"Whack-a-mole" with a Side of Constant Hyper-vigilance

Many women physicians live Whac-a-Mole with a side of hypervigilance—reactive, depleted, and always “on.”

Here’s how to end the game.

“Whac-a-Mole” was my favorite amusement park game when I was younger.

I loved whacking the moles as they popped up.

It was invigorating. And after three minutes, it was exhausting.

That’s also a pretty good description of how many high-achieving adults—especially women physicians—are living their lives.

Whac-a-Mole…with a side of constant hypervigilance.

The modern Whac-a-Mole existence looks like this:

constantly reacting
constantly fixing
constantly managing
constantly “on”

You whack the urgent thing. Then another pops up. Then another.

You’re exhausted and depleted from the constant adrenaline and cortisol of living this way.

Many women physicians blame themselves—because blaming ourselves is an expensive default pattern. You tell yourself you’re inefficient. That you should be better at time management, organization, or motivation.

You try planning better. Delegating. Outsourcing. Optimizing.

Hoping that if you just do it better, you’ll finally stop whacking.

You search for the outside thing that will help you find the time, motivation, and energy to do it all.

And yet you remain overwhelmed, depleted, and discouraged.

One reactive whack to the next.

The missing piece is physiology

This is what most people miss:

A Whac-a-Mole life is not only a logistics problem. It’s a nervous system state.

When you’re living in chronic hypervigilance, your body is braced.

Your mind spins. Your priorities blur. Your capacity shrinks.

You can’t “productivity hack” your way out of a dysregulated nervous system.

Mindfulness and coaching end the game

They are the solution for a Whac-a-Mole life.

They help you change your thoughts and your physiology.

They help you stop the spin, settle the snow globe, and quiet the monkey mind—vritti (mind chatter).

They help you retrain your nervous system and replete yourself.

They help you reconnect with your priorities and move forward responding—not reacting.

They reduce the rush and urgency. They bring in pause, buoyancy, and equanimity—even amidst full lives that feel chaotic, messy, and busy.

Mindfulness and coaching also help you make changes when it becomes clear—from a calm and grounded place—that changes are needed.

Often the changes are small. Sometimes they’re big.

Either way, you identify them with clarity and compassion, and then you have the courage and steadiness to follow through.

You stop expecting unreasonable things of yourself. You stop carrying what isn’t yours.

You start living in alignment.

Mindfulness and coaching are some of the most unexpected, effective, and wonderful performance and efficiency tools I know.

They help you perform without so much cortisol

They don’t just help do more. They change how you live. Once you learn to practice and embody them, the Whac-a-Mole game finally ends.

You move forward with intention, clarity, and alignment. Life becomes healthier. And more joyful.

If you want support stepping out of a Whac-a-Mole existence, reach out.