It’s been almost two months since I passed my USMLE step 3, and during that period, I decided to take it easy and not fill my freed-up time with tasks. As I mentioned in the past, over the years I learned how to take advantage of every single second, but lately, I decided to take a break from it.

To my surprise, I noticed that my new free time hadn’t made me more relaxed, and worse than that, I started to average four and a half hours of sleep. Just a few months ago, I squeezed eight hours of sleep almost every night (even when I got up at 04:30), and I still managed to fit in all of my fellowship reading, studying for the USMLE, and spending time with the family.

The past week was the last straw 🐪. After spending even more time than usual in the operating room because of urgent cases, I struggled to fit everything in. That’s Parkinson’s law in all its glory.

“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” - Cyril Northcote Parkinson

So this week, I reinstated my “third-spacing of time” method 🕰️, and my commute time is again devoted to getting work done. My music and books will have to wait until a later time in the day when my concentration level is low (the “garbage time” of the day). I decided to sleep eight hours every night and to top it off, I’m going to start meditating again, which will also be the subject of our main article today.

Last weekend we took our kids to the park 👦🏻👦🏼. While there, we realized how much they adopted a zen-like state of mind. They enjoyed simple things like riding their bikes 🚴‍♂️, playing catch with a ball 🏈, or just sitting and watching how other kids play. Since moving here, their screen time has decreased (it was already low to begin with): We no longer have a television or a desktop computer, and all the rooms in our apartment are centered on sitting spaces and playing areas with no electronic devices in the background. The impact is so substantial, much more than we expected.

And finally, FINALLY, we got our car 🚗. More on that in the next issue.

So let’s get to it! Lucky number 13 ✌️

Table of contents

1. Main Article - How I Meditate

2. OMFS World

3. Stuff (App, Gear)

Main Article - How I Meditate

🏃‍♀️ 🛌 As in the case of running and sleeping, my relationship with meditation has had its ups and downs. Although every time I engage in these activities I experience a substantial benefit, I’ve never consistently practiced it. Even a two minutes session enabled me to focus better, and practicing it daily allowed me to control how I perceive things: If I encountered a problem that would otherwise cause me distress, I would turn a mental switch 💡, and the negativity disappeared 🪄. This is just one example of how capable we all are in taking control of our thoughts, and with some practice, we can make it work every single time.

🧘‍♀️ Meditation (or: mindfulness) has been around for centuries and is practiced by people from all walks of life. It is a simple yet effective way to still the mind and bring peace and calm. The best part is that it makes you better at focusing and controlling how you perceive your thoughts.

🪐There are many forms of meditation, and the time people spend doing it varies greatly, from two minutes to a few hours daily. Over the years, I practiced different meditation methods, with some proving to be especially helpful. I use it to control how I feel about things, to focus better, and to improve my function (get more REM sleep, and lower my heart rate even under stressful situations).

So how do I meditate? Let’s break it into three: Breathing sessions, blank canvas, and separating from the negative voice.

🫁The first step is breathing. You can find a comfortable place to sit or lie down, but I find it unnecessary. All you need is to arrange two minutes without getting interrupted. Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Take a deep breath through your nose (3 seconds long)👃, hold your breath for 3 seconds, and exhale slowly through your mouth (4 seconds)👄. Repeat this process for two minutes. As you focus on your breath, you may find your mind wandering. When this happens, bring your attention back to your breath, and don’t worry about it. The most important thing is the practice of bringing the focus back to your breath. You will lower your breath rate to 6-8 breaths per minute, triggering your parasympathetic system to lower your heart rate and blood pressure. With practice, you can quiet the mind and achieve inner peace. If you like how you feel afterward and want to feel even better, imagine bright light ☀️ entering your body through each inhale and dark clouds 🌧️ exiting your body with every exhale.

🎨The second step is called the blank canvas. Have you ever noticed how calm you are during your vacations, although your activities are similar to your day-to-day life? Take the ride from the airport as an example: You look outside the window, watch the scenery, and marvel at the view. Around you are people rushing and stressing, but it doesn’t affect you. You’re merely an observer, a blank canvas. However, when you commute to your work every day, you might be exposed to a very similar scenery, but you’re not calm at all. Why is that? Well, it stems from your mind placing layers of information on top of that scenery 🧠; planning, assuming, and analyzing, painting the canvas 👨🏻‍🎨. So, what if, for a few minutes a day, you could see the world as is? All you need to do is to concentrate on your surroundings: Look at the sky ⛅️, the trees 🌳, the buildings 🏠, the people. Listen, and try to pick up all the sounds around you. Just admire everything, and you’ll be amazed at how much you haven’t noticed on your way to work for the last ten years. Other than the joy of noticing those things, it will take your mind to the next level: You will start seeing the world as is, without any assumptions. You will let go of your preconceived notions and ideas and simply BE IN THE MOMENT. This can be a very powerful experience, allowing you to connect with your true self.

📢The third step is to separate yourself from the negative voice. This is a more long-term thing, and it may take some time to get used to. Do you know that negative voice playing in your head? The one that says: “You can’t do it”, “it’s too hard”, constantly bringing up the worst-case scenario? If that voice was an actual person, would you be friends? Of course not. But here you are, constantly listening to that negative voice until, inevitably, you start perceiving it as your voice of reason. It’s extremely difficult to silence it, but we don’t need to. Instead, we should separate ourselves from that voice. A good place to start is to mock it: “There’s grumpy again, pouting and complaining, yap yap yap”. At first, It will feel artificial, but with time, you will get used to observing your thoughts. Don’t judge or try to hold onto your negative thoughts, just let them come and go.

🌈So these are my three keys for meditation. You may not notice results immediately, but with practice, you will see more peace, focus, and clarity. By applying these methods, I’ve gotten used to the idea that if I can’t control it, I will not worry about it. And if eventually things will turn out for the worse, I will deal with it when it comes. Most of the time, I don’t need to deal with it because the worst-case-scenario never happens.

“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.” - Mark Twain

OMFS World

👩‍🎓For the student - In the student’s world, it’s easy to get wrapped up in one’s own life and problems, but we shouldn’t forget that there are people out there who struggle. Many of them are lonely, and a weekly meeting with a student can significantly impact their well-being. As a student of a medical profession, you can help them with the skillset you already have, such as basic dental work or drawing blood. Additionally, volunteer work usually involves little paperwork, so you’ll focus on good old medicine - treating and listening to your patients.

🥼For the OMFS resident - there are two topics that every OMFS resident should master right from the start: Trauma and infections. Yet, even if you focus on these two subjects, you may be overwhelmed by the amount of data, especially when diving into the orbit’s anatomy. My advice is to start with mandibular fractures. The principles are relatively simple: Closed vs. open reduction, approaches for fractures of symphysis vs. body vs. condyle, and rigid vs. non-rigid fixation.

🩺For the non-MD medical professional - patients with pneumonia may be treated as outpatients, but some circumstances require hospital admission. Remember the criteria “CURB-65”, which stands for Confusion, Urea >20 (mg/dl), Respirations ≥30 per minute, low Blood pressure (systolic <90 or diastolic <60 mmHg), and age 65 and above. If two or more are positive, admit the patient. The patient may require the intensive care unit if three or more are positive.

Stuff

📱 Application I use - Readwise Reader. In a past issue I discussed how I maintain important facts I read in books using Readwise. However, most of the data we consume doesn’t come from books anymore. We are constantly bombarded with information through email, social media, and the internet, but we tend to forget it. So, what’s the point of reading if we don’t retain it and just consume it? This is where “read it later” apps come into play: Instapaper, Pocket, Evernote, OneNote, and more. For years I tried these apps, but none was attractive and easy to use as the brand-new Readwise Reader app. It hasn’t been officially released yet, but I got early access as a beta tester. By far, this is the best reading app I have ever used. And on top of that, the developers are now working on implementing artificial intelligence into the application, and I believe it will bring book reading to a whole new level. Stay tuned for its official release; it’s going to be exciting!

💡Gear I use- iPhone Mini 12. Coming from the android world, this transformation wasn’t easy. The first reason I moved into the iPhone world was to have a small phone without compromising on the camera (the camera is essential for my work). The second reason was to have a more time-proof phone, i.e., a phone that continues to receive software updates from the manufacturer even after three years (unlike my previous Samsung Note phones). Due to its size, typing in is not easy, and its battery life can be better. But since I’m not working on my phone (I have two iPads and a laptop), I enjoy its light weight and frequent software updates.

Epilogue

That’s it for this issue.

If you enjoyed this issue and haven’t subscribed yet, you can do so using the link below. Subscribing supports this newsletter, and it will be sent to your email every Friday (no spam!).

Please note: you should check your email (and spam folder) after subscribing and click “confirm subscription” in the confirmation email. Otherwise, you’re not subscribed!

Have a great weekend!

Shay