Richard Swenson: Overwork and Fatigue

Home » Meditations » Meditations » Richard Swenson: Overwork and Fatigue

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” Isaiah 30:15

“Medicine has a long, proud history of overwork. Today, however, something is different. To be sure, doctors are putting in long hours—but the difference is, we are not bearing up well under new pressures. The enormous changes in medicine have rocked physicians, and most are trying to regain some semblance of person and professional equilibrium.

On top of all the unprecedented structural changes, the societal reimbursement for being a doctor is lower than in times past, thus not sufficiently blunting the work stress… This professional overwork ethic begins in medical school and intensifies in residency training. Enormous time commitments are simply expected. One week during residency I worked 128 hours—and, quite frankly, besides falling asleep in the middle of my spaghetti, I didn’t think much about it.

But studies reveal such overloaded schedules do indeed cause detrimental changes in medical trainees, replacing the altruistic motivation of patient service with the more primitive motive of shift survival. “For many residents, fatigue cultivates anger, resentment, and bitterness rather than kindness, compassion, or empathy.”

Richard Swenson in The Overload Syndrome: Learning to Live Within Your Limits (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1998) 180.

Do you know your limits?

I am learning mine in my role as CEO of Global Trust Partners. Being stretched is good. It takes us out of our comfort zone. But we must be careful not to overwork as it adversely impacts our generosity.

As Swenson notes with medical blokes, overwork and fatigue can cause our kindness, compassion, and empathy to turn into anger, resentment, and bitterness. I think this pattern could be true for workers in all sectors.

But how can we avoid this dreadful shift from happening in our own lives? I am learning to schedule breaks. This weekend, for example, Jenni and I are headed to the mountains of Colorado for some rest and recreation.

Is it time to schedule a break? Are you feeling overworked or fatigued? Don’t wait for your body to give out or for your kindness, compassion, and empathy to disappear. Your generosity depends on it. Take a break.