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We have all experienced the feelings. We have all looked at the next days schedule and let out a dejected groan. Who hasn't felt the tightening of the back of the neck after you hear the words, "This is ALL covered by insurance, right?" after working with a patient for what seems like hours, when they have repeatedly assured us that they did not have any insurance! How many have had the sudden urge to sprint out the back door when the never-ending adjustment from hell has darkened our doors? Who amongst us has not flipped through a lousy advertisement fluff ridden trade magazine, and thought that the time just wasted would have been better spent crushing empty beer cans at a deer hunting camp during the second week of buck season?
You know what I am getting at. You have felt it at one time or another!
Optical Burnout!
There are some mental health professionals who would claim that what many of us think is Optical Burnout is really just a healthy dose of stress. Don't believe it! Optical Burnout is for real! It is unique! It is pervasive! It is happening to many of us right now! Optical Burnout is much bigger than simple sissy stress! What are the symptoms? What are the cures? What are the ramifications? Don't sweat it. The fact that you have picked up and are reading the industry leader in all things optical is proof enough that you are aware of the dangers and are ready to fight Optical Burnout!
The optical business is a dynamic, stressful, meaningful and very challenging profession. We are a retail, medical, wholesale, manufacturing, and people pleasing enigma of an industry. We try to wear many hats. Sometimes, we try to wear too may hats. This is when Optical Burnout creeps in. When you deal with the public as intimately as we do, it is very hard to not get burnt-out. The important thing for us all to remember is that we are PROFESSIONALS! We are the experts. We are the EyeCare Professional Magazine reading junkies. We are the caring professionals that the eyeball owning population seeks out! We owe it to the masses to get our acts together and be the best that we can be
Many of us have grown up in the business. There are plenty of optical professionals reading this that come from a long (or not so long) line of optical professionals. I feel that we start to take many things for granted. We assume that the last patient of the evening will automatically fall in love with one of the first five frames that we suggest to them. We begin to shorten our lens and various lens option presentations. We begin to half-heartedly hand a finished pair of spectacles to the patient, expecting them to be magically adjusted by the Optical Adjustment Fairies. We often times check in, or final inspect, a stack of incoming finished eyewear, just barely acknowledging any of the pertinent information. We laugh and criticize every trade rag article. We become hardened to the marketing fluff of the Big Boy Optical's. We subtly roll our eyes when confronted by a newbie eyeglass wearer who boldly exclaims "I have No idea what I am doing ….can you help me?" We carry the hassles and problems of the day with us when we go home. We grow despondent, angry and truly frustrated with our daily routines. We begin avoiding people. We avoid gaining knowledge, educational opportunities, mentoring possibilities, networking, and fundamental joys of helping someone else. We begin to become Optical Burnouts.
Optical Burnout is much more than everyday stress. It is more like a life sucking parasite that threatens our professional well being and mental health! It is hiding in every dark corner and crevasse of our ever-hyperactive brain. It is the death to our professional and mental health!
You have to snap out of it! There are a few things that I do to keep from being an Optical Burnout. Firstly, when I realize that Optical Burnout is creeping in, I step back and do some soul searching. I take some deep breaths and realize that this job is not really that bad. Most of us work in nice offices that have air-conditioning, heat, and some kind of music system, lights and others that are in our same shoes! I re-affirm myself that I am a professional and a professional will not allow Optical Burnout to happen.
Secondly, I make a real effort to leave the work at work. This is often tough to do. We often take issues or problems at work personal. It is hard not to. We are in the people pleasing business. That takes a toll! We have to realize that the moaners, the complainers, and the whiners that we deal with are the same whiners, moaners and complainers that hassle the waitresses at the local pub, complain at the local hardware store, and are just a real downer wherever they do business. Don't let them get you down! Do not let them burn you out! Leave the work at work!
Lastly, do something different! Break the routine. Take a different route to work. Mix up your frame and lens presentations. Try a different approach with every patient! Give a firm handshake when a patient offers their hand…and mean it! Try to learn something new everyday. Write for a trade journal. Be a mentor. Try to become fresh, new and improved! Read the reports in your patient's charts. Look up the definitions of those long, hard to pronounce medical terms. Put yourself in your patient's shoes and realize that they are there to see you! They trust and respect you. Give them the service and respect that they deserve. You can only do this if you are at the top of your game. You can only be at the top of your game if you avoid Optical Burnout!
I know that Optical Burnout is real. I am always watching for it. When I feel that it is creeping in, I take a step back, follow the above advice and commit myself to conquering the world of ill-fitting eyewear! |
