When I was burnt out, I hired an executive coach. One of the topics we covered was time management.
And after working with him, I realized something important: he didn’t really understand a woman’s time — or a doctor’s time, for that matter.
Over time, and with significant reflection, I’ve learned that the major lie of “time management” for women physician leaders is the belief that we need more hours to get it all done.
When, in fact, what we actually need is more energy delivered to the right things.
What we really need to understand is:
- What fuels us?
- What drains us?
- Where is our energy disappearing unintentionally?
- Where can small efforts create a huge impact on our energy reserves?
Too many women physician leaders are investing enormous amounts of energy into tasks that have a low ROI — or that drain them entirely.
Changing that is one of the most powerful steps you can take to burnout-proof your career.
Because burnout doesn’t happen simply because you spend energy.
It happens because you spend it poorly.
Energy Drains
Most of us think:
“I just need something easy. Something mindless. Something that doesn’t ask anything of me.”
So we reach for TV, Netflix, social media, scrolling, doomscrolling, wandering through reels.
And it feels like a break.
But here’s the problem:
Your brain isn’t actually resting — it’s distracting itself from exhaustion.
Scrolling doesn’t refill the tank.
It just pauses your awareness of how empty the tank is.
And for women physicians — who spend all day making decisions, responding to needs, and managing emotional demands — passive screen time becomes another form of invisible overload.
When we finish, we don’t feel restored.
We feel:
- foggy
- drained
- irritated
- behind
- guilty
- still tired
And then we wonder why we can’t “bounce back” the way we used to.
Scrolling is like drinking salt water when you’re thirsty.
It feels like it should help… but it just leaves you more dehydrated.
Another major energy drain we don’t talk about enough is this:
Understaffing in medicine has pushed physicians into doing mountains of non-physician work.
Every day, we’re handling tasks that could — and should — be done by someone else:
- tracking labs,
- fixing EMR issues,
- calling pharmacies,
- coordinating care,
- filling in gaps left by short staffing.
And when this keeps happening, something predictable occurs:
We start operating below our training, below our licensure, and below our purpose.
And the cost isn’t just time — it’s emotional.
Because every hour spent troubleshooting low-value tasks is an hour we lose from the work that actually lights us up:
- connecting with patients,
- thinking deeply,
- making an impact.
And that mismatch — between what we’re capable of and what we’re actually doing — builds something heavy inside us: resentment.
And resentment is one of the fastest accelerators of burnout.
Not because we don’t care. But because we care too much… and we’re stuck spending our energy where it doesn’t matter most.
When your skills are underused, your impact shrinks.
And when your impact shrinks, your energy drains — drop by drop.
Notice the Energy Drains and Find Energy Deposits
And here’s the thing about resentment: it doesn’t just sit quietly in the corner.
It leaks.
It drains.
It siphons off energy drop by drop until the tank is empty.
Which brings us to the real heart of burnout-proofing your life and leadership:
You cannot keep pouring energy out if you’re not intentionally putting energy back in.
So yes — we have to name the drains.
We have to recognize them, reduce them, and stop pretending they don’t affect us.
But we also need something else.
We need energy deposits — the actions, habits, and moments that refill our reserves and bring us back to life.
To make room for energy deposits, we have to first notice when our energy is leaking — and stop letting that be the norm.
Once we start noticing, the next step is finding our own personal energy boosts — the things that feel like an actionable Red Bull for the soul.
Values Based Energy Deposits
These will be different for everyone, I am sure – and wholly based on your values.
For me, one of those deposits has always been learning.
Listening to self-improvement or leadership books and podcasts lights me up.
It gets me motivated.
It reminds me who I am and who I’m becoming.
I recently came back from a family vacation and had a really hard time getting motivated and back into the swing of things. What did it for me? Starting a new audiobook that will help me improve my business.
Boom – energy back!
Learning is a core value of mine, so it makes sense that this habit has stuck.
It’s not just something I do — it’s something that fills me.
Another huge energy builder for me is gratitude.
When my family sits down at dinner and we go around sharing the things we loved about our day and what we’re grateful for, something shifts in me.
My bucket fills.
My energy resets.
And I’m reminded that the world is bigger and kinder than whatever happened in the last 12 hours.
And then — there’s connection.
Spending time with my people is one of the quickest ways I refill my reserves.
Sometimes it’s taking an extra few minutes at sign-out to check in with someone.
Sometimes it’s physically walking over to the PICU for handoff instead of taking it over the phone.
Because human interaction — real, present, face-to-face connection — is one of the tools we are too often “too busy” to use.
But it’s also one of the tools that brings us back to life the fastest.
And so often, it doesn’t have to take time to build in these energy deposits. When I started contemplating this, I discovered that turning on music in the mornings while the kids and I get ready completely shifts the vibe of our day.
It sets a tone — upbeat, positive, connected — without me having to do anything extra.
It’s the smallest action, but it fills my bucket every single time.
Grabbing a breath of fresh air is another simple one. Sitting in the courtyard for lunch or taking the dog for a walk. Energy boosted.
Small Repeatable Habits of Energy Depositing Change Your Trajectory
Energy deposits don’t always look like self-care.
They don’t have to be elaborate, expensive, or time-consuming.
Most of the time, they’re simple moments that reconnect you to yourself:
The things that feel small… but add up to something big.
When you start intentionally depositing energy — even in tiny ways — you change the entire trajectory of your day.
And ultimately, the trajectory of your career and leadership.
Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed this, find me on LinkedIn @stephanieyamout and leave me a note. I’d love to hear your thoughts! You can find more resources and coaching at WomenMDLeaders.com.
I’m Dr. Stephanie Yamout — thank you for listening, and thank you for leading with heart.