I had a phone conversation with one of our members the other day and she was sharing how she is feeling stuck in her life. She isn't really feeling heard in her practice, not loving where she is working, and has a few personal things that she is dealing with as well.

We have all been there where we feel stuck and not sure of what to do.

One of the programs that I present on is 'Energy Management for the Dental Hygienist'. This topic is near and dear to my heart as I truly believe we have more power in managing our energy than we give ourselves credit for and I love to remind dental hygienists of this. We all need to be reminded of all the positive things that bring us joy as well as to take the time to recognize the negative ones as well.

When you are feeling stuck, lack motivation, and find that you are just going through the motions, there is a great chance that you have many things in your life that are considered energy drainers.

What can we do to get unstuck? Here are a few tips (I have many more!)...

1. Taking the time to reflect and acknowledge your feelings and figure out why you are feeling stuck is the first thing to do. Recognize the things that are not serving you and are draining your energy. Write down the things that you are not happy with in your life. Evaluate and self-reflect. Recognizing the energy drainers is key to becoming unstuck.

2. Take a look at your physical environment. De-clutter the things around you. Take the time to get organized in your home. Clean out your closet, your drawers, and donate where you can. Spring is the perfect time to do this! What is your work environment like? Are you using worn dull instruments and inserts? This can play a huge part on the lack of enthusiasm you may be feeling in your practice. Have you tried wearing loupes or getting a new chair?

3. Are you happy in your workplace? Do you feel heard? Take action and either voice your concerns with your team in a positive way to see if there is a possibility of things changing or start to look for a new position. There are so many opportunities out there for us as dental hygienists. Have faith in yourself and take the leap.

4. Look at where you want to be and create a plan on how you can get there. Create small goals that will help you achieve the larger goals. This can be an exciting exercise to go through!

5. Develop a daily routine and stay consistent. Once you have established a plan, review daily to ensure that you are on track. Perhaps you are going to journal for 5 minutes every morning or night. Perhaps you are going to start your day with a good stretch session. In order for change to happen we must remain consistent.

6. Learn something new! Whether it be in your personal life or professional life (or both!), learning something new is invigorating and can give you the jump start you are looking for. Perhaps you would like to start a new hobby like knitting or photography. Or perhaps you would like to learn about lasers in the dental hygiene practice. By learning something new, you are challenging yourself to step outside your comfort zone!

Getting unstuck requires taking intentional actions.

Through self-reflection, embracing and implementing small changes to make a big change, you will slowly become unstuck.

It won't happen overnight and will take some work. Recognize that it is up to you to make change happen. No one is going to come along and do it for us!

Thank you for your support and for reading!

Have a great week!

Kathleen

Kathleen Bokrossy, RDH ~ President