Emergency Insights: The Perils of 'Always Busy'
Why “Crazy Busy” is Bad for You, According to an Emergency Room Doctor
We’ve all been there. The days where we feel like we’re juggling too many things at once, struggling to keep up with work, family, and everything else in between. It’s easy to describe those times as “crazy busy”, but it turns out that phrase might be doing us more harm than good.
As an emergency room doctor, I’ve seen my fair share of chaotic and stressful situations. But I’ve never once described it as “crazy busy”. In fact, I’ve learned that using that phrase can actually make things worse.
Here’s why: when we’re in a constant state of “Crazy Busy Mode”, our stress hormones skyrocket, while our executive function (the part of our brain responsible for decision-making, impulse control, and memory) declines. This means we’re less capable of handling the busy, and more prone to anxiety and anger.
But the good news is, we can change how we react to stress. By relentlessly triaging our tasks and prioritizing by degree of urgency, we can be just as busy as an emergency department without feeling overwhelmed.
The first step is to identify our “reds” – the tasks that are most important and require our immediate attention. It’s easy to get caught up in the noise of our daily lives, but by knowing what truly matters, we can avoid getting distracted by non-reds.
From there, we can design our daily routines to make those tasks easier to accomplish. By planning our meals in advance, automating recurring tasks, and reducing temptation, we can conserve our brainpower for the tasks that truly matter.
But perhaps the most important step is learning to get out of our own heads. When we’re caught up in our own internal monologue, we’re less capable of making good decisions. By shifting our focus onto others and practicing compassion, we can widen our perception and make better decisions.
So, if you’re feeling “crazy busy”, take a step back and reassess. You have the ability to own the busy without letting it own you. By learning to prioritize, design, and shift your focus, you can be ready for whatever life throws your way.
Why Busy Shouldn’t Mean “Crazy”: Insights from an ER Doctor
Have you ever described your day, week, or month as “crazy busy”? It’s a common phrase, but as an emergency room doctor, I can tell you that it’s a phrase I never use. In fact, I hope after reading this, you’ll think twice about using it too.
When we’re in a state of constant “Crazy Busy Mode”, our stress hormones rise and stay there. This can cause our executive function, which controls memory, judgment, and impulse control, to decline. We become less capable of handling the busy and more prone to anxiety and anger. It’s not a great state to be in, and it’s why we need to find a better way to manage our workload.
But the good news is that we can train ourselves to handle busy situations just like emergency departments do. Our brains all process stress in similar ways, but research has shown that how we react to it can be modified.
The first step is to relentlessly triage our tasks. Instead of reacting to everything with the same response, we need to prioritize by degree of urgency. This isn’t just a way to get things done; it’s a way to manage stress. When individuals can’t differentiate between threat and non-threat and react to everything the same way, they have double the level of stress hormones.
By identifying our “reds” – the tasks that are most important and require immediate attention – we can focus our efforts on what matters most. We can’t take care of everything at once, but we don’t have to. Knowing what truly matters and avoiding non-red distractions is key.
Once we know what our reds are, we can design our daily routines to make those tasks easier to accomplish. For example, planning our meals on the weekend or automating recurring tasks can help reduce the number of decisions we need to make. This conserves our brainpower for the tasks that truly matter.
But perhaps the most important step is to get out of our own heads. When we’re caught up in our own internal monologue, we become less capable of making good decisions. By shifting our focus onto others and practicing compassion, we can widen our perception and make better decisions.
It’s easy to feel like we’re constantly juggling too many things, but the truth is, we can learn to manage our busy lives in a more productive and effective way. By prioritizing, designing, and shifting our focus, we can be ready for whatever life throws our way without feeling “crazy busy”.
Transforming Busy into Ready: Lessons from an Emergency Room Doctor
It’s easy to get caught up in the endless cycle of being “crazy busy”. But as an emergency room doctor, I’ve learned that this state of constant stress can actually harm us both physically and mentally. Here’s why you need to stop using “crazy busy” to describe your life and instead focus on being “ready” for whatever comes your way.
When we’re in Crazy Busy Mode, our stress hormones surge and stay elevated, leading to a decline in executive function. This affects our memory, judgment, and impulse control, and activates brain areas related to anxiety and anger. It’s a vicious cycle that can leave us feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.
But here’s the good news: we can learn to manage our busy lives like emergency departments do. By adopting tactics such as triaging our tasks, we can prioritize our to-do lists by degree of urgency. This helps us avoid being constantly reactive to every challenge that comes our way and instead focus on what truly matters.
Identifying our “reds”, the most important and urgent tasks, is crucial. By relentlessly triaging our tasks and focusing on what matters most, we can avoid getting bogged down in non-red distractions. This approach isn’t just a way to get things done; it’s a way to manage stress and reduce our overall workload.
Another crucial step in transforming busy into ready is designing our daily routines to make our red tasks easier to accomplish. This can include planning meals in advance, automating recurring tasks, and reducing temptations such as sugary snacks that can throw us off track.
But the key to managing busy is to get out of our own heads. When we’re consumed by our own internal monologue, we become less capable of making good decisions. Instead, we can shift our focus onto others and practice compassion, widening our perception to make better decisions.
By adopting these tactics, we can learn to manage our busy lives without feeling “crazy busy”. It’s a liberating feeling to know that we can handle whatever comes our way with calm and focus, just like emergency room doctors do. So next time you’re tempted to use the phrase “crazy busy”, remember that there’s a better way. Be ready instead.
From Crazy Mode to Ready Mode: Triage Correctly to Handle Busy
As an emergency room doctor, I know firsthand the dangers of the “crazy busy” mindset. When we’re in this mode, stress hormones rise and executive function declines, leading to deteriorating memory, judgment, impulse control, and increased levels of anxiety and anger.
But there’s a way to handle busy without feeling overwhelmed: triage correctly. Instead of reacting to every challenge with the same response, prioritize by degree of urgency.
Research by Dr. Robert Sapolsky shows that individuals who can’t differentiate between threat and non-threat and react to everything with the same response have double the level of stress hormones. Triage is not just a way to get things done, it’s a skill that can be learned and applied in daily life.
To triage correctly, first, know your reds. These are the tasks that are immediately life-threatening and require your immediate attention. Focus your efforts on them first. Then, prioritize the serious but not immediately life-threatening tasks (yellow) and minor tasks (green).
It’s easy to get distracted by noise, but what’s noisy isn’t always the most red. For example, demanding tasks may be noisy, but they’re not necessarily red. Liberating yourself from non-red tasks can free up time and energy to focus on what’s most important.
Remember, triage is not about taking care of everything at once, but about prioritizing correctly. By relentlessly triaging, you can handle busy without feeling overwhelmed.
The Power of Triage: Prioritizing Tasks to Move from “Crazy Mode” to “Ready Mode”
Do you ever feel like you’re constantly busy, stressed, and overwhelmed by everything on your plate? It’s a common sentiment these days, but as an emergency room doctor, I can tell you that describing yourself as “crazy busy” is doing more harm than good.
When we are in what I call “Crazy Mode,” our stress hormones rise and our executive function declines, causing our memory, judgment, and impulse control to deteriorate. Meanwhile, the brain areas for anger and anxiety are activated, leaving us feeling exhausted and unable to handle the busy.
The solution to this problem is simple but effective: triage. By prioritizing tasks based on their degree of urgency, we can focus our efforts on what is most important and move from “Crazy Mode” to “Ready Mode.” In “Ready Mode,” we are prepared to handle whatever comes our way, whether it’s a multiple-car pileup or a patient having chest pain in an elevator.
The first step to moving from “Crazy Mode” to “Ready Mode” is to relentlessly triage. In “Crazy Mode,” we react to every challenge with the same response, causing us to be constantly busy and stressed. By contrast, in “Ready Mode,” we prioritize tasks based on their level of urgency, focusing first on the ones that are immediately life-threatening.
Differentiating between threats and non-threats is crucial. Knowing your reds, or the most important tasks, can help you avoid reacting to everything as if it were red. It’s okay to have green tasks that are not immediately life-threatening, and it’s important to remind yourself of that fact to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
The next step is to expect and design for crazy. The more options we have, the longer each decision takes, causing our brain to become exhausted and less capable of making good decisions. By finding ways to reduce daily decisions, such as planning your meals for the week or automating recurring tasks, you can conserve your brain’s energy for more important decisions.
Finally, get out of your head by focusing on someone else’s needs. When you prime your brain with compassion, you disrupt that tunnel vision and internal monologue, widening your perception to see more possibilities and make better decisions. It’s what you do next that matters, and by moving from “Crazy Mode” to “Ready Mode,” others will notice and want to follow your lead.
Shift to Ready Mode: Triage and Design to Make Life Easier
Continuously reacting to every challenge in the same way can cause unnecessary stress and prevent us from functioning at our best. Instead, we should prioritize by degree of urgency, which is called triage. Triage is a crucial skill that we use in the emergency department to focus our efforts on the most important tasks. By categorizing tasks as Red (immediately life-threatening), Yellow (serious but not immediately life-threatening), or Green (minor), we can better manage our workload and avoid being overwhelmed.
One important point to note is that what is most important isn’t always the noisiest thing. By knowing our Red tasks, we can focus our efforts and avoid being distracted by non-Red tasks. It’s liberating to occasionally remind ourselves that some tasks are Green and that no one will die if we don’t prioritize them.
In worst-case scenarios, there is a final level of triage: Black. It’s when we recognize that there is nothing we can do, and we must move on. We all have our equivalent Black tasks in life that we must take off our list. It can be hard, but we must step down from those tasks because trying to do everything is not feasible. It’s essential to know our limitations and be realistic about what we can and cannot accomplish.
The second step in shifting to Ready Mode is to expect and design for the crazy. Half of handling crazy is how we prepare for it. We can reduce our daily decisions by planning and automating tasks that we can. For instance, planning a week’s meals in advance, automating tasks that we usually remember, storing exercise equipment together, and decreasing temptations that distract us from our goals.
By designing differently and making the choices we want to make easier, we can make progress toward our goals without getting overwhelmed. Remember, we cannot control everything in life, but we can manage our workload and make choices that reduce our stress levels.
The Risks of Being “Crazy Busy” from an Emergency Doctor’s Point of View
We live in a society where being busy is often seen as a badge of honor. We take on more than we can handle, multitask endlessly, and rarely take a break to recharge. But as an emergency doctor, I’ve seen firsthand how harmful this “crazy busy” lifestyle can be.
The human body and mind need rest to function properly, and when we don’t give ourselves enough of it, we put ourselves at risk of physical and mental health problems. In my line of work, I’ve seen patients come in with heart attacks, strokes, and other serious conditions that could have been prevented if they had taken the time to manage their stress levels and prioritize their health.
Moreover, when we’re constantly on the go, we may miss important signs that our bodies and minds are trying to tell us. We may ignore symptoms of illness or brush off our emotions, leading to more severe health problems down the line.
In addition to physical health risks, being “crazy busy” can also harm our mental health. When we don’t give ourselves enough time to decompress, we can experience anxiety, depression, and burnout. We may also neglect important relationships and social connections, leading to feelings of loneliness and isolation.
So, it’s important to recognize that being busy all the time is not a virtue. Instead, we should strive for balance in our lives, taking time to rest and recharge as needed. It’s okay to say no to extra commitments and prioritize our own well-being. Remember, taking care of ourselves is the first step to taking care of others.
The Detrimental Effects of Being “Crazy Busy” According to an Emergency Doctor
As a doctor who works in emergency medicine, I have seen firsthand the negative effects of our modern-day culture of being constantly busy. It seems like everyone is rushing from one thing to the next, constantly multitasking, and trying to fit as much as possible into their already packed schedules. But the truth is, being “crazy busy” is not only detrimental to our physical health, but also our mental and emotional well-being.
From a physical health standpoint, chronic stress and lack of sleep are two of the biggest issues that come from being constantly busy. When we are in a constant state of stress, our bodies release cortisol, which can lead to a weakened immune system, high blood pressure, and increased risk for heart disease. Additionally, when we don’t prioritize getting enough sleep, our bodies can’t properly repair and regenerate, leading to a whole host of health issues.
But the negative effects of being busy go beyond just physical health. In fact, constantly being on the go can lead to increased feelings of anxiety, depression, and burnout. When we never take the time to slow down and relax, our mental and emotional health can suffer. We may start to feel overwhelmed, irritable, and even disconnected from those around us.
That’s why it’s so important to prioritize self-care and downtime in our busy lives. It’s not just a luxury, it’s a necessity for our overall health and well-being. This can look different for everyone, but it might mean setting aside time each day for meditation or mindfulness, going for a walk in nature, or simply unplugging from technology and spending time with loved ones.
In conclusion, being “crazy busy” may seem like a badge of honor in our fast-paced society, but it’s important to recognize the negative impact it can have on our physical, mental, and emotional health. By prioritizing self-care and taking time to slow down, we can improve our overall well-being and lead happier, healthier lives.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the concept of being “crazy busy” may seem like a badge of honor, but it can actually be harmful to both our physical and mental health. As an emergency doctor, I have seen firsthand the negative impact of chronic stress and burnout on healthcare professionals, as well as the detrimental effects of a busy lifestyle on patients’ health.
We need to prioritize rest, relaxation, and self-care in our lives to combat the harmful effects of chronic stress. This can include making time for hobbies, exercise, and quality time with loved ones. It’s also important to set boundaries and learn to say no to commitments that may cause unnecessary stress and overwhelm.
Let’s shift our mindset from glorifying busyness to valuing a healthy work-life balance. By taking care of ourselves, we can ultimately serve our communities and loved ones better.
