Balance means making choices & enjoying those choices. In this article, we have put down reasons that affect doctors' work-life balance along with ways to manage the problem effectively.

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Have any of you felt that advert stress after a long week at work and that grim feeling where you just don’t want to return to work? Or do you walk in at home every night thinking, the day would have been much better if you had come home an hour or so early, just to spend some quality time with your family?

It is correctly said,

“You don’t have to be miserable to be successful. Working smarter is better than working harder.”

Exhaustion and burnout are two common words we doctors often circle around and face these feelings of physical fatigue and mental tiredness due to the hectic work schedule and tiresome routines. A work-life balance is a most commonly cited word as a solution to these problems, but in real life, we mostly struggle to inculcate this and the word is far off easier written and said than actually incorporating it.

According to the Cambridge dictionary, "Work-life balance is defined as the amount of time you spend doing your job compared with the amount of time you spend doing things that you enjoy and spend time with your family."

But how many times in a day do we actually function according to this definition?

And the consequences of not following this often lead to severe burnout leading to a feeling of low energy and exhaustion and feeling and increased mental distance from your job, eventually leading to lower work proficiency and poor delivery of patient care.

According to Mariette Janse, a life coach, there are certain challenges that can be applied and checked for by every individual to see what affects their work-life balance the most and how it can be tackled by individual solutions. The challenges are as follows: 

A Roman study done in 2012 stated that 45.8% of physicians faced at least one symptom of burnout. The same study also quoted that as compared to the general population, doctors are more likely to be dissatisfied with their work-life balance.

There can be various repercussions to physical and mental burnout, which can have some unpleasant consequences.

In an article by the Mayo Clinic, it was stated that there could be various host factors that contribute to burnout, but they can be largely grouped as follows:

In a study done in Canada, researchers suggested that the main problem involved in this concept of work-life balance will be struck off if there is adequate time to compartmentalise the work and complete it effectively, managing it in a comfortable amount of time with a feeling of control as to when and how you can get it done.

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Strategies to cope with the problem

Here are some easy and doable tips to ponder and work on to improve this grave problem of work-life balance effectively. These many seem very easy and definitely put your mind into thinking, "These are way too easy and I know them already" and at the same time you should have thought, "But I never do them!"

Prioritise these little changes and give yourself a break by giving these strategies a shot.

• Schedule some personal time to compartmentalise your day and plan it well

Allocate sufficient time for your physical, mental, and emotional health.

• Spend some “me” time every day

This could be simply having an elaborate meal along with cooking the same with your family or reading a non-medical book, taking a walk with your spouse, or enjoying some sand play in the garden with your kids. This should definitely do the trick to relax.

• Dedicate a “no phone” zone in the day, every day

Putting off all your devices for a few hours a day can give you some unimaginable peace. We might wonder how we manage our patients during these hours. Let your associate or assistants do that for you and give yourself a break. On an organisational level, you and your associates can take turns doing the same, which will solve the problem of missing out on your patients and work too!

• Adjusting your on-call time

Depending on your speciality and practice, you can alter the daily routine of your practice by either taking up part-time work hours or asking an associate to cover up after you finish your dedicated work hours. Drawing a boundary for yourself can be a big achievement in this journey of striking a work-life balance.

• Delegation of tasks to others

We often try to be the masters of all and that can lead to a lot of unwanted stress. Delegating doable tasks to your associates or assistants can offload you from a lot of stress and, in fact, help you be more productive and efficient in what you do.

• Plan a date night or a family dinner

As absurd as it might sound here and a few might also be smiling while reading this, being with your loved ones can be the best way to forget all the work stress and can possibly be the best way to absolutely off-load and feel refreshed. This will only leave you recharged for your upcoming hectic days at work!

• Take some time and tell yourself, “You are doing an incredible job.”

Being a medical professional and the journey of becoming one itself is a stressful one and in the due course we end up sacrificing a lot of our personal lives for the same. A little self-appreciation every day will do no harm, but just boost your self-confidence to work better and more efficiently.

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Disclaimer- The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of M3 India.

About the author of this article: Dr Ridima Surve is a practising dentist from Mumbai.