July 15, 2022 • 18 mins
In This Episode:
We love technology more than the next gal but sometimes there are benefits to stepping away, deleting apps and living some of your life unplugged from social media. Join us while we discuss some hacks to detox yourself from addictive social media behavior and the benefits you may likely experience!
We are taking our own advice and unplugging for a couple of months to enjoy the rest of the Summer! In the meantime, enjoy our other 42 episodes and we hope you can find time to unplug as well.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Stacee (00:03):
Welcome to #IVETSOHARD technology and
workflows that really work thenot so serious podcast for
seriously busy veterinary teamsbrought to you by Vet2Pet
Dr. Caitlin (00:13):
Listen for quick fun interviews with veterinary
professionals, who've retrievedand actually held onto their
sanity, happiness, and successby learning a few new tricks and
embracing efficient processesthat actually
Dr. Stacee (00:25):
Work.
I'm Dr.
Stacee Santi
Dr. Caitlin (00:28):
And I'm Dr.
Caitlin Dewilde,
Dr. Stacee (00:30):
And this is #IVETSOHARD
Dr. Caitlin (00:34):
Hey, Stacee, I am excited to talk to you as
always, but I'm really excitedabout our topic today because
it's one that I think is reallyimportant to our industry
professionals and one thatprobably a lot of people are
surprised comes out of me as thesocial media person.
But I wanna talk aboutunplugging from social media.
What do you think?
Dr. Stacee (00:54):
Oh yeah, that's a good one.
And this word is fairlyfashionable.
So I'm interested in learningmore about unplugging.
Tell me what you got.
Dr. Caitlin (01:03):
Well, I have to start off by saying that, uh,
the originator of veterinarianplugging is the one that only
Eric Garcia, who's been a gueston our podcast before is a good
friend of mine.
And he has written a reallygreat article.
Uh, I believe it was publishedin today's veterinary business
probably three years ago now.
So he's really the, you know,the father of unplugging, if you
(01:23):
will
Dr. Stacee (01:24):
Dr. Caitlin (01:25):
But you know, honestly for me as a social
media person, it seemed reallyimportant, but also something
that I would, I think isactually better for you
mentally, but also for yourcreativity too.
So I think we should talk aboutit a little bit.
And I also wanna introduce theidea I'm gonna, I'm gonna like
piggyback onto this conceptbecause a, does a complete
(01:48):
unplugging multiple, does thatmean mean like nothing like no
email, no social media, notexting, like he's serious.
He is hard for,
Dr. Stacee (02:00):
Is he cheating?
Do you?
I think he, he really is fullyunplugging.
Dr. Caitlin (02:05):
He, I, I think he seriously does.
So I, and I mean, I've seen iton our emails.
It's like, I'm gonna get back toyou in three weeks, but, um, but
he does a good job and we'lltalk about some of the
strategies of how to do that,but I also wanna introduce the
concept of partial unpluggingbecause I think that's still
important too.
So I do personally also do afull unplugging at least one
(02:28):
week a year.
Sometimes two depends, uh, zeroduring COVID, but like
now things are looking betteragain, where I really do don't
answer any email.
Don't have slack don't I'll,I'll still text if somebody
texts me, but no social media,no email, no slack.
And it's hard.
(02:48):
It's really hard.
Um, it sounds hard the firsttime I wanted to do it, we were
actually going to Hawaii for our10 year anniversary.
And my husband was like, you'renever gonna be able to do this.
And I was like, it was the firsttime I, I did it.
And I was like, I totally am.
He was like, no way.
And I'm literally like answeringemails in the car on the way to
the airport.
He's like, you're never gonna doit.
(03:09):
And I said, as soon as we get onthe plane, it's coming off my
phone or I'm not gonna do it.
He's like, okay.
And I was serious, but, and welanded in Hawaii and I was like,
this is good.
But you know, what was so funnyis that I would pick up my phone
to check the time or to liketake a picture.
And like, your, your thumb islike trained and it would just,
(03:30):
it would just naturally hitInstagram, like no problem or
hit Facebook.
And I'm like, I didn't even meanto do that.
And I, I really think thatmuscle memory is a huge thing.
So I did end up actuallydeleting the apps off my phone
for the whole time we were thereand it was great.
And then I didn't wanna comeback.
It was amazing but likecome back to social.
(03:51):
And I was like, well, it's kindof major career out of this.
So I kind of have to, but, um, I, I do think that it's important
to start by at least trying tounplug and, and you don't have
to do a whole three week thing.
So like what, what if you weregonna start unplugging?
Like, what do
Dr. Stacee (04:08):
You think?
Here's my strategy on this?
So I recently went to a V R B Oin Dauphine island, Alabama.
Another vet DVM mom gave me herV R B O for a few days.
So I went out there and mystrategy, I take my really,
really old iPad with me as myonly piece of technology.
(04:33):
I, I delete my stuff off myphone, no Facebook, no slack.
I delete the app.
It, it will reinstall.
It's not a problem.
Or I put it in airplane mode thewhole time I'll do that too.
I don't take my laptop because Ican't do a lot of work on my
iPad.
And I take the old one with thecrack screen.
(04:54):
So I can only watch Netflix..
Yeah.
I can only watch Netflix or Ican have my iBook.
Dr. Caitlin (05:01):
And only if you are willing to get a piece of glass
embedded in your phone, yougotta really want it.
Dr. Stacee (05:07):
It's only broken on the rim, so it won't take
updates.
It won't take the updates forslack.
It won't, I physically couldn'tget them on there if I wanted.
And I try to put my phone away,actually, if I need it for my
camera, that's the one thingthat kind of bugs me.
I sort of wish I had an oldschool camera, cuz it is
addicting.
And you do find your thumb likedrawn like that.
(05:30):
Gollum in the ring andyou, you kind of drawn and suck
to it, but it takes about 24hours and then you're not there
anymore.
And then you can see all youraddictive ways at that point.
Dr. Caitlin (05:44):
It's, it's really, uh, it's really eye opening.
So, so yeah, I think, you know,first of all, you know, it's not
all or nothing, right?
Like you don't have tocompletely unplug to unplug, but
maybe you just take off Facebookor maybe you just take off, you
don't check your email, right.
Or maybe you delete slack offyour phone or whatever it is.
(06:06):
Right.
So I think that's one strategy.
It doesn't have to be all ornothing.
Another important point is Ithink it doesn't have to be like
a monumental thing.
Like in my head I used to onlydo it.
If I was gonna be gone for likea family vacation or a big deal.
But I think it's reallyimportant to still consider
doing it for like a day.
(06:27):
I'll be honest that like a weekago, last week there's a, it, I
mean, there's been a lot ofstuff going on, social media and
the veterinary and worldand I can just tell when I'm
like, blah or it's getting allheated or it's, it's crazy.
And I will just delete it forthe day.
And like you said, it, itdoesn't even ask me for a
(06:48):
password to reinstall it.
Like, and re-log in, it takeslike 28 seconds.
It was right back on my phone.
Dr. Stacee (06:54):
They want you back.
Dr. Caitlin (06:56):
They do.
So it's really easy, but I thinkdeleting it.
So you're just not tempted.
Right.
Is really important.
Uh, I think a third thing isknowing your muscle memory.
So I actually move my socialmedia icons around and I put
them in folders and I do it.
I make myself do it like everyother month or something, but
(07:16):
also like five screens back.
So I'm not just constantly goingto them.
So I think that's a, anotherimportant tip, like know that
you're not necessarily incontrol anymore.
so you need to work it
Dr. Stacee (07:31):
and if you
wanna take a test drive at this,
you know, the best way to do itis practice going to dinner
without your phone.
And you can, if you have kidsor, you know, people that might
need to get hold of you, you cantotally go old school and leave
the phone number to therestaurant there.
Dr. Caitlin (07:50):
Yeah.
Or if you with somebody, right?
Dr. Stacee (07:52):
Like, or if you're with somebody.
Yeah.
I will routinely leave my phoneat home when I go out for dinner
because I find it.
So like, I don't know,irritating is the word or just
flat out rude AF for people tobe at dinner with each other and
then looking at their phone andI get it cuz you like are
(08:14):
addicted to it.
And I find my hand reaching inmy purse to quickly check my, my
thumb just goes to the F on theFacebook.
I didn't mean to that's true.
I, I don't know.
I find just, you gotta cut itoff like so hour or what's gonna
happen in an hour that I that'sthe beginning of it, but then
(08:37):
you can expand to like threehours or four hours or a whole
weekend, weekend day.
Dr. Caitlin (08:44):
Yeah.
I feel like, and especially likehere it's it's summer.
Right.
And it's nice and we're actuallydoing stuff outside.
So it's, it's nice to not use iton the weekends.
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Dr. Caitlin (10:01):
Have I told you my, my apple watch hack story?
No, what's that?
So I felt the same way.
And I told my husband, I waslike, uh, I need an apple watch.
So I am not using my phone somuch.
And he is like, I don't say howthat's gonna work.
But my apple watch, um, onlyaccepts calls and texts.
It has no notifications, nosocial media, uh, connected to
(10:23):
it at all because I am theperson that's like, it's gonna
be my kids or the babysitter orthe school if someone's, and if
someone's actually calling melike something is on fire,
right.
cause you know, that'sthat way that stuff can still
come in.
But I'm not, I don't feel like Ihave to have my phone on the
table.
to be a availablebasically.
(10:45):
So, um, I'm not, I'm not sayingeveryone needs to go buy an
apple watch.
And I actually like, I don't, Idon't wear mine.
I only wear mine if I am goingout, actually like, well,
Dr. Stacee (10:54):
If you were getting serious about it, phones are so
cheap.
Now I could buy a second phone.
That's true for just the phonecalling emergency stuff and
leave your other phone.
I don't know these, isn't itsad.
We have to do these tricks toour we're such addicts
Dr. Caitlin (11:08):
Yeah.
I think this is important.
Okay.
I wanna make one other point,which I did also learn from
Eric.
This sounds like the fan girlepisode for Eric,
Dr. Stacee (11:17):
It is
Dr. Caitlin (11:18):
It's a little awkward, sorry.
He's never gonna talk to usagain.
But anyway, the strategy that Ithink also helps is you gotta
set some expectations and yougotta plan ahead for yourself
and for anyone that you mightwork with.
So I think he sets his vacationresponder.
Like he changes his signatureeven it'll be like, I will be
(11:39):
unplugged from these days, likeway in advance, but having a
vacation message that says likeset up, set that up in your
email, like right now, just belike, I will be unplugged for
this week.
And this is when you can expectan email from me.
Cuz my problem is somebody, if Idon't answer an email pretty
quickly, somebody will call meor text me or slack me.
(12:00):
Like that signal,whatever it is.
But that way people aren'ttrying to check in on you again,
I also feel like it way limitsthe amount of emails when you
come back, cuz people are like,stop bothering you.
It's amazing.
Dr. Stacee (12:13):
Yeah.
Well and one thing Karyn didover here at Vet2Pet is, you
know, we're small enough team.
It is actually super hard totake a week unplug.
Totally.
So we hate putting that work onour other team members, which I
think veterinarians feel thesame way.
Yeah
Dr. Caitlin (12:31):
Mm-hmm
Dr. Stacee (12:32):
so
what she did recently, when she
went, she was gone for a week.
She's like, I'll check my phoneonce a day.
I'll check my emails once a day.
Like she let us know just tolook for emergencies that fires
that need to be put out.
But then her autoresponder saidI'm on vacation.
But if you feel you need to getahold of me, just reply back
(12:54):
with, to this email and puturgent in the subject line.
Dr. Caitlin (12:57):
Oh that's a good idea.
That's a good idea.
Dr. Stacee (12:59):
So she didn't get sucked in reading all the
emails, she just scoured thetitles, for'Urgent', and then
she could move through thatquickly.
And, but it was kind of a nicehybrid.
She wasn't leaving everyone justhanging.
Dr. Caitlin (13:12):
Right, right.
That is a, and that's uh, one ofmy like points that I wanted to
make sure that we talked aboutwas that it's not all or
nothing.
So I often will do the same.
Like if I'm traveling orspeaking or something like that.
And obviously I'm not, this isnot like for a full time
practicing that this would be alittle bit harder.
But as a practice owner, there'salways stuff that the owner
(13:35):
needs to deal with.
And so even from our clinicteam, like I still handle a lot
of that, even if I'm not in theclinic, but same thing.
Like I will, they know I'llcheck my email.
Like once, like if I'm travelingor I'm doing like a mini trip or
a mini unplug, then I'll checkonce in the morning and that is
it.
Or I'll say like I'll be onlinefrom seven 30 to nine or
(13:56):
something like that so that theycan, they could get ahold of me.
I do think that helps me feellike I'm not totally abandoning
my team, but also still lets mebe like, well, I only said I'd
be on channel nine.
So I won't check it again untilthe next, the next morning.
And that's also nice for myfamily.
Like they can, they can know,okay.
Like give her space now she'sbut she'll be with us right.
(14:17):
The rest of of the time.
So I feel a little less guiltyabout it than if I do have to do
a little work while we're doingsomething fun.
Dr. Stacee (14:25):
What are some of the benefits of doing this that
you've experienced?
Dr. Caitlin (14:30):
Um, you know, I'll be honest.
So I went on a vacation that,that Hawaiian vacation and
again, that sounds very snobby,but I remember being
Dr. Stacee (14:40):
You're allowed, you're allowed to go to Hawaii
and just like it's okay.
Dr. Caitlin (14:43):
Thanks.
All right.
Well anyway, so I was there andI was, we were with a couple
other families and I rememberall of the adults, we were
sitting outside, our kids werein the pool and they were
playing around.
It was beautiful.
Right.
Obviously it's wow.
Everything's beautiful.
And I look over and our kids areall getting along, like all
(15:05):
seven of them.
And they're all like just doingall this, this stuff.
They're so cute.
My one of mine was, was a babyat the time.
And so the big one was likehelping with baby.
And I remember just lookingaround like, wow, I'm like so
grateful for this experience.
And I look on either side of meand all of the adults were
looking at phones and I rememberbeing like, they're missing this
(15:27):
and I asked one of them, Hey,what are you looking at?
And she's like, oh, look at thisfunny meme.
And I was like, I've seen a lotof funny memes.
Don't get me wrong.
I love me some memes.
But like I don't wanna later belike, I don't remember this
experience that we've saved for.
And we're doing all this likecool stuff with our family in
our bigger network.
(15:48):
But I remember looking at thatand I'm not gonna remember a me.
So to me, like that was a biglike, oh my God, the other, oh
my God is when we startedgetting the, like, you can go
into Facebook and Instagram andhave it tell you how much time
you're spending on the platform.
And when I realized how muchtime it was, I wanted to vomit.
(16:09):
Cause I was like, okay.
Yeah.
Like when I think about how manyhours of my life, I've
been given to this, like, andobviously for me, it's a little
bit different, right?
It is my job, but there's a lotof my time that is not, you
know, is looking at memesand then I'm like, well, I could
have probably been a little moreproductive with this.
So I think seeing that, um, forme, I have the time set up so
(16:34):
that it'll it'll tell me likehow much time I'm spend.
You can also on Facebook andInstagram, this is kind of new.
You can tell it to notify youwhen you've spent a certain
amount of time.
So mine like notifies me if Ispend more than 20 minutes.
Cause really I don't need to bespending 20 minutes at a time.
Like for me, like I, I willwaste four hours.
(16:55):
I, I don't want anyone to think.
I'm really cool by alwaysspending 20 minutes it's cuz I
have to, cause I will be downthe TikTok hole.
Like you won't believe.
And I'll be like, I reallyshould organize my refrigerator
like that.
And that dance is really funnyand oh my God, it's another
version of somebody singing thesame song about their dog.
(17:16):
And I've seen it 800 times, butI'll watch all of them.
Dr. Stacee (17:21):
Yes I have I'm with you there sister, I think it
brings a sense of peace, a senseof calmness.
If you're feeling stress andanxiety, it does, I will tell
you at first it causes increasedanxiety, but I think it's fairly
short lived.
And then you get over that andyou're into the smooth coasting
sailing side of it that youdon't wanna turn around and come
(17:43):
back to.
Dr. Caitlin (17:44):
Yeah.
It's like the all things inmoderation.
Dr. Stacee (17:47):
Speaking of all things in moderation, Caitlin,
and I wanna let you know that weourselves are going to be
unplugging for a little bit.
So we want you to do the same,but we're gonna take our own
medicine and we're going toenjoy the rest of the summer, do
some fun stuff with our familiesand we aren't going to be
bombarding your inbox for alittle bit.
(18:08):
So you, my friends can alsounplug.
Dr. Caitlin (18:12):
I hope you get outside and have an awesome
summer.
Dr. Stacee (18:15):
Thanks so much for following us along at
#IVETSOHARD, we would love tohear your feedback, give us a
rating and a review and you canalways find our show notes and
transcripts at ivetsohard.com.
And we look forward to seeingyou soon.
Thanks for joining us fortoday's episode of#IVETSOHARD.
Dr. Caitlin (18:37):
Don't forget to head over to Ivetsohard.com to
download our top five takeawaysfrom this episode
Dr. Stacee (18:43):
And here's to putting technology to work at
your practice.
Welcome to #IVETSOHARD technology and
workflows that really work thenot so serious podcast for
seriously busy veterinary teamsbrought to you by Vet2Pet
Dr. Caitlin (00:13):
Listen for quick fun interviews with veterinary
professionals, who've retrievedand actually held onto their
sanity, happiness, and successby learning a few new tricks and
embracing efficient processesthat actually
Dr. Stacee (00:25):
Work.
I'm Dr.
Stacee Santi
Dr. Caitlin (00:28):
And I'm Dr.
Caitlin Dewilde,
Dr. Stacee (00:30):
And this is #IVETSOHARD
Dr. Caitlin (00:34):
Hey, Stacee, I am excited to talk to you as
always, but I'm really excitedabout our topic today because
it's one that I think is reallyimportant to our industry
professionals and one thatprobably a lot of people are
surprised comes out of me as thesocial media person.
But I wanna talk aboutunplugging from social media.
What do you think?
Dr. Stacee (00:54):
Oh yeah, that's a good one.
And this word is fairlyfashionable.
So I'm interested in learningmore about unplugging.
Tell me what you got.
Dr. Caitlin (01:03):
Well, I have to start off by saying that, uh,
the originator of veterinarianplugging is the one that only
Eric Garcia, who's been a gueston our podcast before is a good
friend of mine.
And he has written a reallygreat article.
Uh, I believe it was publishedin today's veterinary business
probably three years ago now.
So he's really the, you know,the father of unplugging, if you
(01:23):
will
Dr. Stacee (01:24):
Dr. Caitlin (01:25):
But you know, honestly for me as a social
media person, it seemed reallyimportant, but also something
that I would, I think isactually better for you
mentally, but also for yourcreativity too.
So I think we should talk aboutit a little bit.
And I also wanna introduce theidea I'm gonna, I'm gonna like
piggyback onto this conceptbecause a, does a complete
(01:48):
unplugging multiple, does thatmean mean like nothing like no
email, no social media, notexting, like he's serious.
He is hard for,
Dr. Stacee (02:00):
Is he cheating?
Do you?
I think he, he really is fullyunplugging.
Dr. Caitlin (02:05):
He, I, I think he seriously does.
So I, and I mean, I've seen iton our emails.
It's like, I'm gonna get back toyou in three weeks, but, um, but
he does a good job and we'lltalk about some of the
strategies of how to do that,but I also wanna introduce the
concept of partial unpluggingbecause I think that's still
important too.
So I do personally also do afull unplugging at least one
(02:28):
week a year.
Sometimes two depends, uh, zeroduring COVID
now things are looking betteragain, where I really do don't
answer any email.
Don't have slack don't I'll,I'll still text if somebody
texts me, but no social media,no email, no slack.
And it's hard.
(02:48):
It's really hard.
Um, it sounds hard the firsttime I wanted to do it, we were
actually going to Hawaii for our10 year anniversary.
And my husband was like, you'renever gonna be able to do this.
And I was like, it was the firsttime I, I did it.
And I was like, I totally am.
He was like, no way.
And I'm literally like answeringemails in the car on the way to
the airport.
He's like, you're never gonna doit.
(03:09):
And I said, as soon as we get onthe plane, it's coming off my
phone or I'm not gonna do it.
He's like, okay.
And I was serious, but, and welanded in Hawaii and I was like,
this is good.
But you know, what was so funnyis that I would pick up my phone
to check the time or to liketake a picture.
And like, your, your thumb islike trained and it would just,
(03:30):
it would just naturally hitInstagram, like no problem or
hit Facebook.
And I'm like, I didn't even meanto do that.
And I, I really think thatmuscle memory is a huge thing.
So I did end up actuallydeleting the apps off my phone
for the whole time we were thereand it was great.
And then I didn't wanna comeback.
It was amazing
(03:51):
And I was like, well, it's kindof major career out of this.
So I kind of have to, but, um, I, I do think that it's important
to start by at least trying tounplug and, and you don't have
to do a whole three week thing.
So like what, what if you weregonna start unplugging?
Like, what do
Dr. Stacee (04:08):
You think?
Here's my strategy on this?
So I recently went to a V R B Oin Dauphine island, Alabama.
Another vet DVM mom gave me herV R B O for a few days.
So I went out there and mystrategy, I take my really,
really old iPad with me as myonly piece of technology.
(04:33):
I, I delete my stuff off myphone, no Facebook, no slack.
I delete the app.
It, it will reinstall.
It's not a problem.
Or I put it in airplane mode thewhole time I'll do that too.
I don't take my laptop because Ican't do a lot of work on my
iPad.
And I take the old one with thecrack screen.
(04:54):
So I can only watch Netflix..
Yeah.
I can only watch Netflix or Ican have my iBook.
Dr. Caitlin (05:01):
And only if you are willing to get a piece of glass
embedded in your phone, yougotta really want it.
Dr. Stacee (05:07):
It's only broken on the rim, so it won't take
updates.
It won't take the updates forslack.
It won't, I physically couldn'tget them on there if I wanted.
And I try to put my phone away,actually, if I need it for my
camera, that's the one thingthat kind of bugs me.
I sort of wish I had an oldschool camera, cuz it is
addicting.
And you do find your thumb likedrawn like that.
(05:30):
Gollum in the ring and
to it, but it takes about 24hours and then you're not there
anymore.
And then you can see all youraddictive ways at that point.
Dr. Caitlin (05:44):
It's, it's really, uh, it's really eye opening.
So, so yeah, I think, you know,first of all, you know, it's not
all or nothing, right?
Like you don't have tocompletely unplug to unplug, but
maybe you just take off Facebookor maybe you just take off, you
don't check your email, right.
Or maybe you delete slack offyour phone or whatever it is.
(06:06):
Right.
So I think that's one strategy.
It doesn't have to be all ornothing.
Another important point is Ithink it doesn't have to be like
a monumental thing.
Like in my head I used to onlydo it.
If I was gonna be gone for likea family vacation or a big deal.
But I think it's reallyimportant to still consider
doing it for like a day.
(06:27):
I'll be honest that like a weekago, last week there's a, it, I
mean, there's been a lot ofstuff going on, social media and
the veterinary and world
like, blah or it's getting allheated or it's, it's crazy.
And I will just delete it forthe day.
And like you said, it, itdoesn't even ask me for a
(06:48):
password to reinstall it.
Like, and re-log in, it takeslike 28 seconds.
It was right back on my phone.
Dr. Stacee (06:54):
They want you back.
Dr. Caitlin (06:56):
They do.
So it's really easy, but I thinkdeleting it.
So you're just not tempted.
Right.
Is really important.
Uh, I think a third thing isknowing your muscle memory.
So I actually move my socialmedia icons around and I put
them in folders and I do it.
I make myself do it like everyother month or something, but
(07:16):
also like five screens back.
So I'm not just constantly goingto them.
So I think that's a, anotherimportant tip, like know that
you're not necessarily incontrol anymore.
Dr. Stacee (07:31):
you know, the best way to do itis practice going to dinner
without your phone.
And you can, if you have kidsor, you know, people that might
need to get hold of you, you cantotally go old school and leave
the phone number to therestaurant there.
Dr. Caitlin (07:50):
Yeah.
Or if you with somebody, right?
Dr. Stacee (07:52):
Like, or if you're with somebody.
Yeah.
I will routinely leave my phoneat home when I go out for dinner
because I find it.
So like, I don't know,irritating is the word or just
flat out rude AF for people tobe at dinner with each other and
then looking at their phone andI get it cuz you like are
(08:14):
addicted to it.
And I find my hand reaching inmy purse to quickly check my, my
thumb just goes to the F on theFacebook.
I didn't mean to that's true.
I, I don't know.
I find just, you gotta cut itoff like so hour or what's gonna
happen in an hour that I that'sthe beginning of it, but then
(08:37):
you can expand to like threehours or four hours or a whole
weekend, weekend day.
Dr. Caitlin (08:44):
Yeah.
I feel like, and especially likehere it's it's summer.
Right.
And it's nice and we're actuallydoing stuff outside.
So it's, it's nice to not use iton the weekends.
Stephanie Goss (08:56):
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We've used them for years.
And I love the fact that itbrought a lot of the client
communication platforms that wehad previously been using in
(09:19):
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My team goes one place and theymanage so many different client
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And I absolutely love makingtheir jobs easier.
And the clients absolutely loveusing Vet2Pet because they love
being able to scheduleappointments.
They love being able to send usa picture when they're out of
(09:40):
their pet's medication and knowthat we'll send them a push
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So if you've not checked outVet2Pet, you should visit
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Dr. Caitlin (10:01):
Have I told you my, my apple watch hack story?
No, what's that?
So I felt the same way.
And I told my husband, I waslike, uh, I need an apple watch.
So I am not using my phone somuch.
And he is like, I don't say howthat's gonna work.
But my apple watch, um, onlyaccepts calls and texts.
It has no notifications, nosocial media, uh, connected to
(10:23):
it at all because I am theperson that's like, it's gonna
be my kids or the babysitter orthe school if someone's, and if
someone's actually calling melike something is on fire,
right.
come in.
But I'm not, I don't feel like Ihave to have my phone on the
table.
(10:45):
So, um, I'm not, I'm not sayingeveryone needs to go buy an
apple watch.
And I actually like, I don't, Idon't wear mine.
I only wear mine if I am goingout, actually
Dr. Stacee (10:54):
If you were getting serious about it, phones are so
cheap.
Now I could buy a second phone.
That's true for just the phonecalling emergency stuff and
leave your other phone.
I don't know these, isn't itsad.
We have to do these tricks toour we're such addicts
Dr. Caitlin (11:08):
Yeah.
I think this is important.
Okay.
I wanna make one other point,which I did also learn from
Eric.
This sounds like the fan girlepisode for Eric,
Dr. Stacee (11:17):
It is
Dr. Caitlin (11:18):
It's a little awkward, sorry.
He's never gonna talk to usagain.
But anyway, the strategy that Ithink also helps is you gotta
set some expectations and yougotta plan ahead for yourself
and for anyone that you mightwork with.
So I think he sets his vacationresponder.
Like he changes his signatureeven it'll be like, I will be
(11:39):
unplugged from these days, likeway in advance, but having a
vacation message that says likeset up, set that up in your
email, like right now, just belike, I will be unplugged for
this week.
And this is when you can expectan email from me.
Cuz my problem is somebody, if Idon't answer an email pretty
quickly, somebody will call meor text me or slack me.
(12:00):
Like
But that way people aren'ttrying to check in on you again,
I also feel like it way limitsthe amount of emails when you
come back, cuz people are like,stop bothering you.
It's amazing.
Dr. Stacee (12:13):
Yeah.
Well and one thing Karyn didover here at Vet2Pet is, you
know, we're small enough team.
It is actually super hard totake a week unplug.
Totally.
So we hate putting that work onour other team members, which I
think veterinarians feel thesame way.
Yeah
Dr. Caitlin (12:31):
Mm-hmm
Dr. Stacee (12:32):
went, she was gone for a week.
She's like, I'll check my phoneonce a day.
I'll check my emails once a day.
Like she let us know just tolook for emergencies that fires
that need to be put out.
But then her autoresponder saidI'm on vacation.
But if you feel you need to getahold of me, just reply back
(12:54):
with, to this email and puturgent in the subject line.
Dr. Caitlin (12:57):
Oh that's a good idea.
That's a good idea.
Dr. Stacee (12:59):
So she didn't get sucked in reading all the
emails, she just scoured thetitles, for'Urgent', and then
she could move through thatquickly.
And, but it was kind of a nicehybrid.
She wasn't leaving everyone justhanging.
Dr. Caitlin (13:12):
Right, right.
That is a, and that's uh, one ofmy like points that I wanted to
make sure that we talked aboutwas that it's not all or
nothing.
So I often will do the same.
Like if I'm traveling orspeaking or something like that.
And obviously I'm not, this isnot like for a full time
practicing that this would be alittle bit harder.
But as a practice owner, there'salways stuff that the owner
(13:35):
needs to deal with.
And so even from our clinicteam, like I still handle a lot
of that, even if I'm not in theclinic, but same thing.
Like I will, they know I'llcheck my email.
Like once, like if I'm travelingor I'm doing like a mini trip or
a mini unplug, then I'll checkonce in the morning and that is
it.
Or I'll say like I'll be onlinefrom seven 30 to nine or
(13:56):
something like that so that theycan, they could get ahold of me.
I do think that helps me feellike I'm not totally abandoning
my team, but also still lets mebe like, well, I only said I'd
be on channel nine.
So I won't check it again untilthe next, the next morning.
And that's also nice for myfamily.
Like they can, they can know,okay.
Like give her space now she'sbut she'll be with us right.
(14:17):
The rest of
So I feel a little less guiltyabout it than if I do have to do
a little work while we're doingsomething fun.
Dr. Stacee (14:25):
What are some of the benefits of doing this that
you've experienced?
Dr. Caitlin (14:30):
Um, you know, I'll be honest.
So I went on a vacation that,that Hawaiian vacation and
again, that sounds very snobby,but I remember being
Dr. Stacee (14:40):
You're allowed, you're allowed to go to Hawaii
and just like it's okay.
Dr. Caitlin (14:43):
Thanks.
All right.
Well anyway, so I was there andI was, we were with a couple
other families and I rememberall of the adults, we were
sitting outside, our kids werein the pool and they were
playing around.
It was beautiful.
Right.
Obviously it's wow.
Everything's beautiful.
And I look over and our kids areall getting along, like all
(15:05):
seven of them.
And they're all like just doingall this, this stuff.
They're so cute.
My one of mine was, was a babyat the time.
And so the big one was likehelping with baby.
And I remember just lookingaround like, wow, I'm like so
grateful for this experience.
And I look on either side of meand all of the adults were
looking at phones and I rememberbeing like, they're missing this
(15:27):
and I asked one of them, Hey,what are you looking at?
And she's like, oh, look at thisfunny meme.
And I was like, I've seen a lotof funny memes.
Don't get me wrong.
I love me some memes.
But like I don't wanna later belike, I don't remember this
experience that we've saved for.
And we're doing all this likecool stuff with our family in
our bigger network.
(15:48):
But I remember looking at thatand I'm not gonna remember a me.
So to me, like that was a biglike, oh my God, the other, oh
my God is when we startedgetting the, like, you can go
into Facebook and Instagram andhave it tell you how much time
you're spending on the platform.
And when I realized how muchtime it was, I wanted to vomit.
(16:09):
Cause I was like, okay.
Yeah.
Like when I think about how manyhours of my life
been given to this, like, andobviously for me, it's a little
bit different, right?
It is my job, but there's a lotof my time that is not, you
know, is looking at memes
have probably been a little moreproductive with this.
So I think seeing that, um, forme, I have the time set up so
(16:34):
that it'll it'll tell me likehow much time I'm spend.
You can also on Facebook andInstagram, this is kind of new.
You can tell it to notify youwhen you've spent a certain
amount of time.
So mine like notifies me if Ispend more than 20 minutes.
Cause really I don't need to bespending 20 minutes at a time.
Like for me, like I, I willwaste four hours.
(16:55):
I, I don't want anyone to think.
I'm really cool by alwaysspending 20 minutes it's cuz I
have to, cause I will be downthe TikTok hole.
Like you won't believe.
And I'll be like, I reallyshould organize my refrigerator
like that.
And that dance is really funnyand oh my God, it's another
version of somebody singing thesame song about their dog.
(17:16):
And I've seen it 800 times, butI'll watch all of them.
Dr. Stacee (17:21):
Yes I have I'm with you there sister, I think it
brings a sense of peace, a senseof calmness.
If you're feeling stress andanxiety, it does, I will tell
you at first it causes increasedanxiety, but I think it's fairly
short lived.
And then you get over that andyou're into the smooth coasting
sailing side of it that youdon't wanna turn around and come
(17:43):
back to.
Dr. Caitlin (17:44):
Yeah.
It's like the all things inmoderation.
Dr. Stacee (17:47):
Speaking of all things in moderation, Caitlin,
and I wanna let you know that weourselves are going to be
unplugging for a little bit.
So we want you to do the same,but we're gonna take our own
medicine and we're going toenjoy the rest of the summer, do
some fun stuff with our familiesand we aren't going to be
bombarding your inbox for alittle bit.
(18:08):
So you, my friends can alsounplug.
Dr. Caitlin (18:12):
I hope you get outside and have an awesome
summer.
Dr. Stacee (18:15):
Thanks so much for following us along at
#IVETSOHARD, we would love tohear your feedback, give us a
rating and a review and you canalways find our show notes and
transcripts at ivetsohard.com.
And we look forward to seeingyou soon.
Thanks for joining us fortoday's episode of#IVETSOHARD.
Dr. Caitlin (18:37):
Don't forget to head over to Ivetsohard.com to
download our top five takeawaysfrom this episode
Dr. Stacee (18:43):
And here's to putting technology to work at
your practice.
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