Finding Work-Life Balance

Work-Life Balance

This is a concept everyone wants to acheive. It sounds simple enough, but is it truly a simple task to master? In my opinion, the answer is no. Especially when starting a new career, whether it’s your first job in this profession (EVER), changing specialties, or even staying in the same specialty, but switching practices. However, I have also heard many stories of people struggling with managing work and home life who have been practicing for many years, or, even at the same practice for a long time. There can be many reasons why someone can struggle with balancing their work life, and their home life. The truth is, we all face this struggle at least a little.

I am the type of person that when I am working, I am 100% about work. When I am off, I DO NOT want to spend my time with work responsibilities or tasks. This is one of the many reasons I chose to practice Emergency Medicine, because in my current phase of life, I don’t want to be in a position where I take call or have to complete job responsibilities at home. I like the separation of my professional and private lives. I truly feel that keeping my work at work, and out of my home space makes me feel more recharged on my days off, and therefore, happier. Speaking from personal experience, poor work-life balance can lead to mood swings, agitation, negative outlook, unhappiness, increased stress, relationship strain, and burnout, BOTH in and out of the workplace.

Common issues that fuel an out-of-whack work-life balance is:

- Lack of support in the workplace

- Underutilized or under allocated resources

- Personal guilt

- Poorly set boundaries

- Underdevelopment of self/time management

- Imposter syndrome

- Working in with an underserved community/ population

- Poor staffing

- Trouble saying "no" to others

Honestly, the list can go on and on. In another post, we can definitely dive into these issues more specifically if you are interested, but the goal for this post and for today is to share my 5-step process that I personally implement to help me identify the barriers keeping me from my ideally balanced life. I have used this method many times, and still frequently do, because in all honesty, I feel this is a constant thing to work on and put effort into. Work life balance is more like a continuous spectrum more than a single end goal. Admittedly, I do not have a perfect work-life balance established, and I am STILL working on making tweaks to be more satisfied. It is also important to note, everyone’s “balance” will be different, so don’t be discouraged if someone else’s goals or definition of this concept are different than yours!

1. Make a List

2. Identify the Issue(s)

3. Analyzation and Self-Reflection

4. Make a Plan of Action

5. Ask for What You Need

Make A List

In reality, there are likely multiple factors contributing to your struggle. I find the best way to tease away what you need to focus on from the million other things going on is to write it down. I personally prefer the classic pen and paper, but however you can fit this task into your busy schedule is fine.

I start by making two columns, one side labeled “Like” and the other side “Dislike”. Then I simply start writing. Things I write in my “Like” column usually include: my positive relationships with my colleagues, quality of my notes, persistence in following through, comfort in seeking clarification, team-approach to treating patients, flexible schedule, Lead PA & Physicians who advocate for me, feeling confident in giving feedback to my superiors knowing I will be heard, supportive significant other. Things I write in my “Dislike" column usually include: getting out of work late, not finding time to eat on shift, not finishing my notes at work and taking them home, not setting stern enough boundaries, lack of confidence with difficult patients, taking the stress from a hard workday home.

Identify the Issue(s)

Now that your list is complete, start to analyze what you wrote down. As important as it is to assess the things you don’t like, I find it equally as important to analyze the things you like. Focusing on the things you dislike can be heavy and weigh you down. Taking time to focus on the things I like remind me about the good things about my job, the good qualities I possess as a provider, and reminds me of the growth I have made since starting out as a PA-C fresh out of school.

If you’re like me, your dislike list can be long, and often have more than one thing on it. Now, take your time to circle 3 things on your list that you find most relevant to you RIGHT NOW, that you find are impacting your life the most. Then I look at how big these tasks or dislikes are. I recommend narrowing down your list of 3 even further to pick the MOST important one to focus on. I find a “one at a time approach” personally helps keep me accountable and makes me more successful, however, if you feel tacking 2, or even all 3, do what is best for you.

Analyzation and Self Reflection

I often find this part the most challenging. You must now look at your narrowed down list (1-3 things) that you want to focus on. Now is your time to do a deep dive. Ask yourself, why is this an issue? Is this something I could change in my personal practice to make better? Or, is there an outside barrier? Do I have the resources I need to make this change? What resources WOULD I need to be able to make the change? IS this something that I can achieve myself or do I need help? Who could I ask for help either at home or work, to make this easier? One of the most important things I ask when I begin this process is to determine if this is a 'me issue' or if this issue greater than myself. It's not that I want to take blame for everything in the workplace or at home that I don't like, but it is important to be able to self-reflect accurately and to try to open your eyes to recognize issues that may stem from your habits or behaviors that you may not have recognized previously.

The questions you can ask yourself to analyze the issue are endless, but just make sure the questions you're asking help you get to the underlying cause of why this "dislike" is occurring. It's also important to recognize some things cannot be directly changed (example: the yellow-colored walls at work give me a headache, and therefore make me less productive, and my company won't re-paint the walls). In these instances, I try to think of an outside of the box way to make this better (switching my office to a different room, giving myself multiple small breaks away from this room to try to prevent the headache, etc.). The point of this step ultimately is to analyze the issue from all angles. Usually, there are multiple factors that go into the "dislike", and identifying as many of those factors will make you the most successful in the next step.

Example Issue: Not finishing my charts during shift and needing to complete them at home

- Why am I having trouble?

- talking with peers too much, prioritizing other tasks, trouble

staying focused in a department of distractions, improperly working speech

dictation devices, seeing multiple patients at a time and having many other tasks to

perform at the same time

- Is this a ME issue? (AKA issue due to my practice, decisions or behavior)-

- 80% yes. I talk too much with peers and have trouble staying focused. I prioritize

other tasks and although there is always another task to do, I cannot sweep charts

under the rug to do other things that seem more pressing at the time (even though

they aren't). My other peers can face these same struggles, and are staffed with

the same equipment as me and get their notes done

-20% no. We are staffed with old computers which lag, and Dictaphones that work

accurately 60% of the time. There are distractions in the ED that are out of my

control. I cannot directly control the understaffing causing me to see a higher

patient load in a shift than if we were fully staffed.

- What resources would I need to make this change?

- better working equipment (Dictaphones, computers, etc.), reading literature or

seeking peer mentoring showing me how to better prioritize my tasks

- Is this something I can achieve myself?

- mostly, yes. I can practice mindfulness, and change habits/behaviors to manage

my time more appropriately

- Physical barriers, like improper working equipment I cannot achieve myself, and

will need to ask for help.

Make a Plan of Action

This step I find satisfying, as you are coming up with solutions to help make your "dislike" better. Often, it brings me hope. A plan of action may not be something you come up with the same day you make your list. Sometimes the best plans come from taking a few days to simmer on the issue, and truly thing about the best way to tackle it.

In this step, I take the factors that are contributing to my "dislike" and list them each on their own line. Then, I will brainstorm an attainable solution to fix it. Feel free to think outside of the box. Also feel free to discuss this issue with your peers. I'm sure the "dislike" you are trying to improve is an issue others are struggling with, too.

I also find myself coming back to this step even after I have completed these 5 steps. There have been times I tried implementing a method of change that didn't work. So, instead of giving up, I came back to this step and tried brainstorming a different solution.

Tips:

- If you are a visual person, copy your list and keep it next to you at work, hang it next to your desk, or even on your fridge! Constantly reading and looking at this will help keep you motivated to act on it

- Tell your peers or close family friends what you are doing. They can help offer support that can in the end make you more successful at implementing this change.

Example Issue: Not finishing my charts during shift and needing to complete them at home

Barrier Solution

1. Talking with peers ----------------> Unless conversing about patient care, I will not engage in side-conversations until I am caught up on my charts for that shift.

2. Poor prioritization -----------------> Once I am done seeing a patient and putting in their orders, I will start a chart and complete it as much as I can in that moment before moving onto the next task. When I am dispositioning a patient, I will take that time to update the chart's ED Course and sign the chart before I move onto my next task.*

3. Trouble staying focused ----------> Before each shift, and throughout the shift when I find myself getting distracted, I will tell myself, "Today I am finishing all of my charts" to focus/re-focus myself.

4. Poorly working technology-------> I will talk with director and department manager about my concerns about the poorly working technology, explain to them how it is affecting my productivity during shift, and ask to come up with a solution together.

5. Seeing a lot of patients-----------> I cannot control the volume of patient's coming to be seen in the ED, or the amount of staffing on for that day. I will continue seeing as many patients that I can in a shift. To help keep myself on top of the high-volume charts that are required, I will not see more than 2 patients in a row without starting their charts. For every 2 patient's I see, I will have their charts started and completed to the best of my ability before seeing my next patients.*

*The exceptions to these rules are high acuity, critical patients that cannot wait

Ask For What You Need

I find this step hard. It can be intimidating. However, this last step can make or break all of the effort you've put forward up until this point.

Sometimes the "dislikes" are bigger than us, or factors contributing to the dislike are out of our control. It is important to be honest with your boss, employer, friend, spouse, colleague, etc. and to speak up when needed.

Most of the time when help is asked for, it is given. It may not always be in the way that you pictured it but help and compromise is better than none at all.

Sometimes this step may not occur until after you've been trying to work on changing the barriers of the "dislike" yourself. Thats okay. Sometimes trying something yourself, seeing the barrier is more complicated that you initially thought, and then asking for help is okay, too.

Your voice is the strongest tool you have in your toolbelt. Use it!

Example Issue: Not finishing my charts during shift and needing to complete them at home

Ways I can ask for help:

1. Tell my peers my goal of completing my notes and asking them not to engage in casual conversation with me until my notes are done. Hold me accountable even when I may not want to hold myself accountable.

2. Ask my peers if they have had issues with the Dictaphones and computers. If yes, ask them to back me up with this issue when I bring it to the ED director and department manager, to help fix an issue faced by all.

3. Call IT to ask them to look into the technology issue if replacement is not an option or in the budget

4. Ask my boss to discuss obtaining working equipment.

5. Ask my lead PA help or tips in how to get my notes done on time.

6. Ask my significant other to hold me accountable at the end of each shift (ex: finished notes? let's go out for a celebratory coffee or cocktail!)

Well, everyone, after such a long post, if you have read this far, THANK YOU! I hope you are able to find these tools to help you identify the barriers in your life, whether professional or personal, that you can try to change to make yourself happier! Remember, these issues and barriers can range. If you are in a situation where you are harassed or feel your license or safety is compromised, your number one priority should always be SAFETY!!! Also be mindful that sometimes the BEST way to fix an issue (especially one that is toxic) is to remove yourself altogether...

Now, let's go make a list! 😉

C H E E R S to pursing happiness and work-life balance!