Do you want to be in control of your own time? If you’re like me, that’s an easy “yes!”
When you really think about it, time is our most precious commodity. It’s not a renewable resource. And it’s not like money, which can be earned again after it’s lost. With time, once it’s gone…it’s gone. When I first realized that, I understood the importance of taking back my time.
The flexibility to choose what to do with our time is called “time freedom,” and it’s a possibility within your reach.
It sounds difficult, considering the busy schedule of a physician. There’s long clinic days, committee work, being on call, clerical work, and keeping up with research, to name just a few. It can be exhausting. In my experience, doctors experience time scarcity. And many of us accept the grind because it’s what we’ve been trained to do.
So how do we take back control of our time? It starts with a choice to be intentional with how you spend your time. And with the right approach, you can decide when and where you practice medicine by uncoupling your work from your lifestyle.
With more time on your side, you can enrich your life with friends, family, hobbies, and so much more. You’ll be empowered to pursue passive income and entrepreneurial goals in order to achieve financial freedom. In short, when you find a work-life balance, you will be one step closer to creating the life of your dreams.
Today, we’ll talk a little bit about what’s holding doctors back from time freedom and the actionable steps you can take to create a strong work-life balance.
Table of Contents
The Overworked Physician
Through no fault of their own, most physicians are overworked, overwhelmed, and underpaid.
Writing in The American Journal of Medicine, researcher Scott W. Yates, MD found that all physicians experience burnout to some degree, with nearly half experiencing care-impacting burnout. That’s an alarming statistic. And Yates confirmed that today’s exhausted physician experiences burnout because of preventable systemic issues within the medical industry (more on that later). What’s more, doctors can average over sixty hours a week—yikes. Perhaps it’s not an exaggeration to call physician burnout an “epidemic.”
But it’s not just burnout. It’s also a lack of control over our lives. When we work too much, we sacrifice spending time with our friends and family, missing the important events that give much of our life purpose and meaning.
And despite being high earners, physician income doesn’t go as far as it did a generation ago. With rising student loan debt, inflation, and a number of other factors, it can feel like we are trapped in our jobs to make ends meet. The irony is that although we tend to rely on medicine for our income, it’s an industry that’s rapidly becoming less favorable to doctors.
The State of Health Care
The healthcare industry is going through some changes, not all of them ideal. For doctors, a job well done doesn’t mean a reliable salary these days. And some institutions are looking to save by cutting salaries or contracting out services. I’ve heard many stories of physicians being told their contract wouldn’t be renewed without a pay cut. On top of this, insurance reimbursements are on the decline.
Current working conditions are causing doctors to run for the door. Sadly, many who leave the profession would have otherwise contributed wonderful, game-changing things to medicine.
And now the bureaucratic hassles of modern healthcare have created a greater depersonalization within medicine. The result is a lower sense of personal accomplishment and feeling like our patients are being left hung out to dry. The industry also faces disruption from new technology and lessening doctor responsibilities. What used to be the sole job of a doctor is now being done by PAs and others.
Everything’s adding up to working harder for less, which throws off our work-life balance. So, what can we do to reclaim our time?
Four Ways to Achieve a Work-Life Balance
Passive Income
The harsh reality is that we can only work so much. Because our time is both limited and precious, we need to uncouple our income from the time we spend earning income. We shouldn’t be working more to earn more, and we don’t have to. That’s where passive income comes in.
When you secure multiple streams of income, it provides more security—financial security, professional security, and more. That creates flexibility with how you spend your time. When you earn income passively, you don’t have to say “yes” to every extra shift available and can instead spend that time how you want.
You could even reduce the time you work in the clinic to match your professional goals. One of my friends who is financially free still loves practicing medicine, but they’ve decided to work one day a week to strike their perfect work-life balance. That time freedom was made possible by passive income.
How do you earn passive income? I invite you to learn more by engaging with the content of Passive Income MD, whether the blog, the podcast, or one of the many events we host to connect like-minded individuals.
Prioritize
People ultimately make time for what’s most important to them.
What do I mean by that? A friend of mine once told me he didn’t have the time to learn about real estate investment to create time freedom, but he was also the first one who wanted to talk to me for hours each week about the newest episode of Game of Thrones. Let’s think about this for a second. Just sitting and watching the show (let alone talking about it over the water cooler) is a big commitment. It has a runtime of 126 hours—or roughly two-to-three work weeks.
I’m not judging him; it’s a great show. It’s just that how we spend our time is an expression of our priorities. Based on my friendship with him I would speculate that, if he had evaluated his priorities, “Game of Thrones Enthusiast” wouldn’t be in the top 50 of his priority list. But the time he spent on it suggested it was a top-10 priority.
So you have to ask yourself this: Is how you spend your time aligned with your priorities? If you want to achieve financial freedom to create an ideal work-life balance, reducing your Netflix intake (among other things) and increasing your investment know-how might be a necessary move.
Delegate
Not only are doctors overworked, but we also tend to take on additional work on top of that. At one point in my life, I felt like saying no to additional shifts felt like I was throwing money away. But there is a limit to what we can do and should do.
Delegating is an essential step for your work-life balance. What personal and professional tasks are nonessential? Hire competent professionals, such as a property manager for your real estate assets or an assistant for scheduling and billing at your practice.
Sure, delegating can cost you money. But the time you reclaim can be used on other entrepreneurial goals and passive income investments to more than offset those costs, helping you build enduring wealth while achieving a better work-life balance.
Utilize “Dead Time”
Throughout the day, I find that there are a lot of moments where I’m in between things, proverbially staring at the wall. I’m talking about a commute, walking the dogs, or waiting for my coffee order. I call these moments “dead time” because they feel idle, like there’s an opportunity to do something more.
And because I know that my passive income goals will help me reclaim my time, I utilized dead time to be productive and work toward financial freedom. That means I’ll listen to an educational podcast on my commute to work or while walking the dogs—and I’ll play it at x1.5 speed to maximize the 4-6 hours a week I spend in my car. If I forget my ear buds and am standing in line for coffee, I’ll read a blog or a book on my phone.
But utilizing dead time doesn’t have to be solely focused on creating financial freedom. You can take these opportunities to call to catch up with friends and family to feel a closer connection to them, helping you reclaim time you thought was lost.
Identify your dead time and utilize it in a way that aligns with your work-life balance goals.
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Take Back Your Time Today
It’s easy to see why doctors are struggling to achieve time freedom. We work hard, long hours in unfavorable conditions. There has to be a better way, and there is. It’s time to take back your time and achieve a work-life balance. Even if it’s one simple step at a time, they are worth taking.
The journey toward a work-life balance can be supported by seeing how other physicians just like you have done it. I’d like to invite you to join our Leverage and Growth Accelerator Community, one of our many communities devoted to connecting like-minded thinkers from all backgrounds to pursue the same goals.
This week, challenge yourself to take actionable steps toward creating a better work-life balance for yourself. Whether that’s delegating, utilizing dead time, or beginning your passive income journey, we here at Passive Income MD are cheering you on! Until we see you next, keep living well!
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Peter Kim, MD is the founder of Passive Income MD, the creator of Passive Real Estate Academy, and offers weekly education through his Monday podcast, the Passive Income MD Podcast. Join our community at the Passive Income Doc Facebook Group.
Further Reading
