Nursing Student Coach

Nursing School Survival Guide: Pushing Limits and Practicing Self-Care

Lauren Chapnick Season 1 Episode 19

Ever feel like you're running on empty through nursing school, and need some practical tips to strike a balance between pushing through and taking a breather? Today we're exploring the Navy SEALs' 40% Rule, a trick of the mind designed to tap into your untapped potential and push you beyond what you think your limits are - especially handy during those intense study sessions or high-stakes exams. But we're not all about grind and grit here; we're big believers in the importance of recharging. Picture this: you're a cell phone, and just like that device you're compulsively checking, your brain needs to power up to function at its best. 

Moving on, we examine the cornerstone habits of self-care routines and perseverance, and the pivotal role they play in surviving nursing school. We'll delve into the concept of a "miracle morning," inspired by Hal Elrod's bestselling book - think of it as a custom-made morning routine designed to kickstart your day on a positive note. Striking a balance is key, knowing when to pull out all the stops and when to step back and recharge. Our hope is that this conversation will give you the tools you need to navigate nursing school with a healthier mindset, and a better understanding of your own limits and potentials.

Speaker 1:

Hi everybody, before we get into the podcast today, I have a quick announcement. Up until now, the show has been a Tuesday and Thursday podcast twice weekly, and starting next week we will be moving to once a week. I am working on several projects coming your way very soon Online courses, one-on-one coaching, group coaching. So the podcast will still be coming strong just once a week and I will be having bonus episodes pop up every now and then. But considering that I have put 19 episodes out so far, there is a lot for you to refer back to. I wanted to put a lot of great quality content out there, and now we will be switching to once a week every Thursday. So I am looking forward to seeing you then. And now on to today's show.

Speaker 1:

Hi everybody and welcome to Nursing Student Coach. If this is your first time listening, welcome. My name is Lauren Chapnick and I am your host. I started this podcast because I wanted to help make nursing school more manageable and a less daunting and stressful experience, and I hope that you find this podcast helpful. If you do, all I ask is that you share it with a friend who could also benefit, because it is my personal mission with this show to help put more great nurses into the world. So the more future nurses that can listen and the more people we can reach, the better. So thank you so much.

Speaker 1:

I have spoken to some nursing students this week. I am doing some one-on-one coaching and I will have some spots opening up very soon. So I will be talking about that more in the coming weeks. But I've noticed a theme which is really exciting because I want to know what you guys want to know about. So this is a good time to mention also if you have something that you'd like to hear about, if you have an idea, if you have something you've personally been struggling with, please send me an email, go to nursingstudentcoachcom. You can contact me there and let me know what you want to hear about, because I will make episodes custom tailored to exactly what you guys want to know. So please just let me know. I am here for you. So the theme that I've noticed because I've asked people what they most are struggling with, what they want to work on and something I've heard across the board is I have been struggling with self-care, with implementing, caring for myself in the midst of burnout and stress in nursing school. If you caught the episode.

Speaker 1:

Last week I spoke with Max Griffin, who is a new grad med-surg nurse. We were reminiscing a little bit about nursing school and saying that in hindsight we both wish we had cared a bit less about grades and cared more about taking care of ourselves. Here's the thing I mean. Grades matter in the sense that you need to pass your classes, and grades matter in the sense that you need to really learn the material. You really need to learn it and know it. So in that sense, grades matter. But if you have learned it, if you have put in the work and the time, and you get an 80, and you've cared for yourself versus a 90, and you are losing it, I take the 80 any day Because at the end of the day, nobody's gonna be looking at your transcript when you're applying for a job. It's about striking a balance, because the people that I spoke to this week were having trouble figuring out when they could allow themselves to take a break to do something to care for themselves and when they had to keep pushing through.

Speaker 1:

And I want to mention also that somebody said to me anytime I scroll through TikTok, all you see are these videos of how hard nursing school is You're not gonna have any free time in nursing school, you're gonna have no life and all you're gonna be doing is studying. And we laugh because it's true. I mean, you have to put so much time into studying. But what this person said to me was that just sounds miserable. Can't I have a little bit more of an enjoyable experience? And I was just jumping up and down and I was saying you get it. Yes, you absolutely can. And that's what I'm all about. My entire framework is about mindset in nursing school and the fact that, yes, you get to enjoy the ride. You get to enjoy this. Of course, you're not gonna enjoy every single moment. There are stressful times. Does it need to be this miserable, soul-sucking experience? No, it shouldn't be, not all of the time anyway. So I really wanna get into today how to strike a balance.

Speaker 1:

Maybe some of you have heard about the 40% rule. If not, I'll tell you real quick. It's not my rule, it's Navy SEALs use it. And what it is about is when your mind tells you you're done. When your mind just says, nope, game over, I'm done. I gotta tap out. I have had it. I am at my full capacity. I cannot go another minute, whether it's studying, whether it's a workout, anything. You actually are only at 40% of your capacity according to this theory, and if you can push through and tap into that remaining 60%, that is unlocked, untapped potential and it will push you through and you can do things that will blow your mind. That's the Navy SEAL mentality and you can see it in marathon runners because they've studied this that most marathon runners they hit a wall around mile 16, somewhere between mile 16 and 20. And most of those people who hit that wall statistically do finish. So they tap into something, some inner strength, and they just keep putting one foot in front of the other and they make it through to the end. So the 40% rule is absolutely relevant in nursing school.

Speaker 1:

There are times where you have no choice. You have to keep going and you have to tap into that 60% that you just don't think is there. For example, if you have a big exam and you have to just keep going, or you have two exams on the same day, that's tough right. Or if you're in finals or you have a big paper, whatever it is, there are times where you have to tap into that part of yourself and you have to push through. But there are other times when you have to listen to your body and you have to stop and you have to recharge.

Speaker 1:

If you think of your body, think of your mind like a cell phone, the battery, the battery life. Think about your cell phone when it's fully charged and when it starts to drain the battery and it needs to recharge. Think of yourself like that. If you come into a study session, if you come into class clinical and you're already in the red zone because you are burnt out, you are stressed out, you haven't cared for yourself at all, how are you going to do on that exam? How are you going to do studying? Your brain is already tapped out. If you can charge yourself up a little bit, if you come to that study session charged at a full charge, 80 to 100%, and you're in the green, you're going to be so much better off. So I think self-care is about striking that balance between when do I have to push through and when do you practice kindness and grace to yourself. But how do we find ways to charge ourselves, to recharge our cell phone batteries, our bodies, our minds, our souls? How do we feed and fuel our mind, body and soul in small, incremental ways that really add up. I'm going to share some of those strategies with you, and I'm also going to share how do you just keep going when you need to tap into that 40% rule.

Speaker 1:

One of the ways is called the Miracle Morning, and this is a book. It's an amazing book. It's also a movie by a man named Hal Elrod. I'll put the link in the description if you want to check it out. He's an incredible person and this book has sold over a million copies. I know it was on the bestseller list and everything.

Speaker 1:

So he's onto something. Really, what he says is the power of a morning routine is life-altering. So he recommends doing an hour morning routine every day and he has a whole system set up. But really his point is to do what works for you, do something that recharges yourself. He does affirmations and journaling and exercise and meditation, and he does 10 minutes of each. You don't need to do an hour to have a productive miracle morning, as he calls it. You can do it in as little as five minutes. You can do 10 minutes. But here's what you do you just plan it. You set your alarm for 10 or 15 minutes earlier and this is the first thing you do before you start getting ready. It's like hitting a little reset button for yourself.

Speaker 1:

Maybe you read a book that has nothing to do with nursing school, a fiction book that you've been collecting dust on your shelf. Or you write, you just journal. Maybe you write out things that you're grateful for. You can do really anything. You can sit and listen to music, you can do a guided meditation or do some sort of workout in the morning, you can do a 10-minute yoga. So those things can be really helpful. Now, to me that's a pretty doable, easy thing to do to get up in the morning a little earlier and just do a little something, do a little micro dose of self-care. It just puts you in a great mindset for the day.

Speaker 1:

But if you're going to class or you're going to clinical, you're going to get little breaks, and especially in between lecture. If your teacher, if your professor, gives you like a 10 or 15-minute break, don't just sit there and zone out. Maybe it's helpful for you to grab a friend and say, hey, let's go for a walk, but make a rule that there's no talking about nursing school. Just go for a walk around the building and enjoy the beautiful fall foliage or maybe you're better off spending some time alone during those class breaks. Take those breaks to microcharge yourself. Give yourself like a 5-10% boost by just taking a walk, maybe put on your favorite song and just take a lap around the building or call somebody who makes you laugh. But the point is is to take advantage of these little times, because sometimes when you get these class breaks, if you're just sitting there and you look over your notes, you might get sucked into a conversation like a negative conversation where everybody's complaining about something, or you might just overhear something that's kind of toxic and negative and it just kind of affects you.

Speaker 1:

I think energy is so contagious and we can get sucked into good energy or bad energy. So what I strive to do is just only create and put out good energy, because I think good energy is just so contagious and if you're putting out good energy and you're helpful to other people, it's just going to spread. So any opportunity you have to just get up and move around, move your body and put yourself in a great headspace, I would say, do it. And another huge way that you can practice self-care is to exercise. Have you ever had a workout of any kind, whatever you do, because there's so many things you can do. If you ever had a workout and thought, ah, I shouldn't have done that, I feel like garbage, never, never, right. You feel amazing after a workout and I'm a big proponent of you. Do not need to do a crazy long workout to feel the benefit. I can feel a benefit in as little as five or 10 minutes. When I really don't have the time, I would rather do 10 minutes of something than do nothing at all because it is so helpful.

Speaker 1:

I had a professor my first semester who said to us if you're not implementing some form of exercise into your routine in nursing school, it's going to catch up to you. You won't make it. The level of stress is just too high. You're going to have to figure something out to implement exercise. And I heard that and I said, yeah, okay, well, I can't. You don't understand, I can't. I'm too busy. This is too much like. I'm not gonna exercise, at least not regularly, because I have too much to do. But she was right, because it caught up to me by the very beginning of that second semester. I was just like, whoa, I have to do something or I'm gonna lose my mind. So I started doing yoga. That's what works for me. I love yoga and Pilates. Never did it before nursing school really and now I'm literally hooked on it, like I love it. So exercise is huge.

Speaker 1:

It is so good for you and I think there are so many ways that you can implement it into your routine. It is so doable in nursing school. One way is to go to the gym before class starts. I spoke to a student the other day who started doing this. Anytime they have a class, a lecture, they get to campus an hour early and they go to the gym. Or, if you live on campus, even better, you go to the gym first, just for 30 minutes. And this person says it is so obvious that they are so much more awake and alert and engaged in class than the other people because they've been up, they've got their heart beating, their blood flowing, they've oxygenated their muscles, they are ready to go. So that is amazing. If you can do that, you can also just do simple things like take the stairs Anytime you have an opportunity. Take the stairs If you see an empty staircase and you have a few minutes. Go up and down the stairs a few times. That's it. That's a little hack you can do.

Speaker 1:

I also have a study hack called the Dance Party, and maybe you've heard me talk about this before, because almost every time I speak to a class of nursing students, I share this because it's a little wacky, but I like wacky if it works, and this is literally what I did all the time. I call it the 27-3 method. I've talked about it before. You have a block of time that's 30 minutes and you set a timer for 27 minutes and during that 27 minutes you're studying, you're completely focused on that one thing, and then, when the timer goes off, you have three minutes to get up and move your body and I have an entire playlist of songs that are approximately three minutes and I have a dance party during that time. So I just put on, you know, madonna or whatever, like some fun song, and just dance, just get my heart rate moving, just jumping jacks, crazy silly dance moves, whatever it is. And then, when that timer is up, that three minutes, I reset the clock for 27 and I go back to it. I go back to studying. That's a way to recharge your battery. That's a reset button.

Speaker 1:

You can always throw on a pair of earbuds and take a walk. Just if you're listening to a lecture, if you're listening to a video, even if it's 15 minutes, throw on a pair of walking shoes, go outside, take a walk and listen. Walk and listen is a great way. Get yourself out in nature. So good for your mind, so good for your soul and your body everything. Just put on a pair of headphones and start walking. It'll do so many good things for you, rather than being cooped up inside your room, your dorm room, your house, whatever it is. Just get out and walk, okay.

Speaker 1:

But what happens if you have to keep going? You just have to keep pushing through, because that can be really hard. I have really just one piece of advice for this when you have to tap into that 40% rule and the idea is, just keep going, but I would say, break it up into small chunks and say, okay, I'm tapped out, but I can do 10 minutes, I'm gonna do 10 more minutes. And then you do those 10, you say, all right, I'm gonna do another 10. And you do baby steps and you just take it literally one foot in front of the other. You just keep going, because there are times when you have to and that 40% rule. You channel that inner Navy, seal, future nurse self and you just keep going.

Speaker 1:

But you also listen to your body and I would challenge you to ask yourself, when you're feeling good, what am I at right now? I'm at about an 80% right now, or 90%, great. How did you get there? What did you do? Did you sleep more that day? Did you do a workout? And keep repeating the things that are working for you. What are some little small things you can do to recharge yourself? Can you carry a book around with you and just pull it out for five minutes at a time when you take a study break? Can you make a playlist of really relaxing music that you just listen to? You just close your eyes and listen to that beautiful music. Visualize things. Visualize yourself at your pinning ceremony, visualize what your life is going to look like as a nurse. Visualize your why, why you want to be here and let that be your visual when you listen to that beautiful music, when you're recharging yourself.

Speaker 1:

The point is that there are times you're going to have to push through and tap into that inner 60% when you think you just can't go anymore, and then there are times when you're going to have to stop. I'm a big advocate of yes, you need to do something every day for nursing school, and I think that's true. You need to do something, even if it's just your daily 10 practice questions. But if you need to tap out after that and hit the reset button because you're at zero and you've been running at zero for several days, there are some days where you just have to say I'm done, I'm not doing anything else today and, honestly, that can be the best thing you can do for yourself. And you might struggle, you might feel guilty about it, you might say no, I really should be doing something, you've done enough.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes, when you've just done 10 practice questions and you say you know what, I'm going to climb into my bed and I'm just going to allow my body to sleep, and when I get up, I'm going to do many things for myself. I'm going to exercise, I'm going to be with friends, I'm going to spend time with my family. I'm going to spend time with my husband, my girlfriend, my sister, whoever. You need to be kind to yourself. You need to care for yourself. So if you can learn to recognize when you need to push through and when you need to take a step back and hit the reset button. You're going to be absolutely great and you're going to defy the odds of all of those TikTok videos that say nursing school is just going to suck the life out of you and you're going to have no life and it's miserable and it's stressful all the time.

Speaker 1:

It wouldn't be nursing school, it wouldn't be this hard, if it weren't worth it. And it is hard. It is the hardest thing I've ever done. I've said that it is, but you can find moments of grace, ease, joy and self-care and you can feed and fuel your mind, body and soul. You just need to learn to listen to your body, listen to yourself and know what you need.

Speaker 1:

We're constantly taught in nursing school Assess your patient, assess your patient. You are the patient. Assess yourself, know what you need, know when you need to push through, when you absolutely cannot stop and Then when you really need to stop. So nursing school is hard, but let's start a revolution of Practicing caring for ourselves. Let's assess ourselves and know exactly what we need and Always make sure that we are as fully charged as we can be and Take care of yourself, because that is the most important thing. I'm proud of you. You're going to be an amazing nurse and I can't wait to hear about it Until next time. This is nurse Lauren. You can go to nursing student coach calm to join our mailing list and Thank you so much for watching, listening, liking, rating, reviewing, subscribing, all those things. Have an amazing day, take care of yourselves, bye, bye. Thanks for tuning in to the nursing student coach podcast.

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