Get Some Air Cover to Help You Set Boundaries

We’re not just service providers – we’re carers and helpers. This can make it hard to set boundaries and prioritise our workload. What we need is air cover.

By working together with your colleagues, you can create agreements about what to say yes and no to, and hold each-other accountable.

And you can also seek out peers outside of work, so you can share your dilemmas and feel less alone. If we keep silently struggling with saying no or setting boundaries, we can start feeling burnout, which can affect our judgement.

In this quick dip, Rachel explains how we can get some protection at work, and ask our peers outside of work for support.

Listen to this episode to

• Understand the concept of air cover and how it can help with setting boundaries and prioritising workload
• Learn about how shared accountability and informal networks can help give us air cover
• Get actionable steps for finding and using air cover to make saying no easier

Episode highlights

• [00:02:16] We're trying to solve the wrong problem
• [00:03:49] What happens when we want to say "no"
• [00:06:36] Legal air cover
• [00:06:58] Finding air cover in accountability
• [00:09:03] Air cover from informal networks
• [00:12:12] How air cover helps to cope with fear
• [00:12:44] Air cover against complaints
• [00:14:41] Action points

Resources

• More episodes of You Are Not a Frog:
• Episode 161: The Problem with Boundaries
• Episode 125: How to Say No and Deal with Pushback
• THRIVE Weekly Planner
• Sign up to receive a link to the episode workbook and CPD form downloads for each podcast. You can use them for reflection and to submit for your appraisal.

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Connect with Rachel

Have any questions? ****Contact Rachel through these platforms:

• LinkedIn: @Dr-Rachel-Morris
• Twitter: @DrRachelMorris
• Email: hello@youarenotafrog.com

Find out more about our training

Mentioned in this episode:

Permission to Pause
A free 60-minute sanctuary for doctors – a quiet hour in the middle of winter where your role can fall away and you can reappear.