Repetition Leads To Repulse: How To Avoid The Employed UK Optometry Trap

Same room. Same chair. Same questions. Same add ons being pushed… FOR FIVE YEARS

This is the reality for most employed optometrists. And we wonder why burnout is epidemic in our profession?

Humans aren't designed for this level of repetition. We need variety, challenge, growth, and new experiences. But traditional optometry employment? It's like Groundhog Day with a degree.

You've mastered the routine so completely that you could do an eye test in your sleep. Which sounds efficient... until you realize you're slowly dying inside. Your brain is literally starving for stimulation. You're a highly skilled professional being used like a very expensive robot.

Meanwhile, people often find purpose and joy in video games: why?

Unpredictability

Skill acquisition

Progression

Variety

Everything your job doesn't have.

No wonder you find yourself doomscrolling your phone between patients, just waiting for the next one.

No wonder weekends feel so short.

No wonder you dread Monday mornings.

You're not lazy. You're not ungrateful. You're intellectually understimulated.

But here's what's possible:

Imagine working in a different practice every week. Different equipment. Different challenges. Different teams.

Imagine actually learning something new regularly.

Imagine looking forward to work because you never know what the day will bring.

Imagine having the variety that makes you feel alive again.

This isn't fantasy. This is what smart locuming looks like.

Not just bouncing around for money, but strategically choosing variety that feeds your professional soul. Different locations. Different patient demographics. Different clinical challenges.

Some days in independents doing complex contact lens work.

Other days in multiples perfecting your efficiency.

Maybe some hospital sessions. Maybe some domiciliary work.

Suddenly, optometry becomes interesting again.

Suddenly, you're growing again.

Suddenly, burnout seems impossible because there's too much variety to get stuck.

The optometrists who've been in the same role for 5+ years? They're not gaining experience. They're repeating one year of experience five times.

How long have you been doing the same routine? Do you feel like you're still growing professionally?