time.

447
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:04,180
So I invite you to think about it for yourself too.

448
00:24:04,180 --> 00:24:08,320
So if I didn't judge me, other people certainly are judging me.

449
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:13,320
But it is important for me to think about my own experience so that I can change my

450
00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:14,320
experience.

451
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:15,680
I invite you to do the same.

452
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:17,040
Or maybe you don't want to.

453
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,680
And it's easier to just sit and judge me about it.

454
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:21,680
Please do.

455
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,440
Because if it helps you, please do it.

456
00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:28,840
But you could consider maybe sitting down and looking at your own experience and saying,

457
00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,560
well, I exercise power and control in my life.

458
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:34,000
How do I change it for me?

459
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:35,600
And yes, we have choices.

460
00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:37,400
And yes, we're always making them.

461
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,040
And no other people are not making choices for us.

462
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:41,320
We're making choices for ourselves.

463
00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:47,200
And I invite you to think about how you can learn yourself from being too busy.

464
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:48,440
So I talked about five things.

465
00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:50,160
Number one, you learn what you prioritize.

466
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,600
Number two, you learn what you don't care for or what you deprioritize.

467
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,520
Number three, you learn and discover the limits of your sanity.

468
00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:01,560
And before you learn what it is, you still need to learn what opportunities are available

469
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:05,000
for you to make your life the life you actually want it to be.

470
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:09,980
And number five, you learn that only you can stop the train and you get to choose whether

471
00:25:09,980 --> 00:25:12,560
you want to or whether you don't.

472
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:13,560
All right.

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It's been a pleasure talking with you today.

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Thank you so much for tuning in to the Clinician Researcher podcast.

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I look forward to talking with you again next time.

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Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic

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clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they

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have a mentor.

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If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself.

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Someone else needs to hear it.

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So take a minute right now and share it.

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As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation

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of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do health

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care.