If you're a veterinary professional, a score of three or four is fairly typical. It's hard for us to set boundaries between work and fun, and just chill during activities everyone else finds enjoyable. The kind of work we do (and how we've been trained to do it) selects for high endurance and rewards those who do more of it.
The trouble here is workaholism, like so many other "isms," is not particularly sustainable. Cracks in our physical and psychic foundation will eventually develop; fracturing relationships, decimating our self-esteem, and making fun seem like an unreachable ideal and job satisfaction a remote possibility.
We all know this about workaholism. It's not exactly news to anyone who's been paying attention to any of our profession's suicide discussions or witnessed a colleague's burnout. So what are self-diagnosed workaholic veterinary professionals to do by way of healing themselves?
8 resolution opportunities
As usual, I turned to my favorite veterinarian-slash-friend focus group for answers. Here's the list I compiled from those conversations, just in time for New Year's resolutions:
- Learn to become a "no" person...or at least become more discerning about saying "" Here's a personal anecdote by way of illustration. I said yes to being president of my local association but ultimately had to bail before the end of my term. I wasn't doing the association or myself any justice. Now, quitting isn't something I'm proud of, but it was the right decision. But clearly, saying no in the first place would've been way less stressful. How to become more discerning? Think it through: Are there enough spare hours in your day to fit in a new commitment at three to five hours a week? What will you have to let go if you say "yes" to one more surgery today or tomorrow? Is it really worth it? Does saying "no" feel all that bad? In fact, you should start feeling good about saying "no." After all, that "no" means saying "yes" to more important things in your life.
- Set boundaries with clients and team members. "I only have five minutes but we need to connect," is how I now begin a lot of telephone calls. "Text only, please," I've told my team. "I will not answer a phone call on my day off." Think about it: What's making your life especially stressful? Where can you set boundaries to make your life easier? Zero access after hours? No more emergency calls? No more add-ons to your surgery schedule? You may even need to look for a new position where you can set fresh boundaries but set them you must.
- Friendly, not friends. This issue is a common subset of boundary-setting. When you're friends with your team and your clients, you expose yourself to emotional manipulation and insubordination by your team and dangerously subjective decision-making on behalf of clients. Don't go there. Or, more realistically, learn how to do it less. It does't make you less human, it makes you more resilient and improves your work product. How to? Start by limiting after-hours communication with team members to work-related business exclusively. Limit yourself to sharing only superficial details of your personal life. Don't tell a team member or client anything you wouldn't want your whole team or all your clients to know.
- Prioritize relationships with family and friends. Never let close relationships slide because you've elected to take on more work. Easier said than done. But if it helps you say "no" to more work to put close personal relationships first, then do it. After all, relationships make us human and when these suffer unduly because we don't set smart boundaries or lose perspective on what matters, we risk missing the kinds of connections we need to be happy human beings.
- Share the balance. It's not enough to enjoy the fruits of your own personal, life-balancing choices. Recognize those around you have the same need for balance. Do what you can to make it easier for your team to model your own healthy behavior. It improves morale, which makes your work life so much less stressful and infinitely more satisfying. A testy team is no fun to be around.
- Build flexibility into your schedule... and then stick to it! In other words, consider varying your work week if you can. Ask your boss for a four-day work week, an alternating weekend off or an afternoon away once a week. Consider building or joining a culture that allows you to have others take over on your days off so time "off" is actually time away in every sense.
- Actively (and constantly) look for ways to lessen your daily workload. Work smarter, not harder, right? Train team members to address client concerns. Have others do your callbacks. Consider new software that makes it easier and faster to place orders, contact clients, and keep your records complete. Do you need more staff? Another clinician? Would hiring a headhunter help? The answers are out there...seek them.
- Think big picture when accepting commitments and making decisions. Which brings us back to saying "no" when needed. Whether we're talking big decisions or little ones, always ask yourself what's best over the long term. Don't think exclusively in terms of dollars lost but in lifestyle gained, too.
