Blog
Why We Need Rituals, Now More than Ever
A few weeks ago I started a ritual that I’ve only done once before, and come August, won’t do again. I began creating a “movie” for my 18-year-old son to mark his leaving home. Three years ago, I spent several months before my daughter left for college creating a...
We kept arguing at home about COVID-19 safety. This simple exercise helped.
Last week my husband Sam and I started arguing. Frequent episodes of bickering about what used to be regular household decisions like whether we need to go to the grocery store. After several days of really resenting his take on almost everything, I realized we were...
Why You Need to Rethink Your To-Do List for Life in the Pandemic
Crises make you reevaluate your life. One thing I’ve learned from the Covid-19 pandemic is how out of whack my expectations of myself tend to be. In the first weeks of the pandemic, I pushed hard to get things done. My paid work had slowed down to a trickle, but I...
Why are women physicians burned out? The answer will help us all.
Burnout prevalence is 20 to 60 percent higher among women physicians than their male colleagues. Understanding why women physicians are burning out is important for identifying effective ways to address the problem. Here’s my take on the underlying causes: 1. Women...
Why I No Longer Diss Coaching
About two years ago, I had an experience that opened my mind to the wider possibilities of professional coaching. After interviewing one of its founders, I participated in the Novant Health Leadership Development Program, which involves small group coaching in a...
Is Collegiality a Ghost in Your Organization? Try This.
When my co-author and I interviewed Christina Maslach, PhD, social psychologist and professor emerita of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, for our book, I was struck by her observation that of the six domains she and her colleagues had identified...

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH, ACC
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