Decompressing isn't only for neurosurgery.
Terrible joke aside, there's always time to rest and relax and find joy and make your free time not only free time, but meaningful.
I just finished a hard, incredibly busy week and have a few hours until going to bed and working tomorrow.
You probably know a lot of people who post everything they do on Instagram or Facebook. It's pretty annoying. I do take photos of what I do for fun but don't post, probably because I grew up before it was mandatory to post photos of everything you do onto social media.
It's nice to personally go through photos of the things you did for fun the day after, and the memories are nice to visit a year out.
Intern year was so busy for me and I was in a new overworked, stressed state of mind that I never really took the time to record what I did for fun, and now it seem sort of like a busy year devoid of joy.
In medicine it takes a lot of effort and time to coordinate hanging out with your friends and family because your schedule is so busy and irregular. I recommend seeing when your friends/family are off when the monthly schedule comes out, then make Facebook events or other forms of RSVP for the day you all want to get together. It might take some reminders.
Everyone has their own idea of what's fun, but it's often the cheap, easy, laid-back things that make my time off feel well-spent.
Usually the more people you get together, the more fun things can be, but if you're like me, a night in playing PC games or watching films is just the right about of activity and relaxation.
With such limited time I've had off, I've started doing things I ironically wouldn't when I had more time off like: day trips to the beach or another nearby city or weekend/3 day trips to somewhere I can fly to.
We're basically worked really hard as residents and there's little to no flexibility in our schedule. In order to really enjoy life, we have to get out there and enjoy every moment possible.
Among the things I've found to be most fun during time off is getting friends together to swim and grill outside. It's the right balance of activity and everyone bonds over good food. I'm not much of a bar hopper or club-going person these days.
Med students are more fortunate and have more vacation time and less responsibilities than we do as residents, so I urge them to have as much fun as possible before their schedule becomes more rigid.
You learn to appreciate the small things so much in residency because you get so deprived of them on a daily basis.
Don't feel guilty or feel like you're a bad student or resident for taking time to enjoy yourself. Take care of your studies but also take care of yourself.
Make the most of every moment.
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