It’s been a little while since the last update and I’ve needed the moment of rest after a pretty crazy-busy period. How have you been? Do let me know!
I was going to write a huge summary, but I’ll do it in dot points because something else is tickling my mind. Here’s a quick snapshot of life these past few weeks:
- I stopped working at certain hospital after being there for over 5 years. It was the longest constant in my schedule since I became a specialist
- Visit Seoul, South Korea thanks to Samsung and crossed off my recently added bucket list item of going to a tech launch at a tech company HQ! 🤯
- Had a patient go into anaphylactic shock. This time, I didn’t WANT extra help for a while because it’d be a bit faster for me to just do the initial things. Old me had “hit button” and try to not panic. Now, it’s get steps 1,2,3 done before the cavalry ask the inevitable question of “what happened” and I have to recite the tale.
- Two close, married friends began their separation
- and so much more
Schedule time to smell the roses
It’s a bit trite, but stopping to smell the roses isn’t just a banal saying, it should be an ACTUAL TASK on your task list. Hear me out.
If you’re anything like me, life comes at you FAST. Things happen, things go wrong, you troubleshoot, have some big wins and before you know it you’ve done that cycle 3 times and not even realised it. You blink and half the year has passed.
I journal, I pray, I meditate but living in the moment seems further away then ever. It really hit home the other day when I had a patient have anaphylaxis and I posted a picture of the adrenaline ampoule we used after the fact. My friends and followers commented by saying “not again!” whereas in my mind, I had forgotten the last episode as pre-history and not just a few months ago!
So, here’s what I’ve been doing to combat this:
- DAILY diary – I try and journal just dot points but DAILY. I used to allow myself to “catch up” every few days but now it’s a before bed thing
- Weekly reviews – I tend to write and journal and only really look at the end of the year. Now, I’m trying to sum up the week. This newsletter was essentially a version of that, but I wasn’t actually reading through my entries.
- Scheduling time – Yes, I am actually scheduling an hour in per week now as a repeating element in my calendar just so I can actually process everything in a timely manner. I don’t think writing everything down and reflecting once at the end of the year is anywhere near “living in the moment”. I hope eventually to make it into a daily practice with the journalling, but for now, weekly will have to do.
- Reconnecting with older friends – recently some friends from high school days visited. Even though it’s been decades there was a certain comfort in spending time with people who knew you during your formative time
How are you tackling the problem of time seemingly slipping away too quickly? Any hints or tips?