You Don't Have To Drown In The Paperwork

“This is not what I signed up for."

Have you ever said this when you are rushing home 1.5 hours after the last patient left, and you still haven’t finished all your charting? You grab a handful of forms to take home with you with the hopeful expectation that you will get them done tonight too. After you have done ‘enough’ to appear to be a present parent and prepared supper and said goodnight to the kids, that is.

You sink into the couch at the end of the household rush with the guilty constant ‘should be’ invading your every breath. I should be finishing my notes. I should go empty that inbox. I should tackle one or two of those forms. But your body feels heavy, and your couch entraps you with its soft embrace, you open Facebook and disappear.

Each day you punish yourself for not keeping up with the work, for getting grouchy with phone requests and patients wanting to be fitted in. You wonder if anyone else gets it. You wonder if anyone is on your side.

I encourage you to find your way out of despair.  I am here to tell you it is possible if you allow yourself to stop and decide what changes you want to achieve.

Find your system and processes for getting home with everything done.

Get the help you need. Consider a life coach.

Start creating time for the things you love.

You don’t have to drown in the paperwork.

Watch the video below where Sarah was interviewed on the KevinMD Podcast.  Hosted by Kevin Pho, MD, The Podcast by KevinMD shares the stories of the many who intersect with our health care system but are rarely heard from.  Podcast episodes can be found on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.