The Two Paths to Finding Joy in Your Work Again

Okay, so I’m going to keep these blog posts super-practical for the next little while and here’s why… When I was trying to escape feeling overwhelmed and burnt out by my job, and like I’d let my work as a veterinarian take up too much of my time, energy and feelings, I set out to regain some balance in my life. I knew that doing the inner work, meditation, affirmations, practicing gratitude, would all help. But, at the time, it all just felt like more stuff that I had to do, when I already didn’t have the time or the mental energy or the emotional fortitude to keep up with what was already on my plate (which was mostly, work). 

I knew the value of taking time for myself and I wanted to do it. But between overtime spent physically in the clinic and the time and energy given to thinking about work at home, worrying about patients, stressing about my schedule for the next day or the files I hadn’t finished, well, I was done. There was no way I could find the time or the energy or the will power to incorporate any of these positive habits in a lasting way. Sure, I would start them, and I would feel better for a little while, but quickly, those extra 5 minutes of deep-breathing and looking inward would get bumped by something that felt more urgent, like working, or sleeping, figuring out what to eat, or trying to find clean clothes to wear before my shift. And my self-care resolution would end-up feeling like just another thing on a long list of to-dos that I already wasn’t keeping up with. The new habit would become a burden, and I would drop it because it felt like squeezing it in to my already over-full schedule was creating more stress than it was eliminating. Does this sound familiar? You want to do the things, you know you should do the things but you just don’t have the time or energy or heart to put into doing the things. 

As I see it, there are two paths you can take to get you from how you’re feeling right now (burnt-out, frustrated, impatient) to where you’d like to be (energized, joyful, inspired). 

Path #1 is to fix things from the inside out, and path #2 is to fix things from the outside in. What I mean by that, is you can either start with the mindset, the mindfulness, the gratitude, the affirmations—all proven in good, sound, scientific studies to be vastly beneficial. Or, you can start by simplifying and easing your physical space, your schedule, your obligations, and let the inner work follow with ease. They both lead to the same place. Fix one and, the other will follow. And vice versa. You just need to start somewhere. And I’d like to suggest that while both are essential, and both need to happen for lasting and satisfying change, the path of least resistance is to start with the outer stuff and work your way in. 

Here’s why: in order to genuinely work on the inner stuff, you need to create some space. You need to free-up some mental energy, find some emotional reserves and actually have an extra 5 minutes when you’re not fretting about work, in order to allow your mind to be calm and focus inward. Right now you’re bogged down by your job, and it’s spilling over into everything else. And you can do the gratitude and the affirmations and the mindfulness meditation, but if you’re stressed and not really present while you’re doing it, then going through the motions isn’t going to create any real shifts. But, if you can work on the outside stuff first, and from there, create a bit of breathing room, a bit of thinking room, a bit of time and space and energy to give yourself the leeway to figure out what you want and then go get it, do it, feel it, all the affirmations and the gratitude and the mindfulness will be able to stick. They’ll be able to do their work and you’ll be able to realize the positive change.

I feel like right now, if I tell you that meditating for 10 minutes a day will help you sleep better and be kinder to yourself, you’ll agree but respond that you don’t know where the heck you’re going to find an extra 10 minutes. And, if you do, it’s going to fill up so quickly with thinking about work, general adulting, or mindlessly scrolling on your phone (no judgement, I do this too!) 

But, if I could share with you some practical, easy ways to simplify your decision-making, buy yourself some time, increase your productivity at work and reduce or eliminate the things that don’t feed your soul, well then you’d have the time and energy to do the inner work that is going to be the real catalyst for change in getting you out of this Saskatchewan pothole-sized rut that you’re finding yourself in right now. 

So, that’s what I’m going to try and do for you, my hard-working, exhausted colleague who gives so much of yourself to your job. I’m going to give you some easy, quick hacks, things you can implement right now, to build some margin into your life, to allow yourself the time and space and energy to reconnect with yourself. And from there, do the inner work that is going to be meaningful for you. I may throw in some bonus blog posts with some mindset tips if I come across something I feel you can’t live without right now. But mostly, you can expect to find practical, easy-to-implement changes here for the next little while so you can ditch the extraneous stuff that’s bringing you down and make room for the things that feed your soul. Especially now, in this time of COVID-19 when vets are even more over-worked than usual, you need to make space for the things that are life-giving, whether that’s playing with your kids, your dog, your cat, or your rat, catching up with friends, starting that mindfulness practice, or, just sleeping. You need some margin. Your schedule and your psyche need some white space, and I’m going to try and help you find it. 

If that’s not what you need and you want me to dive a little deeper, leave me a comment and i’ll give you what I can. I just want to help you in the best way possible, and I think, what you need now to leave work at work, to be able to relax and enjoy your home. In that spaciousness you will find the reconnection with yourself that will allow you to then make room for the things that are truly important to you, and to be thankful for all that you have that is good. It will allow you to embrace the truth that you are a brilliant practitioner, and a worthy and valuable individual and that your best is good enough.