Clay LinkousCo-founder, Linkous Solutions · International Speaker, Executive Coach, and Facilitator / Champion of Physicians, Leadership, the Human Experience, SDOH, Vulnerable Populations, & Neurodiversity.

The word of the day is frenetic: fast and energetic in a rather wild and uncontrolled way.

23 Mar 2026 · 2 min

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1:48

In this concise monologue, the speaker introduces "frenetic" as the word of the day and argues that many clinicians experience a frenetic, chaotic work environment characterized by constant digital alerts, endless EMR tabs, and relentless multitasking. The speaker warns that such frenetic conditions are not merely stressful but dangerous, leading to medical errors and burnout. The talk critiques the prevailing hustle culture that equates busyness with productivity and calls for a shift toward designing health‑system workflows for "flow"—reducing digital noise, streamlining handoffs, and providing physicians with mental headspace. The speaker ends with a call to action, asking viewers to share the most frenetic part of their workday in the comments to collectively find ways to slow down in 2026.

Chapters

Frenetic. That's the word of the day. And let's be honest, it's the word of the year for many doctors. It's that fast, chaotic, out-of-control energy where you're doing a million things but feel like you are just simply accomplishing nothing. You know, in a hospital, in a health system, frenetic is the sound of 10 different pagers. It's the visual of 50 open tabs on an EMR and that that feeling of sprinting through a 12-hour shift just to really feel like you're still staying underwater. You know, we have mistaken busy for productive and chaotic for efficient. But here's the reality: a frenetic environment isn't just stressful, it's dangerous. And it's where errors occur, it's where burnout starts. And what we need to do is we need to stop praising the hustle culture and start designing for flow. You know, the goal for every health system in 2026 should be to turn that frenetic injury energy back into really just focused care. And that means cutting through the digital noise, means streamlining the handoffs, and giving physicians the one thing that they actually need to do their jobs: headspace. Because a calm doctor is a better doctor every single time. So, what's the most frenetic part of your workday? Tell me in the comments. Let's figure out how to slow it down this year.