I used to think I needed to quit working as a doctor.

As I started work as an NHS doctor, I began to have doubts about my career choice. I wasn’t finding the work as fulfilling or as purposeful as I thought it would be & I was exhausted... 

I was driving to work wishing I could turn around. Ultimately, I wasn’t the person I wanted to be & I definitely wasn’t living a life I wanted to live. I genuinely didn’t think I could achieve “work-life harmony” working as a doctor in the NHS but I was wrong. 

I started making some small changes....

I didn’t want my work as a doctor to define my whole life but I was finding it more & more difficult to make decisions about what I wanted to do once I finished work each day... I realised this difficulty was because of decision fatigue. 

I was making so many decisions during the day as a doctor that I didn’t have energy to make any more once my shift was over. It might have been trying to decide what to cook for dinner or what I should be training in the gym. I realised I couldn’t rely on myself to make these decisions at the end of the day & I started to plan ahead.... 

For example, gym-wise I started to plan my training at the start of each week so I knew exactly what & when I was training. It seems so obvious now that I need to plan these things in advanced (even fun things) because they do take energy & brain power to organise. I really can’t rely on myself doing this after a working day. 

I realised I could plan ahead the things I wanted/needed to do after work (see previous point) but this didn’t stop me from still feeling exhausted at the end of a working day.... It was so easy to skip on plans or decisions I had previously made for myself (even during periods of annual leave). I realised that doing this wasn’t helping me, it was letting my work “win” & influence all aspects of my life. 

I decided to commit to the things I really did want to do even if I didn’t feel like I had the energy. I knew these things would re-energise me, even if in the moment I felt like I just wanted to rest... 

I use various tricks to help me build habits or stop me from flaking out on myself. For example, planning things with others so that they hold me accountable or actually booking things in my diary that I have to formally commit to in some way (a little sunk cost can really help)! 

I started to pay attention to things I was doing & the impact they were having on me.... This included how I was fuelling myself. It is so easy working in healthcare (especially in a hospital setting) to snack on sugar. There are always free sweets around or packets of biscuits. 

I was noticing mid-way through the day I would feel my energy levels dropping & I wouldn’t be able to resist my cravings.... I would get a sugar hit to fuel me through but then there would be the inevitable sugar crash. I started to see how these sugar hits weren’t helping me during or after work; as expected they were impacting my mood, my energy levels & my health. 

I decided I needed to fuel myself properly to keep myself energised (especially during a busy day). I started to make sure I had healthy snacks on hand & a proper lunch (usually leftovers from my previous evening’s dinner which I had intentionally cooked as extra). This makes such a difference to my day, regardless of what I am doing. I also try to prioritise my sleep & make sure I drink enough water!

I noticed by accident after going to get something from my car during a lunch break one day, that taking a brief walk outside during my day did wonders for my mindset... I wasn’t sure if this was because I love the outdoors or if it was just getting some fresh air but I decided to try to in-corporate some time out doors during my lunch break every day.

I’ve since called this my “lunch time lap” which is where I take a short walk outside each day during my lunch break. I do this regardless of whether I’m working in the hospital or on my own businesses but I find it particularly helpful when I’m in the hospital all day, as there are often no windows to even see the outside.... 

It clears my mind, it gives me some time to appreciate the elements & it gets me moving. I always return to my work feeling refreshed & more productive. I sometimes joke that it’s like I’ve had a “lunch time nap”. It’s such a simple action that gives me a moment to connect with the day & myself... I would really recommend trying it. 

I found myself craving for days off where I could slow down my mornings & spend my time on my terms.... I wanted to be able to have a cup of tea (& actually taste it instead of needing to pour it down my throat as I was trying to brush my hair). 

I wanted to be able to take 10 minutes to read my book, journal or stretch. I really valued these slow mornings & started to compare them to my “work” mornings... I noticed on days I was working I felt rushed. I felt like my employer had control of me the moment my alarm went off. 

I realised it didn’t need to be this way & I could change this.... I decided to give myself more time. I turned snooze off my alarm to encourage myself to get up. I charged my phone away from my bed to stop myself scrolling. I started going to bed earlier so I could set my alarm earlier. 

These small steps now mean I have more time to myself in the morning to do things I want to do... I no longer spend my mornings feeling like I’m “on the clock” from the moment I open my eyes. I’ve made my “work” mornings feel like my mornings. 

I mentioned at the start that I was finding my work as a doctor unfulfilling. There are so many reasons for this but as I started to consider other careers, I realised that it would be very unlikely I would find a single job role which would completely fulfil me & stimulate me every day. I decided to look for other forms of fulfilment & stimulation outside of my work as a doctor.... 

The thing that achieved this the most for me was the work I was doing on my own business. It allowed me to problem solve, apply my creativity & develop new skills. 

As I look back now, I think it was a big ask to expect one thing (aka. my work as a doctor) to tick all my boxes. I think if your job doesn’t tick all your boxes it doesn’t necessarily mean that the job isn’t right for you or that the work needs to change....you might just need to change how you go about it or what you do around it. This might mean picking up hobbies, projects or other roles around your “work” which fulfil or stimulate you in different ways.

As I started to spend more time thinking about doing things which fulfilled me, I realised that the way I was dividing my time wasn’t proportional to how much fulfilment (or value) I was getting back... I was spending more time working as a doctor (which I felt gave me less in return) than I was spending on my own business (which I felt gave me more). This didn’t make sense to me. 

I don’t think we can achieve true work-life harmony until we feel that the way we are spending our time isn’t disproportionately taking our time from other things... 

I realised I personally needed to adjust how much time I was spending working as as doctor & decided to reduce my hours by going part-time. This is a decision that I made based on my own career values but it means I’m now able to do all the different things I want to be able to do. I’ve achieved my version of work-life harmony.

You might feel like you want to quit. As a burnt-out doctor, I felt the same but there are changes we can make which might me we don’t need to...

The changes I've listed transformed by work-life relationship. 

They made me realise working as a doctor I could feel like I was just "living" rather than a slave to my job. They allowed me to achieve work-life harmony. 

You can make changes too... It really is possible. 

I know what has worked for me won't work for everyone but I hope the changes I have listed in this post might give you some inspiration or at least help your consider your own relationship with your work and how you could try to improve it. 

I will continue to share what I can to empower & motivate others to make changes when it comes to their careers, starting a business or trying to live a better life. Please click here if you'd like to receive updates when I publish new blog posts.