09/08/2008 by Susan E Kersley.

I couldn’t understand why my latest blog posts never appeared on the front page of this blog. Then I looked up the FAQ support section for word press and fund out what settings to change. Problem solved!A doctor, GP,  feels stressed especially on emergency call days. We discuss various simple ways to reduce her stress. What works best? Stopping caffeine! Sometimes when you tell your patients ways to do things you may forget to take your own advice.Ask or seek help and you may find the solution is simpler than you thought it would be.Other things you can do to feel calmer? In between seeing patients, take a 30 second time out while you take a long slow breath in, breathing in relaxation and a slow breath out as you breathe out any tension. What helps you to be less stressed when you are doing a busy surgery? Please add your comments to the blog  and let others know what helps. 

Posted in Health and well-being | Print | No Comments »

23/07/2008 by Susan E Kersley.

Summer is here at last and the school holidays have arrived!  How long does it take you to letthe stress of medical work drift away with the ebb and flow of the tide? As you relax in the sunshine can you let yourself really enjoy your days away from it all. Really nurture yourself. Not just  your body as you eat good nutricious foods and exercise more each day, but also give your mind a holiday too by reading a novel or two. Your spirit needs nurturing too at this time. Enjoy the countryside, appreciate your surroundings wherever you are.

Imagine you are a small child and be playful, laugh and have fun.  And when it’s time to return to your day to day life, you’ll be able to recall those lovely moments whenever  you are fed up with work, when a patient complains or your heart sinks when ‘you know who’ comes into the room.

Just take a second or two and re-connect with the joyful holiday feeling and let the stress just wash out of you with your breath. Take the ‘essence’ of your holiday back home with you and use a ‘drop or two’ just by closing your eyes for a moment and remembering your holiday.

Posted in Health and well-being | Print | 1 Comment »

08/07/2008 by Susan E Kersley.

Do you wonder who to turn to when you are at a crossroads in your life?What can you do to make your life more organised and less stressful?  Take some ‘time out’ and ask yourself some questions.  Find a quiet place and sit down with a notebook and pen.Before you write anything be aware of any areas of tension in your body.Close your eyes as you breathe out and release the tension. Then with your eyes still closed ask yourself, ‘What do I want?’Notice that your first answer may be termed in negatives about what you don’t want! Jot these down on one side of the page then on the other side  re-phrase what you wrote into a positive statement.For example ‘I don’t want to feel so exhausted all the time’ could be re-phrased into ‘I have enough energy to do all the things I have to do.’  ’All the things you ‘have to do”?  Perhaps you could examine what you mean by ‘have to’ do.  When you want more energy and more time it’s useful to re-assess how you spend your time and energy now.Maybe you don’t ‘have to’ do all you are now doing. What could you stop doing? What could you ask someone else to do? What could you do more efficiently?

Posted in Time management | Print | No Comments »

08/07/2008 by Susan E Kersley.

Susan E Kersley is a Life Coach to doctors. She was a doctor for thirty years who retired early and became a Life Coach.Author of Prescription for Change- for doctors who want a Life, and ABC of Change for Doctors http://www.thedoctorscoach.co.uk http://www.prescriptionforchange.co.uk 

Posted in General interest | Print | Comments Off

08/07/2008 by Susan E Kersley.

People who care for others like you may become overwhelmed because you don’t care enough for your own health and well-being.

If you feel lacking in some area of your general well being then put yourself in ‘patient mode’ and go and talk to your GP.

It’s difficult when you have symptoms and self diagnose, particularly if  you assume either the worst or the best scenario.If your body is telling you to slow down then listen to it and take some ‘time out.’This could mean anything from a few days to a few minutes.

So long as you have had the appropriate checks to diagnose or eliminate any serious reason for your feeling of overwhelm or exhaustion then look carefully at your day to day schedules.

Do you go away from your desk for a mid-day break?Do you eat  (proper food), regularly?Take a minute or two between patients to close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to release any tension and say an affirmation to yourself.

For example ‘I am relaxed. I deal with whoever comes to see me calmly and efficiently’.

A reminder about Affirmations. These are positive statements said in the first person in the present tense as if what you want is already happening. How do you look after yourself? Please leave a comment on the form below.

Posted in Health and well-being | Print | No Comments »

11/05/2008 by Susan E Kersley.

……and the living is easy……!

Today felt like the first day of summer: relaxing on the beach and talking to friends who seem to emerge from their winter hibernation when the sun comes out.  It’s Sunday so people who have weekday work can get out and about too. Do you have that dilemma about striking a balance between what absolutely has to be done during working hours and what can be delayed until later, or when it’s raining or cloudy? I wonder how flexible you could make your working day if you thought about it carefully.

I often ask clients if they might consider going to work earlier and get some of the routine tasks done then before they start seeing patients. I’m usually up and about early so I personally have always found the early morning start one of the best ways to clear back logs and generally get things done early. How about you? If you are more of a night owl you may find there is some productive time later in the evening (though beware of this interfering with family time. Although I share my own solutions, what I do is encourage the doctors I work with to find the solution which works for them.

Everyone is different and although you can learn from others, in the end it’s good to adapt what you hear to fit in with your own life and aspirations.

If you feel stuck and not sure how  or where to find solutions to striking that balance take a look at http://www.thedoctorscoach.co.uk/teleclasses.htm for details of a new small group of doctors who want to find the prescription to their change,  starting soon in June. Numbers will be strictly limited. You will hear how others deal with similar challenges to you and I’ll be telling you all the strategies I know to enable you to live a much more balanced life.

Posted in General interest | Print | No Comments »

23/04/2008 by Susan E Kersley.

‘Which way shall I go?’ asked Alice when she came to a fork in the road in Wonderland. ‘ Well’ she was told, rather wisely, that all depends where you want to go.However whichever way she went there would be a risk either that she would or that she wouldn’t find what she was looking for!When you are at  crossroads in your life and you aren’t sure which road to take,  it’s better to make a decision (I believe) rather than stand there dithering about ’shall I go this way?’ or ’shall I go that way?’ There will be positive and negative things about whichever choice you make. So make a decision. Take action.And if it turns out to be the wrong way, what should you do then….?First focus once more on where you want to go. Then make whatever  adjustments you need to make. These may be very slight changes. You know when you are having a shower and you turn the temperature up or down. Sometimes, with some showers a very slight turn of the tap changes the shower from freezing to boiling hot. You realise that you have to move the tap a very very minute way to the right or left to get the temperature just right.  So if the decision you make doesn’t seem the right one, what slight, very small adjustments will you make? It’s making a decision that matters. People who dither and stay at the crossroads  of life, don’t get to where they want.  If you are at crossroads in your life watch for the green light of change and go…!!www.thedoctorscoach.co.uk/teleclasses.htm 

Posted in General interest | Print | No Comments »

20/04/2008 by Susan E Kersley.

There’s been a lot lately about confusing medical terminology. For example might you mis-hear hypo- and hyper-? Strangely this rarely happens. However it seems like we will soon have to learn a new medical language to express ourselves!

I’ve been experiencing similar dilemmas because I’m changing from a PC to a MAC. Suddenly all the built in automatic ways I use a computer have had to be re-learned.

When you want to change things in your life you have to go through a similar process. It often seems easier to keep things the same, because changing seems to involve learning so many new procedures and habits. Remember learning to drive? It was laborious wasn’t it remembering which gear to be in and to use the mirror. Then after a while you didn’t have to think about those things. Perhaps like me you have sometimes arrived at your destimation without being particularly aware of the route you took to get there!!

The thing about Life is that there is that change is just about the one thing that is certain. Change is going to happen like it or not so how about planning what you want to change an deciding what you will have to do, what ‘gear’ you’ll be in to make the changes. Soon you’ll be driving towards your goal (or for those of you who use other ways to get there….running , walking cycling or even swimming towards the Life you want!!)

PS if you want some motivation to get where you want to go take a look HERE

Posted in General interest | Print | No Comments »

23/03/2008 by Susan E Kersley.

Take a look at the out dated commercial and think about how times have changed!

Then it was considered healthy to smoke. Nowadays it’s preferable to think about (and act on your thoughts) to have a healthy body mind and spirit.

If you have a copy of Prescription for change- for doctors who want a life (2nd edition) have a look at page 55 ‘Looking after number one.’ It’s about how important self care is.

U is for underestimate the power of language. When you use language such as ‘I’ll try’ you are not committing yourself to getting something done. You are saying I’ll do it when or if I have the time. If, however you say instead, ‘I’ll do it by next weekend, then you are making a positive commitment and it is much more likely that the task will be completed.

When you say ‘this is going to be difficult’ then it will be. If on the other hand you say ‘this is something I am able to do’ then you will be able to do it.

REMINDER

On Tuesday 25 March 2008 at 7.00pm UK time (2.00pm EST) I’m presenting a free teleclass. To register, find out more and join in go to: www.thedoctorscoach.co.uk/teleclassfree.htm

I’ll be telling you how to change your life for the better and give you the three vital ways to make a difference right now

If you register I’ll send you the audio afterwards!

Posted in General interest | Print | No Comments »

18/03/2008 by Susan E Kersley.

T is for Take Time  Because we are all busy people we sometimes forget that it’s important to take time  to just be. Take time to relax or catch up with friends or connect with family  again.As important is to take time to connect with yourself too. To do some hings for yourself. It’s so easy to be on a sort of treadmill isn’t it? You may reflect and realise you are nearly always caring for others and forgetting that your own needs are. They are important too.   

Take time too to do some clearing out of your physical surroundings and well as the mental clutter which can accumulate too.  Spring cleaning is a useful habit to introduce into your life whether or not you do it in the Spring! It’s vital from time to time to metaphorically step back and reassess what you need and what you can dispose of.  This also has the beneficial effect of clearing space for new ideas to flow and can result in things which you have resisted or procrastinated about for ages getting done again. If you have an hour to spare  at 7.00pm UK time on Tuesday 25th March 2008 please register to come along to a free teleclass. It is an introduction to eight of the most powerful things you must do to find the prescription for your change. It is a preview call to my new series of teleclasses starting in  April which will cover in detail all of the 16 strategies you need to find the prescrition  for your change.

If you want more information about the 16 strategies and download a free report then please go to www.prescriptionforchange.co.uk

There is no charge for this call.  I’ve posted details and how to register HERE

Posted in General interest | Print | No Comments »