Last blog, I wrote about the staycation that my husband and I were taking.   This was in response to the many reasons allied health professionals were giving me as to why they weren’t taking sufficient time away from their work. Click here to read the previous blog.

Our Staycation was such a great re-set which is the goal of most of my time away from work.  The opportunity to reset is invaluable to health professionals.  I have burned out many times throughout my 20 year career.  It’s not a rite of passage, it’s not a competence issue and it’s not something that we should be ignoring.

What I know to be true is this:

1. The border community is looking to health professionals for leadership, example and hope. We are held to a higher standard, especially during a health crises.  Who better then, to lead the way out of the health crises we find ourselves in than health professionals.
2. Throughout all our training, learning, experience and practice we have learned how to suppress our feelings so that we can be serving the clients in front of us. We are exceptionally good at this, and appropriately so.  HOWEVER, when we don’t stop to tap into ourselves and continue to wear our “stop transference happening here” armour we are at risk of not being able to access our feelings and the emotional regulation that we work so hard to manage will break.  Trust me I know this.

Therefore, it is so so important that we are creating the space, the margins and the breaks away from the work so that we can truly replenish.  We cannot wait until the COVID era is over to rest and replenish.

There are levels of fatigue right now being experienced by so many that are not resolved by rest.  They are resolved by replenishment.  They are not the same thing.

As I stated in my last blog post, I haven’t been a fan of the staycation.  I work from home and the lines between work and home become very blurred for me. I have in the past truly rested when I have been away from my home and workspace.

I was better prepared this time.  We created our staycation sanctuary.  We planned our meals out.  And we planned our outdoor activities.

What we didn’t do so well:

1. We didn’t have an agreed start time that vacation would start.  I assumed it would be on Thursday afternoon because in the past we have always travelled the day before, so that we wake up in our vacation space.  So I was busily changing linen and moving furniture and my husband was … working.  I was pissed.  Yep, assumptions can do that.
2. I didn’t plan for social media time off. This was a significant oversight by me as a lot of emotional load at the moment is being fuelled by social media.  Not just the expression of restrictions and vaccinations but as someone who is returning to work after a period of illness, I can very easily fall into all kinds of imposter syndrome and comparisonistis.
3. It wasn’t long enough … doesn’t everyone say that after two weeks of being back to “work”?

Although we may have some easing of restrictions here in Australia, I do think it will be some time before we can travel freely, and that’s if you want to.  I don’t think we can assume that people will want to travel and see other people just because we “can”.

Further staycations will be planned …

Now before I sign off, if you need a break, but need help to get yourself to a position where you can take time away from your work, please reach out to me and ask for help.