Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
Do you want to control your own time? If you're like me, the answer is clearly “Yes!”
When you think about it, time is our most precious commodity. It's not a renewable resource. And it's not like money that you can earn back once you've lost it. The thing about time is that once it's gone… it's gone. When I first realized this, I understood how important it is to get my time back.
The flexibility to decide what we do with our time is called “time freedom” and it is an option that is within your reach.
This sounds difficult considering the busy schedule of a physician. There are long clinic days, committee work, on-call duty, office work, and constant research, to name a few. It can be exhausting. In my experience, physicians suffer from a lack of time. And many of us accept the drudgery because we were trained to do it.
So how do we regain control of our time? It starts with making a conscious decision about how you spend your time. And with the right approach, you can choose when and where you practice medicine by decoupling your work from your lifestyle.
Having more time allows you to enrich your life with friends, family, hobbies, and more. You can pursue passive income and entrepreneurial goals to achieve financial freedom. In short, finding work-life balance puts you one step closer to your dream life.
Today we'll talk a little about what holds doctors back from having time freedom and what concrete steps you can take to create a good work-life balance.
Table of contents
The overworked doctor
Through no fault of their own, most doctors are overworked, overwhelmed and underpaid.
In an article in the American Journal of Medicine, researcher Scott W. Yates, MD, found that all physicians experience burnout to some degree, with nearly half experiencing burnout that interferes with care delivery. That's an alarming statistic. And Yates confirmed that today's exhausted physicians are suffering from burnout due to preventable systemic problems in the medical industry (more on that later). Plus, physicians work an average of over sixty hours a week—yuck. Perhaps it's no 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 time with our friends and family and miss the important events that give our lives much of their meaning and significance.
And while doctors make a lot, their income doesn't stretch as far as it did a generation ago. With rising student loans, inflation, and a number of other factors, it can feel like we have to be trapped in our jobs to make ends meet. The irony is that while we tend to get our income from medicine, that industry is becoming increasingly unfavorable for doctors.
The state of health care
The healthcare industry is going through some changes, not all of them ideal. For doctors these days, doing a good job no longer means getting a reliable salary. And some institutions are trying to save money by cutting salaries or contracting out services. I've heard many stories of doctors being told their contracts would not be renewed without a pay cut. In addition, insurance reimbursements are declining.
Current working conditions are causing doctors to leave. Unfortunately, many of those who give up the profession would otherwise have contributed wonderful, groundbreaking things to medicine.
And now the bureaucratic hurdles of modern healthcare have led to a greater depersonalization of medicine. The result is a reduced sense of personal accomplishment and a feeling that our patients are being left out in the cold. The industry is also facing disruption from new technologies and a reduction in physician responsibility. What was once the sole job of a physician is now done by physician assistants and others.
It all boils down to us working more for less, which is disrupting our work-life balance. So what can we do to reclaim our time?
Four ways to achieve work-life balance
Passive income
The harsh reality is that we can only work for so long. Since our time is both limited and precious, we need to decouple our income from the time we spend making money. We shouldn't work more to earn more, and we don't have to. This is where passive income comes in.
Having multiple sources of income gives you more security – financial security, job security, and more. This creates flexibility in how you organize your time. When you earn money passively, you don't have to say yes to every extra shift that comes your way, but can spend your time however you want.
You could even reduce the amount of time you work in the clinic to accommodate your career goals. One of my friends who is financially independent still enjoys practicing medicine, but has chosen to work one day a week to achieve the perfect work-life balance. This time of freedom was made possible by passive income.
How do you earn passive income? I invite you to learn more by engaging with Passive Income MD content, whether it's the blog, the podcast, or attending one of the many events we host to connect like-minded individuals.
Prioritize
Ultimately, people make time for what matters most to them.
What do I mean by that? A friend of mine once told me he didn't have time to learn about real estate investing to give himself time freedom, but he was also the first person who wanted to spend hours each week talking to me about the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Let's think about that for a moment. Simply sitting and watching the show (let alone talking about it at the water cooler) is a big commitment. The show has a run time of 126 hours – or about two to three work weeks.
I'm not judging him; it's a great show. It's just that the way we spend our time is a reflection of our priorities. Based on my friendship with him, I would speculate that if he had rebalanced his priorities, “Game of Thrones enthusiast” would not be in the top 50 of his priority list. But the amount of time he spent on it suggested it was a top 10 priority.
So you need to ask yourself this question: does the way you spend your time match your priorities? If you want to achieve financial freedom, creating an ideal work-life balance may require reducing your Netflix consumption (among other things) and expanding your investment know-how.
Delegate
Not only are doctors overworked, but we also tend to take on extra work. At one point in my life, I felt like I was throwing money out the window if I said no to extra shifts. But there is a limit to what we can and should do.
Delegating is an essential step for your work-life balance. Which private and professional tasks are not absolutely necessary? Hire competent professionals, for example a property manager for your real estate assets or an assistant for scheduling and billing in your practice.
Of course, delegating can cost money, but the time you gain back can be used for other business goals and passive income investments to more than offset those costs. This way, you can build lasting wealth while achieving a better work-life balance.
Use “dead time”
Throughout the day, I find that there are many moments where I'm between things, literally staring at the wall. I'm talking about commuting, 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 be doing something more.
And because I know my passive income goals will help me reclaim my time, I use the dead time to be productive and work toward financial freedom. That means I listen to an informative podcast on the way to work or while walking the dogs—at 1.5x speed to make the most of the 4-6 hours per week I spend in the car. If I forget my earplugs and am waiting in line for coffee, I read a blog or book on my phone.
But using idle time doesn't have to be solely focused on achieving financial freedom. You can use these opportunities to call and meet with friends and family to build a closer connection with them and reclaim time you thought was lost.
Identify your idle time and utilize it in a way that aligns with your work-life balance goals.
Discover the transformative power of the Physician Accelerator Summit, a five-day virtual event designed exclusively for physicians.
Out of 19 to 23 AugustImmerse yourself in a world of inspiration, innovation and practical strategies to advance your career in and outside of medicine.
Come join us and redefine your medical career, REGISTER FOR FREE HERE!
Get your time back today
It's easy to understand why doctors struggle to organize their time. We work hard, long hours in unfavorable conditions. There has to be a better way, and there is. It's time to take more time and achieve a work-life balance. Even if it's just one small step at a time, it's worth taking.
The journey to achieving work-life balance can be aided by looking at how other physicians like you have done it. I'd like to invite you to join our Leverage and Growth Accelerator Community, one of our many communities dedicated to connecting likeminded individuals of all backgrounds to pursue the same goals.
This week, challenge yourself to take concrete steps to create a better work-life balance for yourself. Whether it's delegating tasks, taking advantage of free time, or starting to build passive income, we here at Passive Income MD are cheering you on! Until next time, keep living well!
IF YOU WANT MORE CONTENT LIKE THIS, MAKE SURE YOU Subscribe to Newsletter TO STAY UP TO DATE ON THE LATEST TRENDS IN AI, TECHNOLOGY AND MORE.
Peter Kim, MD, is the founder of Passive Income MD, the creator of the Passive Real Estate Academy, and provides weekly training through his Monday podcast, the Passive Income MD Podcast. Join our community in the Passive Income Doc Facebook group.
More information
Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
