Life-Work Equilibrium

Doctors are highly motivated to be effective in their professional life, but maintaining a balance with their personal lives is a challenge for all of us. How you maintain this balance will ultimately determine not only your success as a physician but also your happiness. It is very common to occasionally feel discouraged about various aspects of your practice such as the vast amount of paperwork that must be completed in order to care for your patients or the continued decrease in reimbursements that is impacting nearly every practice. Most of our colleagues are experiencing the same feelings about their practices. It is easily to become discouraged after talking to physicians who complain about their practices and complain that their family is suffering because the practice is consuming so much of their time. Let’s not forget that medicine is a most noble profession that provides great satisfaction and gratification and that all that doctors need to do to be happy is to find techniques of putting balance into their careers. This chapter will discuss 10+ suggestions that may help balance the scale between your personal and professional life. Physicians who read this article will gain new insight into achieving balance in their practices and balance in their personal lives.