n. physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress

Private practice has been known to produce serious BURNOUT of high functioning, type-A, goal setting, optometrists.  Most BURNOUT originates from a highly successful optometrist in solo practice who day in and day out manages all the ups and downs of clinical practice and owning a small business.  Many times BURNOUT occurs and there is no turning back as you feel stuck in the rut of daily practice.  To avoid this debilitating disease an optometrist must be intentional about planning to prevent this by protecting oneself.  Here are some great habits to get into to protect oneself from BURNOUT.




  1. Sleep – the lack of sufficient sleep has been shown to raise levels of cortisol in the blood stream which produces a fight or flight response all day long, which results in breaking down of the body and eventually your system as a whole.  (8-9 hours of GOOD level REM sleep is a necessity, 4 hour cycles are the norm)
  2. Excercise – optometrists take on an abundance of stress during a workday and release of this is a must, there are many forms of unhealthy release, alcohol, drugs, and various other addictions, exercise has been shown to release some of the same hormones that cause the body to relax (over lunchtime workouts are my preference)
  3. Relationships – it is tempting to get so involved in the office that we neglect those people we love the most, scheduled time with your spouse, children, and others is key to maintaining healthy relationships
  4. Mind Dump – Evernote is my journal of choice, a psychologist interviewed by “Focus on Parenting” said that the field of psychology would go out of business if people learned to journal, he said that journaling gives the same emotional release and talking to a psychologist
  5. Fun – this is the area that I struggle with the most, I don’t do a good job planning FUN, the golf course has been a distant memory for me, vacations are important but finding time in a busy practice is difficult because rescheduling patients is a mess, take time to enjoy life and find purpose outside of your office for life.

BURNOUT is a symptom of an unintentional and a highly focused life of doing one thing over and over without giving yourself a break.  Optometry affords itself the luxury of taking time to take time off.  The key is intentionally expecting to BURNOUT and planning on how you are going to avoid it before you are staring it in the face.