A seasoned healthcare professional that I recently met said to me, “All this talk about going to the next level does nothing for me. I don’t even know what that means specifically. What I want is just to be happier with my life, work less, be more efficient, not feel so exhausted, and have a harmonious team. It’s not about the money (though it’s okay to have more). I want a life/work balance.”
A lot of professionals lately are voicing similar sentiments and demanding a life balance where they can go home and leave work behind and enjoy their off-duty time more. The question becomes, how do you go about achieving that very desirable goal?
Scheduling
There can be many reasons for your life/work balance to be out of kilter. For instance, if your scheduling is a little off at work, your days may be running late and out of control, causing you to work late to try and finish everything up before you go home. Or maybe, the scheduling is inefficient and there are ways to tighten it up into a more productive form. This is a big one with our consultants who have helped many professionals learn how to book Ideal Days (and they have taught their staff how this can be done.)
Team
Another aspect of reaching a life/work balance is having an efficient, harmonious team. If you are feeling like a referee at work, adding that to your production as a provider can leave you feeling drained by the end of the day and you just go home and become a couch potato. Getting the right staff working together as a tight knit group can change both your practice and personal life big time.
Burnout
As the owner of the practice, you are the spark plug in the practice and your staff can burn you out. You need to be facilitated, and they need to work in the direction of making your life there as easy as possible. That is why you have staff … so you don’t have to do everything yourself. Without the staff having that attitude, you can start looking a little crispy around the edges.
Delegation
The next question is what won’t you delegate or let go of that the staff could be helping you with? Sometimes you burn yourself out by not letting your staff help you. This can be very frustrating to them and after a while, they may stop even trying to help because they have given up on you. But most good staff probably joined your team in the first place with the thought of wanting to help you and take care of you. Let them help … train them to do what you can delegate.
Assistant
If you have a large staff (i.e. more than 10) you may need and deserve a personal assistant to help you manage your own personal life (banking, renewing car insurance, setting up meetings, screening your calls, etc. etc. etc.). You have earned this help and it will relieve more stress that you can even imagine if you get the right person and fully utilize them.
Exhaustion
If you are feeling exhausted when you finish work for the day, perhaps you have not finished off all outstanding things you started that day and so, just staying for a little longer and making those calls or signing those papers or making those few notes on the remaining charts will allow you to go home feeling more chipper. Or maybe the exhaustion is from not feeling like you are achieving your goals or making forward progress. Maybe you need a plan of action based on what goals you actually WANT to accomplish with your practice, and then work in the direction of getting that plan DONE.
Please feel free to contact our 25 year old consulting firm for expert help with any of the above. We’d be delighted to be of service to you in achieving a life/work balance for real.
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