Main cause of stress
Juggling the different elements of work can be stressful. As a professor you have to do research and keep up to date with other people's research while doing your other work. Three quarters of my time is spent seeing patients and one quarter is spent on teaching, research and administration. Then you have your family and other close relationships to think of.
But I regard stress as being quite a healthy thing. If you didn't have a certain level of stress, life would be very boring and dull.
Coping with stress
I do like to cook, I find it very relaxing. It's just nice to relax and slob about the place. I think it's important to make time for yourself. I enjoy reading as well and I don't know where I would be without Lyric FM. I think it's important to have a mentor, a trusted friend or colleague who you can turn to when you are making a big decision. I do that all the time.
You have different people for different decisions. If I have an administrative decision, I turn to one person;, if it's a clinical decision, I turn to someone else. It really helps.
Time management
Some people say that they are too busy to take time out for themselves, but it's a sobering thought to remember that we are all expendable.
The world won't stop without us.
It's often the people who say they are too busy who actually don't work that hard or use their time productively.
Some people can spend a lot of time in the office, but they could be drinking coffee or chatting for a lot of that time.
Procrastination causes stress. Some people don't deal with things when they arise. They hoard letters, for example, when they should deal with them and then put them aside.
In conversation with Alison Healy