The Life Calendar: Mastering Work-Life Balance in Healthcare

The Life Calendar: Mastering Work-Life Balance in Healthcare

By Adam Brownfeld, PhD, EMBA

Whether you are a healthcare provider, administrative personnel, frontline support staff, or laborer; it’s easy to let work consume your life. You may experience packed schedules, numerous responsibilities, and the emotional toll of patient care resulting in burnout. Burnout is a common problem in healthcare affecting 10-70% of nurses, 30-50% of physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants (Bridgeman et al., 2018), and 40% of mental health professionals (O’Connor et al., 2018). Fortunately, burnout is preventable!

Enter The Life Calendar – A strategy designed to help you protect your energy and prioritize your personal and professional life.

Why Does Your Schedule Matter?

Your schedule is more than a tool to organize your day. It is a reflection of your priorities. Often, your schedule has only work-related events such as meetings, patient sessions, and more. Neglecting to include personal events outside of work (e.g., date night, hobbies, children’s schedule) can lead to fatigue or exhaustion, decreased productivity, reduced patient safety, medical errors, and diminished emotional state. Remember that your life (and your identity) exists before and after work.

What Is a Life Calendar?

The Life Calendar (Drummond, 2014) is a time management tool in which you schedule non-work activities that bring you joy, connection, and restoration into your life. It’s a way to balance the demands of your job with meaningful personal time resulting in increased energy, improved mood and focus, stronger relationships, and a sense of fulfillment. In fact, the impact of time management on life satisfaction is 72% more significant than its effect on job satisfaction (Aeon et al., 2021). 

 

When creating your Life Calendar, consider your priorities and what replenishes you. As you create your Life Calendar, include your friends and family in the process. When they see you making them a priority, your bonds are strengthened.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Date nights: Set aside time to reconnect with your partner.
• Exercise blocks: Block free time for workouts, yoga, walks, or hikes to stay active and reduce stress.
• Friendship time: Set aside evenings or weekends for gatherings or even a phone call/Facetime.
• Hobbies: Block 30 minutes or more to focus on a hobby.
• Family time: Dedicate time to bond with your family outside of obligatory events such as attending your child’s school events.

Here are some tips for your Life Calendar:

1. Be realistic: Start with small and manageable chunks.
2. Be flexible: Life happens. It’s acceptable to adjust your calendar as long as you start intentionally and stay consistent with it.
3. Assess and modify: Set times to update your calendar for the following week or month. Occasionally, evaluate your calendar and tweak if you need less or more of an activity.
4. Say no: If a work-related event or activity is requested of you and your Life Calendar shows a conflict, politely decline as you have a commitment (This may not always be possible – See Number 2).
5. Always accessible: You should always carry your Life Calendar with you.

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or experiencing burnout, engaging in therapy at Behavioral Health Partners may help. Behavioral Health Partners is brought to you by Well-U, offering eligible individuals mental health services for stress, anxiety, and depression. To schedule an intake appointment, give us a call at (585) 276-6900.

 

References:

Aeon, B., Faber, A., & Panaccio, A. (2021). Does time management work? A meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245066

Bridgeman, P. J., Bridgeman, M. B., & Barone, J. (2018). Burnout syndrome among healthcare professionals. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 75(3), 147–152. https://doi.org/10.2146/ajhp170460

Drummond, D. (2014). Stop physician burnout: What to do when working harder isn’t working. Heritage Press Publications, LLC.

O’Connor, K., Muller Neff, D., & Pitman, S. (2018). Burnout in mental health professionals: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence and determinants. European Psychiatry, 53, 74–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.06.003

Jim Riggs | 3/1/2025