Throughout my career, I have had the pleasure of working with dozens of physicians, and I have found they all have one thing in common outside of practicing medicine. That is, a desire to achieve a more balanced lifestyle; one that allows their careers to thrive while still being able to enjoy those critical moments at home. As a recruitment professional, coach and mentor for the medical industry, I can say with certainty, that physicians who feel they have a more balanced lifestyle are happier, healthier, and more fulfilled professionally.

So, it begs the question, how do medical professionals achieve work-life balance for themselves without compromising career growth?

After having spent countless hours watching physicians grow their careers, I've compiled a practical guide for medical professionals who want to achieve work-life balance.

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

You can't be in two places at once, and you can't possibly do everything yourself. Especially when it comes to growing your practice and career, delegation is one of the most important skills you should develop. Delegating tasks lets you focus your energy and time on the most important activities at work. However, it is important to know when to delegate, and how to do it in a way that yields the results you desire. Learn more about exercising your delegation muscle in my next blog. See how building the right team around you can make all the difference.

Control Your Time, Or It Will Control You

Just as your patients schedule appointments with you for an in-office visit, you should schedule your to-do list within your calendar. According Parkinson's Law, work expands to fill the time available for its completion. This means that if you give yourself a week to complete a task that would normally take you 2-3 hours, psychologically you will take a full week to complete it. Be realistic in setting deadlines for your to-do list. Schedule it in your calendar and stick to the task at hand.

Done Is Better Than Perfect

As the old saying goes, “Done is better than perfect.” Now you may be thinking, “Would you say that about surgery?” However, even in life-or-death situations, this same principle applies. When an emergency presents itself and needs immediate attention, your job is to stabilize the patient. The same should be practiced when it comes to your daily life. When you are called away from a scheduled task, your priority should be to take care of it and mitigate the situation right away. This may require you to either provide an immediate response, schedule it for a future time, or delegate it to a team member.

Practice What You Preach

While it is easier said than done, practicing healthy habits like exercising, meditating, and eating well is just as important for you as it is for your patients. Make time to incorporate healthy habits into your life using the techniques outlined above.

Make time by delegating small tasks to others, schedule it in your calendar, and remember that done is better than perfect. As you would tell patients, start small and soon you will see that small changes lead to big improvements in achieving a balanced lifestyle.