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How important is sleep in avoiding burnout and building resilience for those working in veterinary practice?
In our ongoing quest to help you avoid burnout as a veterinary professional, we hope our insights on resilience in the previous post inspired you to start thinking differently and incorporating physical actions in your daily life and work.
Did you find yourself implementing some of our suggestions in the last post or realising that you need to do more to prioritise quality sleep, regular exercise, or a nutritious diet?
This week, we’re exploring the second category or domain of resilience: Practical
Which by its very nature, overlaps with the physical domain we’ve already discussed.
Let’s pay particular attention to sleep and offer some practical tips for catching those zzz’s to help boost your ability to tackle anything life and veterinary practice may throw at you!
More Sleep = Less Burnout!
Let’s be honest, it can be hard to get enough sleep! Anyone with young kids, night shift or overtime hours, or feeling stressed may be missing out on a good night’s sleep.
But sleep — and getting more of it — is one of the best ways to avoid burnout.
Top 4 handy hacks to get more sleep
😴 1. Turn down the temperature
Our bodies need sleep to recover and regenerate, and this process works best when the thermostat is lowered to between 18-22 degrees Celsius. Cool down your bedroom by using a fan or opening a window.
😴 2. Stick to a schedule
Sleep experts have revealed that going to sleep within the same 15-minute window every night is crucial. In fact, maintaining a consistent sleep schedule trumps the actual length of sleep. It’s also worth a mention that you should ditch the screen an hour before bedtime.
😴 3. Stop tossing and turning
No doubt, you’ve experienced the frustration that arises when you just can’t fall asleep. If you’re having trouble falling asleep, get up for some gentle exercise or read a book until you feel drowsy. It can be said that laying in bed waiting to go to sleep is like sitting at the dinner table waiting to get hungry. Don’t reach for the mobile device though… the blue light emitted by the screen will keep you awake.
😴 4. Take a NASA nap
While we all need 7-8 hours of sleep each night, there are times when work or family commitments interfere. A study by NASA showed that a 26-minute nap during the day improves task performance by 36% and overall attention by 54%. Just be sure to tell your team that you’re napping to optimise brain function!
A few takeaways to think about:
Be honest and ask yourself the following questions:
Are you getting enough sleep every night? Are you sticking to a schedule and getting to bed around the same time?
Is there someone you know who’d love these tips? Please forward this blog post!
For even more information on how you can thrive in your veterinary practice, find out more at Lincoln Institute: The Veterinary Business Symposium – Your Key to Thriving in the New Normal
Monday 28 – Tuesday 29 August | The Hilton Surfers Paradise
Chris Gough is on a mission to empower business leaders and managers with the knowledge, skills and confidence to engage effectively with their people to create extraordinary results. The first half of Chris’ career was spent developing systems enabling him to create one of Australia’s most successful veterinary practice. Riverbank Animal Hospital, an ASAVA Accredited Hospital of Excellence, was benchmarked in 2015 as their top performing veterinary practice by recognised industry analysts. Chris joined Lincoln Institute as a student with Lincoln’s founder Paul Ainsworth in 2012. After completing Lincoln’s flagship Lead to Succeed program he was the first graduate invited to join Lincoln’s innovative mentoring and coaching program in 2015 and 12 months later he became a partner. Chris now heads up Lincoln’s talented Coaching Team, oversees Lincoln’s member benefits program, Lincoln Advantage and is also head of operations at Lincoln HQ.
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