One Good Thing
Improving the Work Experience at UCSF

Issue 94
To make our True North "Our People" efforts more visible at UCSF, this communication provides a highlight of one enhancement, story or tip intended to improve the work experience for clinicians and faculty at UCSF Health.
How To Turn Off Work Thoughts In Your Free Time

Ironically, this week I found myself "ruminating" in nearly all my free time about a talk I was preparing on well-being, of all topics.

In this compelling TED talk about "How to Turn Off Work Thoughts In Your Free Time," psychologist Guy Winch talks about the impact of ruminative thoughts in denying us our precious free time and depleting us in ways that the work alone may not.

The main problem with rumination is that the worry typically happens at times when we cannot actually do the work. It happens when we want to be off, like spending time with friends or family, while having dinner, or when we are trying to sleep.

In his talk, Winch suggests the following 3 tips:

  1. Have clear guard rails. Decide on a time in the evening when you are done with work, and stop.
  2. Ritualize the transition from work to home. Create a psychological boundary if you cannot create a physical boundary for your work.
  3. Train yourself to convert ruminative thoughts into problems that can be solved. i.e. If the ruminative thought is "I have so much work to do," convert this to "Where in my calendar can I put some time to do this work next?"

Take a listen to the 12 minute TED talk. It's funny, relatable and will definitely make you smile.