Achieving Work-Life Balance

Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, MSA Women in Otolaryngology Section Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI Scholarly and lay press have discussed work-life balance for many years as a process of seeking equilibrium between the two competing pressures of work and life. Although most of us think we can clearly define work, life may be more of a challenge. The idea that we can balance the two may be even more difficult to actualize if we adopt the definition in Webster’s Dictionary:  “balance” is to “arrange so that one set of elements exactly equals another.” If a physician’s work were limited to an eight-hour shift, much of the literature would be pertinent regarding work-life balance. However, in a surgeon’s world, despite planning for the operating room day that ends at a set time, unplanned and unforeseen events occur that prevent the surgeon’s attendance at that evening’s planned life event, regardless of best intentions. That goes without mentioning a physician’s responsibilities of being on call, clinic patients who turn out to be more complex than originally promised, and possibly a surgical complication that has to be dealt with immediately. “Life” typically refers to demands of the family. But the responsibilities of life have expanded to include involvement in our communities – where we live, work, or worship ­— and the idea of time spent on oneself to replenish core values. The concept of volunteerism has grown far beyond cupcakes for a Halloween party. The idea of separation between the roles of work and personal life was once based on the belief that each side did not influence the other. There was a true physical and temporal separation of the two roles and their innately different functions. With the presence of digital imaging, Wi-Fi access, and smartphone technology, the physician can manage a patient by viewing a CT scan on a cell phone and order the appropriate medical therapy. With the 24/7 society we now enjoy, the clinic visit notes that weren’t dictated during the day can be done at home by giving up a few hours of sleep.  The boundaries between work and home have overlapped to the degree that they are often one and the same. Since the work and life parts of the problem remain difficult to manage, there has been a belief that increased efficiency would lead to success in the “balance” part of the equation. Unimportant or non-urgent tasks were thus attempted to be removed from the schedule. However, friends, neighbors, and colleagues seldom felt they should be in the unimportant category. Time spent sitting in the garden or talking with neighbors usually became a non-urgent task category. In effect, all available waking hours can now be categorized as a work-life activity. The concept of spontaneity has become a task that needs to be scheduled and put on the balance scales to determine if it is a necessary work or life activity. Perhaps work-life balance is similar to that elusive unicorn: Everyone seems to know what it looks like, but no one has actually seen one. For the type A individual, which defines most physicians, there has been an attempt to add activities to each side of the work-life equation without recognizing that there are finite resources with which to accomplish our goals, and despite great advances in technology, there are still only 24 hours in a day. The idea of finding perfect balance between work and life may not exist if every hour of every day is scheduled. Success in work-life balance may depend on scheduling 80 percent of our time and leaving 20 percent free for the unexpected, for spontaneity, and what we cannot plan. Work-life balance requires the flexibility that will allow us to juggle the demands of work and life without dropping the ball on either. It is a worthwhile option to hire someone to do the mundane tasks of running errands, cleaning the house, and doing the laundry to free up time for quality activities. A renewed approach may be to recognize not whether an activity is considered part of work or life, but whether it provides value or satisfaction in the truest sense. Are we glad for having spent the time on the activity, and will it be something that we remember — or will it register as another check on a “to do” list that is soon forgotten? The activities and people that bring joy to our lives are what we will remember and give us dividends far into the future. Focus not on the work-life balance, but on finding moments of joy throughout each day. As John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”