There is a lot going on right now. It's easy to get lost in the overflow of responsibilities and processing of information. If you feel like there's too much to do, you're not alone. Finding a balance between personal time and work requirements is an experience everyone can understand.

Here's a friendly reminder: Take a break.

Get away from the stress, even if just for a little bit. Being mentally and physically strained will negatively impact productivity, diminish overall enjoyment, and lead to burn out. It is essential to take care of yourself and relax.

Relaxation isn’t always easy, and doesn’t come naturally, for many of us. Here are some ways to take a break that can be refreshing.

Stop your work routines

If you are required to be on a computer for your job, get off the computer. Do something that does not involve looking at that screen. Step away from your work environment and find a change of scenery.

Play a game

Games are fun. Find one that you enjoy and take some time to have fun. Card games, puzzles, or brain teasers will allow you to focus on something different and enjoy yourself.

Get active

Engaging in physical activity is not only a healthy habit but can help fire up those neurons in your body and help release endorphins to give you energy. Whether going for a short walk, a long jog, or a mini workout, moving your body can be a refreshing option.

Complete your checklist

Taking a break from work doesn't mean you can't be productive. Take some time to complete some of those small tasks on your checklist. Dust a shelf, organize your books, water the plants, or fix that loose screw in the kitchen cupboard. Find a way to accomplish tasks that improve your situation.

Remember that you are important. Take care of yourself and ensure that your physical and mental health are being addressed. Also, check out our collection of resources that include links to help stay healthy. How do you relax? Please share your suggestions in the comments. Take care!

You finally did it. After four years of hard, exhausting work, you've graduated medical school and matched into a residency program. Now that all the hard work is done, you can get on to doing what you love, being a doctor. Of course, even in residency there's other problems that you need to solve if you're going to survive. This blog post isn't to scare you out of becoming a doctor, because it's a great profession and you put in the hard work. Instead, we want to prepare you for the next big step in your life of residency and prepare you to succeed through it. 

How to Survive Residency

Residency can be intimidating. You may start to doubt yourself and your abilities as a doctor. However, you made it through med school just like every other doctor and you belong next to them. It may be difficult, but that's part of the learning. Residency will test you, but you can get through it. 

Don't be afraid to say you don't know. Of course, you should be prepared and study up ahead of time, but it's ok if you're not sure. You're in residency to learn and you will make mistakes. It's important that you collect the information you need so that someone can help guide you to the answer. It's also ok to ask questions, you shouldn't be expected to know everything right away and someone will be willing to help. 

Focus on yourself. Why you may get lost working on the health of others, your health is just as important. You need to take sometime to do what centers you; whether that's practicing mindfulness or exercising. Defynance understands how important mental and physical health are for someone's success, so we've spent time curating some of the best health resources around. You can find them all in our ​resource marketplace​.

Residency is tough and it's going to be a challenge, but just know that it will get better. It may take some time to adjust to, but eventually you will get into the swing of things and start to hone in on your craft. And remember, often the most challenging things in life are the most rewarding. 

Surviving outside of residency

With residency being difficult as it is, it can hard to focus on things outside of the program. One thing you will want to think about as soon as possible are your financial goals. With residency taking up a lot of time, it can be difficult to get everything else lined up financially. Of course, you still have to think about thinks like finding the ​right apartment​, creating a ​budget​, and everything else that comes with life. The earlier that you get these small things out of the way, the more time you'll have to focus on your residency program and excel as a doctor.

Paying your student loans

We're sure that with all the work of trying to survive residency, student loans are probably the last thing on your mind. But now that you're out of school, you'll also have to come up with a plan to pay for them. If you're like most students, you probably have around ​$200,000 of debt​ waiting to be paid. This can be a huge stressor, and while you may be able to push it down the road using income-driven repayment, you'll still have interest accumulating each month.

That's why ​Defynance​ has made a student loan repayment solution with you in mind. Our interest-free refinancing solution uses income share agreements, so that your payments are always affordable. So while you're in residency, your payments can stay low without fear of interest building up. And when you start earning more money as a full-fledged physician, your payment will scale, but still be affordable for you. Since the payment is based on income, you never have to worry about whether or not you will make a payment.

You can find our refinancing application ​here​.

We're now 6 months from the 1st recorded case of COVID-19 in the United States. Since then, over 3,000,000 Americans have been infected and over 125,000 have passed away due to complications related to the virus. While the virus continues to rage through the US, people are worried about themselves and their relatives, and rightly so. We still don't know a whole lot about COVID-19, but we do know that it is continuing to spread and cause deaths nationwide. Some states have been able to flatten the curve and keep cases down, while in others the virus is surging to new heights. While the spread continues, how can we go about preventing it?

Stay at Home

While this isn't realistic for most people, staying home and staying isolated is the best way to ensure that you don't get sick and you don't spread any sickness. This is especially important if you have symptoms or feel sick. And if you get tested and come back positive, you should be staying at home for at least 14 days to prevent passing COVID along to anyone else. 

One of the most effective methods of preventing the spread of the coronavirus so far has been the initiation of lockdowns. Since people were stuck at home, the virus had a tough time spreading between people and cases were able to be minimized. While these lockdowns had the positive effect of preventing the spread of a virus, they also hurt many small businesses and caused economic growth to fall. This lead to the question of how should places start to reopen and help the economy get back to normal, while also minimizing the damage done to it's citizens through the spread of infection.

As economies continue to open, staying at home is still an effective way to prevent the spread of COVID. Some say that the lockdowns helped reduce the amount of cases by more than 10 times what they could have been and cut the number of deaths in half. It's important to stay as safe as possible, especially if you, or someone that you're close to, is at a higher-risk of having complications related to COVID-19.

Follow Social Distancing Guidelines to Stop the Spread of COVID-19

We've all heard it by now, stay at least 6 feet apart from people, if possible. This is because the disease can spread through droplets in the air from a sneeze, cough, or just talking. By keeping your distance from someone, you lower the likelihood that these droplets will reach you and have enough particles to make you sick. Or, if you are the one who's sick, even without showing symptoms, you aren't able to spread the infection to others. 

Another great way to prevent spread is to limit the amount of time spent indoors. When indoors, especially in smaller rooms, the virus has less area to spread out and can linger in the air. Being inside for long periods of time and in close proximity to others that you don't see often, can cause further spreading. When going out, be sure to follow guidelines and stay vigilant.

Wear a Mask

Many countries where mask wearing has become normalized have been able to reduce the spread of COVID. They've begun to open up and get closer to being back to normal. When wearing a mask, remember to put it on and take it off by holding the ear loops and ties. Also make sure that the mask covers your mouth and nose to prevent the virus from getting in, or out. If you use a cloth face covering, make sure you wash it often and dry it in high heat in the dryer or leave it in sunlight to make sure it's disinfected.

We're all in this together and we need to work together to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus. No one wants to spend all their time stuck at home, but following simple guidelines like wearing a mask and social distancing can allow us to slow the spread, while minimizing the effects on your life. These simple steps can help slow down the spread of COVID and save lives. Not everyone will follow these guidelines, and maybe even actively fight them, but by enough of us doing so, we can save lives and limit spread. 

Access to health care is an important right that everybody should have. Affordable health care can help keep a labor force healthy and productive. However, many people aren't receiving the treatment that they need, especially Black Americans.  Black Americans can be adversely affected by the health care system, often getting lower quality of care and having limited access.

Health care can also be expensive, hurting those who need it most. Those who are earn less are more likely to be obese and have other issues, such as heart disease and diabetes. Not having the money to afford health care can leave them waiting until it's too late to seek help and raise their health care costs even more. And, of course, poverty is more prevalent among Black people than white people.

How are Black Americans discriminated against in health care?

In many areas, from obesity and heart disease all the way to cancer, Black Americans fare worse than white Americans. Black people are 80% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes and Black males are twice as likely to get a stroke than white males. Overall, Black Americans are more likely to suffer from almost any given disease than their white counterparts. Black women are also 3-4 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women according to the CDC. Even coronavirus affects Black and Latino people at a higher rate than white people. In some parts of the country, Black people make up 60% of coronavirus cases while only making up 20% of the population. 

They are also more likely to suffer from mental health issues, where they are 50% less likely to receive mental health counseling. An estimated 7 million African Americans reported having mental health issues this past year according to Mental Health America. Misconceptions about mental health aside, the root cause is lack of money due to lack of opportunities for financial mobility. The CDC reports that African Americans living below the poverty line are twice as likely to have psychological distress. 

According to PNAS, white patients are more likely to receive stronger pain medications for equivalent illnesses compared to Black patients. This is part of some racial biases that doctors hold in regards to Black people. It is bewildering that the first thought of a health care professional is to assume that their patient is lying for drugs, based on the color of their skin, but unfortunately, racism has shaped many of America's institutions. 

Where does this issue stem from?

It can't just be a coincidence that Black people are affected much more by these issues than others. There are a lot of other issues affecting Black Americans that can intertwine and lead to these health care risks.  

In the case of infections such as coronavirus, Black people are more likely to live in cramped quarters or work in essential businesses, exposing themselves and their families more to any sicknesses. It is quite difficult for 7 people to live in an apartment and physically distance. In addition to these factors, insufficient access to healthcare, insurance and inability to pay for doctor visits further adds to the problem.

Is there stigma around mental health treatment? Probably. According to the National Council for Behavioral Health many people in the African American community, believe if their ancestors lived through slavery then they can live through sadness and anxiety thus, minimizing their issues.

Many black people also have a lack of trust in the US Health care system following the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, where researchers knowingly withheld the treatment of syphilis from black participants.  

How can we support those who need health care most?

It's clear that Black Americans suffer more from all types of diseases due to a variety of reasons, like socioeconomic ones, so what can be done?

Education

Medical schools and other health education facilities need to get properly informed on the disparities impacting black and white patients. Being ignorant to the unique needs of Black people will not help them receive the equal treatment they deserve. Not only should medical differences be taught, but socioeconomic differences should be taught as well so that people can understand why these differences are occurring. Our non-black medical professionals are unaware of the systems of oppression which cause these issues.

Increase Investment towards lower income black communities. 

It would be beneficial for persons to invest further into the education of children in black communities. Many of them are unable to get a college degree or even afford medical school due to lack of finances. Therefore it is up to us to help get them there, so there can be more black doctors and health care workers to help educate and resolve the disparity in the system. 

Health care in America is just a small part of many of the systemic issues that continue to plague Black citizens. Raising awareness and discussing the issues in a productive way can help us to make meaningful change. Many of the problems won't be solved overnight, but through education and awareness, we can all work towards fighting for a better tomorrow. 

Today, many people value hard work to the point of exhaustion, and they can end up getting burned out. While it may seem valiant to work long days and you feel like you're getting a lot done, it can have adverse effects on your ​health​. This can affect your overall productivity and can also be quite stressful. It's important to effectively manage your stress as part of living a healthy lifestyle.

Focusing on your mental health can be an essential part of staying ​happy and motivated​. Managing stress inefficiently can affect your mood and relationships with those around you. It can also be distracting and hurt your productivity. However, using tactics to deal with your stress effectively can improve both your mood and work ethic.

Meditate to manage your stress

One easy way that someone can help manage their stress is to meditate. Mindfulness has proven to have many benefits, including ​reducing stress​. On top of that, it can reduce levels of anxiety, help you sleep, and improve your emotional well-being. It's a useful tool to manage the many stresses that occur in life.

Starting to meditate can be easy too. All it takes is a little portion of your time and can be well worth it. Apps like ​Calm​ or ​Headspace​ can help guide you through meditation and make the time productive. You can start slowly by meditating for 5 minutes a day, either before bed or after you wake up, and work your way up to longer sessions.

Talk to somebody

Sometimes, just ​talking to someone​ can be an effective way to manage your mental health. It helps if that person is a professional in the field, but talking to anyone you trust is valuable. Being able to talk about your problems can relieve your stress and also help you solve them. It can give you a new perspective that you may not have thought of. 

If you do need to talk to a professional, it can be difficult searching for the right counselor. There are many options out there, and you can even talk to one through a ​video call​, making them more accessible than ever. 

Other ways to manage your stress

Not getting enough sleep can also affect your ​level of stress​. Making sure you get at least 7 hours of sleep each night can lead to you, lowering your stress and increasing your productivity. 

Exercise is another excellent way to get rid of some built-up​ stress​. Similar to meditation, it can help clear your mind, but it has the added benefit of building your physical health. It can be hard to get into the routine, but starting with a short and easy routine and building up can help get you there.  

Financial stressors can also be detrimental to your mental health, including credit issues, budgeting problems, or student loan fears. Luckily, there are plenty of tools to help you out in those areas, and more available online if you look hard enough. For rebuilding your credit, companies such as ​New Credit​ have been paving the way for their customers to reach financial security. For managing your budget, apps such as Intuit's ​Mint ​can make saving money almost feel like a game. If student loans are the reason for your stress, maybe its time to take a look at refinancing with a company that could give you peace of mind. We know ​a guy​.

Managing your stress is an important way to improve your overall well being. It can help make you more productive and happy, increasing many aspects of your life. Doing some (or all) of these things can reduce your levels of stress and set you up for success.