Maintaining work-life balance as a physiotherapist

A few days ago, I asked my Insta Fam about their common struggles as a PT. Many of you replied with various challenges you face. So, through my #SmartPT series, I am trying to explore possible solutions to some of our problems. Maintaining a work-life balance as a physiotherapist was one such problem many of my readers complained about. 

To be honest, I personally struggled with this one the most. So here are some of the things I learned about maintaining work-life balance as a physiotherapist that you may find useful. This article also contains tips shared by physiotherapists who have been working for a while. 

#1 Get clear on what you want

We may think we know what we want, yet actions we take on a daily basis can be contrary to that. It is important to sit down and envision the life you want to live. At the same time, look at the current life scenario. Think about how you can bridge those gaps.

Imagine your life 5 years from now, what does your work look like? Do you like to travel or work from home? How are you feeling about your current work, motivated or burnt out? How do you want to feel?

Your long-term goals shouldn’t be just about your work. Spend some time thinking about your close relationships and how you want to invest in them. When thinking about achieving work-life balance, remember to include the most important person in the equation, yourself. Think about your ambitions and desires. Remember to include your hobbies.

Once you have all that figured out, remember to revisit that at least every six months. At that time, think about the actions you are taking right now. Are these actions leading you to your long-term goal? If not, what needs to change? 

Rima Jani, who runs the Instagram handle, divinedevelopmentforkids mentions, “You need to understand 3 things: 

1. Your priorities: Completing tasks that mean the most to you. 
2. Your motivation: This helps you to go on & complete the tasks.
3. Your satisfaction: This is the most important part, feeling content at the end of the day with what you have accomplished will give you a sense of satisfaction and peace which is the ultimate thing everyone needs.”

#2 Set Clear Boundaries

Once you start figuring out what you want, you may need to make changes to your current work-life scenario. One small yet most effective step you can take is setting boundaries. 

Boundaries are vital for us to have a healthy relationship with everyone around us. They stop people from taking advantage of us. Setting boundaries lets us focus on what matters to us the most at the given time. 

| Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough. ~ Josh Billings

Saying no is hard. It is a skill that we need to hone over a period of time. What we need to learn is saying no politely. We can be empathetic, we can understand other people’s needs and yet say no. That is a sign of self-respect and self-care. 

Some of the healthy boundaries can look like ‘No work on Sunday’ ‘No screens after 9 pm’ or ‘No personal calls when working with patients’ Of course, you are going to make an exception in case of an emergency. But on any other day, try to set a boundary and stick to it. 

#3 Communicate your boundaries effectively

Once you set your boundaries, it is important that you communicate them clearly. As your work gets demanding, you will need to communicate effectively with your family as well as your patients. As your work and family grow, it becomes essential that you are maintaining clear communication with everyone involved. 

I was particularly interested in knowing the views of a sports physiotherapist about maintaining a work-life balance. As we all know they have the most irregular and demanding work schedule. They need to travel domestically and internationally with their athletes, work around athletes’ schedules and cover multiple sports. 

Hence I reached out to Aalap Jawdekar. Aalap is a senior physiotherapist at Olympic Gold Quest, He works with athletes going for the Olympics and Paralympics. He was the official PT for Mirabai Channu for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

What Aalap had to share:

“Work-life balance is a very challenging thing to obtain as a Sports PT and even I am learning. It is difficult, especially after getting married. While there may not be a perfect answer, over the years I learned a few things: 

1. You have to speak to your family every day. Keep them notified of your plans. Keep their confidence in what you do and how you do your work. This is extremely essential to avoid any clashes at home, especially travel-related. Usually, travel plans are very last minute. And when that happens, again and again, they get familiar with the nature of your work. It eventually gets easier. Initially, it is hard for everyone to accept the way things work. 

2. I also ensure that I speak to athletes, may not be directly, but hint them towards the timelines. That I will see them at good intervals, not see them after late dinner especially when traveling or on camps. Unless it is an emergency, you have to attend it no matter the time. But on other occasions, you can choose to work within a certain time span. This is crucial otherwise the stakeholders may expect you to be available every day, every time, and every hour. Once you start working, they understand the way you work and it becomes easier. But you have to lay certain ground rules without being rude or arrogant. When you are honest, people listen to you.”

#4 Strive to achieve balance over a period of time, not every day

What particularly struck a chord with me in Aalap’s response is when he said, ‘There is no perfect answer.’   When I first started working on this article I was hoping to find the perfect answer. But as I read more, talked to more people, and looked at my own life, I realized what he said is so true! We need to accept that there is no such thing as a perfect work-life balance that you achieve every day. 

Some days you will need to focus more on your work and on other days your family and friends will need more from you. When we speak about ideal work-life balance, most of us have an unrealistic expectation of us being super productive at work, leaving early from work to spend time with our loved ones. Although this is ideal, this may not be achievable every single day. 

When we look at the bigger picture, our working years (average 23 yrs – 60 yrs of age) can be divided into various chapters. As the saying goes, “Every different chapter in your life will require a different version of you.” So, as you enter a new chapter in life, you will need to recalibrate your long-term vision. Your priorities change when life takes a turn. At that time you may need to shift more either towards “the work” or “the life” depending on the situation. 

Summary

So to summarize, to maintain a work-life balance as a physiotherapist, on a day-to-day basis, you will need to set clear boundaries with your patients and loved ones. More importantly, you must communicate those boundaries effectively to everyone involved. 

Although, you may not be able to strike the “perfect” work-life balance as a physiotherapist every single day. Depending on the situation you may choose to shift your balance towards either side. Your long-term vision will guide you in making that decision. So the first step for you right now is to start writing long-term goals for yourself, your life, and your work!