The arrival fallacy

1. This was a term developed by a psychologist, Dr. Dr. Tal-Shahar
   1. It’s the idea that once you’ve attained your goal, THEN you’ll be happy
   2. Part of my burnout story here: ER – once I become an NP, NP – maybe I need my ENP/DNP, etc

2. How does this relate to burnout?

1. Because you’re making your happiness contingent on the future
2. There’s no room for happiness in the present
3. Then we can create stories about that and it’s how our brains filter information as well (confirmation bias is real!)

3. what can you do about it?

1. First thing is awareness. Yes, I know I always say that, but that’s because it’s true. You can’t do something about it until you acknowledge what’s going on
2. Second step: happiness is in the middle
   1. With very few exceptions, nothing in life is 100% bad or 100% good. There is always a mixture. Meaning, in a circumstance that is mostly bad (cough cough COVID), there is something good (pushing us into telemedicine, calling attention to food insecurity among children, calling attention to family leave policies and introducing flexibility into the workplace without compromising productivity)
3. Third step: Look for the good.
   1. I didn’t do this well, but I did this better as an NP post-burnout
   2. For example, i made it a point to look for the good things in spite of the bad. Early on in practice, I really struggled with my documentation and so much perfectionism at work. I’d end up staying 3-4 hours after my last patient left to finish up my notes, review my labs, refill prescriptions, answer patient portal messages, and fill out forms for WIC, social security, etc.
   3. Did I hate that? Yep. It sucked. And there DEFINITELY is a role to optimize the EHR so that it serves clinicians and not billers and coders. And until that happens, I needed something to do right then.
   4. For example, I had a fantastic medical assistant, I got to speak Spanish almost all day, and, even when I worked late, I could turn up my 2000’s Hip hop playlist on Spotify as loud as I wanted to while I worked. I could have a mini-concert and pretend my Dragon microphone was a real one (if you know, you know!)

Conclusion

As we close this episode, I want to recap the main takeaways from this episode

1. The arrival fallacy is a real thing
2. Nothing is ever purely good or bad, there is always a mix
3. You can find the good if you’re looking for it.
4. For your next work day, I want to challenge you to find 2 good things that happened to you. Just give it a try. It’s a small thing, but small things add up, too.
5. 
   

I want to thank you for your time today. You’re busy, we all are. Time is your most precious resource because it’s not renewable. Please give me a follow on social media @ reviving_wellness and send this episode to a friend or colleague who you think may benefit from this message My goal is to cultivate and grow a community of clinicians who believe what I believe: that healthcare workers deserve to be well, too.