Designing for the Long Game: Self-Care as Professional Rigor / Rachael Dietkus / Ep. #242
DEC 4, 202569 MIN
Designing for the Long Game: Self-Care as Professional Rigor / Rachael Dietkus / Ep. #242
DEC 4, 202569 MIN
Description
<p>We often hear the "mantra" to move fast and break things...</p><p>But what happens when the thing that breaks is you?</p><p>For many service design professionals, this is the reality of their calendar: back-to-back meetings, a rush to deliver, and very little space to actually think. </p><p>In many organizations, there is a culture that views this busyness as a badge of honor.</p><p>But our guest in this episode, Rachael Dietkus, has quite a different -and healthier- approach.</p><p>She has a rule written on a post-it note right next to her desk: "No meetings before 10 AM".</p><p>This might sound like a luxury, doesn't it? </p><p>But Rachael, who's a licensed clinical social worker and designer, argues that rules like this are actually a professional necessity.</p><p>Rachael is the founder of Social Workers Who Design, where she is bridging the gap between the deep, ethical frameworks of social work and the often frantic pace of design.</p><p>This is an eye-opening episode where we explore why service design might be missing a "manual" that social workers have had for decades. </p><p>You'll hear about:</p><ul><li>Why we need to move beyond just empathy to genuine care and compassion.</li><li>The importance of having a structured "safe space" to process your work (social workers spend at least 1 hour in supervision for every 40 hours of work!).</li><li>Why setting hard boundaries is actually a sign of competence and professionalism, not weakness.</li></ul><p>So, if you sometimes feel the weight of the work is getting too much and you're looking for ways to create a healthier, more sustainable work environment, this conversation offers practical clues.</p><p>As we are almost wrapping up the year, it's an important reminder that reflection on our work isn't a nice to have, but a healthy habit we should all embrace.</p><p>Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact.</p><p>Be well,</p><p>~ Marc</p><p><br></p><p>--- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- </p><p>00:00 Welcome to Episode 242</p><p>04:00 Making Care an Integral Part of Practice</p><p>09:00 Recognizing Care (or the Lack Thereof) in Project Pacing</p><p>14:00 Difference Between 'Careless' and 'Care-full' Design</p><p>17:30 How Rachel's Path to Care Began</p><p>26:30 Human Rights and Social Work Foundation</p><p>38:45 What Design Can Learn from Social Work </p><p>46:15 Radical Act of Slowing Down</p><p>52:30 Practical Steps to Build Spaciousness & Combat Workaholism</p><p>57:45 Setting Boundaries</p><p>1:01:15 Boundaries as Professional Resistance </p><p>1:03:45 Takeaway She Hopes You Get</p><p>1:05:15 Piece of Advice</p><p>1:05:45 Question to ponder</p><p><br></p><p> --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- </p><ul><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachaeldietkuslcsw" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachaeldietkuslcsw</a></li><li>Social Workers Who Design - <a href="https://www.socialworkerswho.design/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.socialworkerswho.design/</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p> --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- </p><p>Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. </p><p><a href="https://www.servicedesignshow.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=episode_description&utm_id=242&utm_term=v2" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://servicedesignshow.com/circle</a></p><p><br></p><p>--- [4. FIND THE SHOW ON] ---</p><ul><li>Youtube ~ <a href="https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-youtube" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-youtube</a></li><li>Spotify ~ <a href="https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-spotify" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-spotify</a></li><li>Apple ~ <a href="https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-apple" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-apple</a></li><li>Snipd ~ <a href="https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-snipd" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-snipd</a></li></ul>
![<p>We often hear the "mantra" to move fast and break things...</p><p>But what happens when the thing that breaks is you?</p><p>For many service design professionals, this is the reality of their calendar: back-to-back meetings, a rush to deliver, and very little space to actually think. </p><p>In many organizations, there is a culture that views this busyness as a badge of honor.</p><p>But our guest in this episode, Rachael Dietkus, has quite a different -and healthier- approach.</p><p>She has a rule written on a post-it note right next to her desk: "No meetings before 10 AM".</p><p>This might sound like a luxury, doesn't it? </p><p>But Rachael, who's a licensed clinical social worker and designer, argues that rules like this are actually a professional necessity.</p><p>Rachael is the founder of Social Workers Who Design, where she is bridging the gap between the deep, ethical frameworks of social work and the often frantic pace of design.</p><p>This is an eye-opening episode where we explore why service design might be missing a "manual" that social workers have had for decades. </p><p>You'll hear about:</p><ul><li>Why we need to move beyond just empathy to genuine care and compassion.</li><li>The importance of having a structured "safe space" to process your work (social workers spend at least 1 hour in supervision for every 40 hours of work!).</li><li>Why setting hard boundaries is actually a sign of competence and professionalism, not weakness.</li></ul><p>So, if you sometimes feel the weight of the work is getting too much and you're looking for ways to create a healthier, more sustainable work environment, this conversation offers practical clues.</p><p>As we are almost wrapping up the year, it's an important reminder that reflection on our work isn't a nice to have, but a healthy habit we should all embrace.</p><p>Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact.</p><p>Be well,</p><p>~ Marc</p><p><br></p><p>--- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- </p><p>00:00 Welcome to Episode 242</p><p>04:00 Making Care an Integral Part of Practice</p><p>09:00 Recognizing Care (or the Lack Thereof) in Project Pacing</p><p>14:00 Difference Between 'Careless' and 'Care-full' Design</p><p>17:30 How Rachel's Path to Care Began</p><p>26:30 Human Rights and Social Work Foundation</p><p>38:45 What Design Can Learn from Social Work </p><p>46:15 Radical Act of Slowing Down</p><p>52:30 Practical Steps to Build Spaciousness & Combat Workaholism</p><p>57:45 Setting Boundaries</p><p>1:01:15 Boundaries as Professional Resistance </p><p>1:03:45 Takeaway She Hopes You Get</p><p>1:05:15 Piece of Advice</p><p>1:05:45 Question to ponder</p><p><br></p><p> --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- </p><ul><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachaeldietkuslcsw" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachaeldietkuslcsw</a></li><li>Social Workers Who Design - <a href="https://www.socialworkerswho.design/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.socialworkerswho.design/</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p> --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- </p><p>Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. </p><p><a href="https://www.servicedesignshow.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=episode_description&utm_id=242&utm_term=v2" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://servicedesignshow.com/circle</a></p><p><br></p><p>--- [4. FIND THE SHOW ON] ---</p><ul><li>Youtube ~ <a href="https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-youtube" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-youtube</a></li><li>Spotify ~ <a href="https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-spotify" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-spotify</a></li><li>Apple ~ <a href="https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-apple" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-apple</a></li><li>Snipd ~ <a href="https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-snipd" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://go.servicedesignshow.com/242-snipd</a></li></ul>](https://us-central1-podcastguru-217d6.cloudfunctions.net/gcf_get_image?image_url=https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts126/v4/44/82/12/4482120c-859a-b927-ee5e-712692c98f67/mza_2086360667211686713.jpg/600x600bb.jpg&width=300&height=300&api_key=xqFmUFX5BHLBTA)
