Being a doctor is a full-time enterprise. The good thing is that hopefully you found a job that does not have the same grueling hours as residency or fellowship training. For me it meant going from working “the limit” of the 80-hour workweek (we all know what that really means), to a job where I was working anywhere from 40 to 60 hours.
When you finish training and get your first attending job, you are getting a raise in salary, and a raise in the amount of free time you have available. Now this may not be true for all, but at least now you have some control over your time. Just like the freshly minted attending who goes out and spends their money with their newly acquired wealth, many also squander their precious time on activities that are not productive. When I first graduated, I was spending a lot of time eating out at restaurants, partly because we could afford it, and partly because we had “no time” for groceries and dinner. I realized that the “no time” was really related to getting home late and spending most of my free time binge watching shows online. Now I’m not saying that watching Game of Thrones is a waste of time (good for learning hospital politics). Having an outlet is very important. However, when I added up the time I was spending on this, I realized I was essentially using up several hours a week that I could have been using on something that in the long run would be more beneficial to my personal and financial life (like spending time playing with the kids).
Over the last year I have been able to add on a few more things to my “plate” on top of my professional responsibilities: exercise, real-estate investing, becoming a landlord and short-term rental host, editing and producing my kids’ YouTube channel, and reading several books a year. The way I’ve been able to fit this all in is by being very intentional with my schedule. I didn’t figure this out on my own, of course, but thankfully was able to learn several techniques on how to achieve this from my life coach and productivity books.
Specific steps to take include sitting down and writing out everything in your life that needs to be scheduled, and then taking the time to put it in your phone/computer calendar. It’s amazing to see what happens when you’ve actually put it down and you hold yourself accountable to it. I’ve found myself becoming more intentional with my time and when accomplishing a task, I know I have a limited amount of time, so it gets done faster. Now, as a practicing surgeon who takes call, this system is not perfect. However, it sets a beautiful framework and can be adjusted depending on how things might change over the course of the week. I make my main schedule on Sunday evening or Monday morning and then look at it every night just in case something needs to be moved. It’s quite spectacular. I strongly recommend trying it out!