Work-Life Budgeting Rather Than Work-Life Balance

I am in the midst of a 1-month break from work as I transition from one organization to another. I have not had a month off (excluding maternity leave) since the summer after my first year of medical school. It feels decadently luxurious to have calendar days clear of any professional responsibility. I have no employer and although my medical license and board certification are active, I don't actually have access to any electronic health record or prescription pad, nor am I covered under malpractice insurance. In effect, I am unable to practice medicine this month. I wasn't sure how I would manage this time, but it has been unexpectedly busy as well as luxuriously wonderful.

I think about the elusive work-life balance which abruptly tilts out of balance when work is no longer on the opposite end of the work-life continuum. It's just life, which, it turns out, takes up plenty of space on my calendar all on its own. I enjoy my professional work — my patients and the cognitive exercise of diagnosis and developing treatment plans.

Unlike some of my colleagues, I don't dream of the day I will retire nor do I long to hang up my stethoscope and white coat. I anticipated this month to feel like the loss of a limb — a constant ache reminding me of the work I'm not doing — the patients I'm not seeing, the medical puzzles I am not trying to figure out, even the paperwork and in-basket messages which seem never-ending. The great news is that this brief hiatus has reminded me of the many things that I do enjoy outside of work when I have the time and mental space to engage with them.

For the first time in many years, I indulged my love of arts and crafts and made Valentine's Day cards for my family members by hand. I've read and crocheted and exercised. My social calendar has actually even been a bit on the full side with coffee dates, lunches, dinners, and evenings out with friends. I've had conversations with my husband about politics and our investments and our kids' sports teams and extracurriculars.

And yet, even when there is no work-life balance to figure out (since the work portion is temporarily on hiatus), I realize that "balance" is the wrong word. This is a well-established concept already — the idea that balance between two competing demands is not the right way to conceptualize the multidimensional pull we feel in trying to fulfill many obligations and desires.

Instead, I think about it like a bank account of my time, energy, and attention. All of a sudden, there is no draw on my figurative bank account for a "work" withdrawal, kind of like when your mortgage or student loans are finally paid off. Although this provides you with more resources, the resources do remain finite and old demands easily swell while new demands suddenly appear.

During this time of imbalance in which I can wholly focus on life to the exclusion of work, I realize that my energy account can still run dry even without the pull of professional demands. Because there is always more to do, pay attention to, pursue, and spend time doing. As I go back to a more normal schedule and once again need to start budgeting work alongside life into my personal energy account, I have a new perspective.

Going forward, I am going to conceive my daily challenge as work-life budgeting rather than balance. As with any budget, it is easy to overspend, whether that's time, energy, or money. Certain things are essential: fulfilling professional duties, being present as a wife and mother, sleep, nutrition, and exercise. Other things are important, such as friends and time to read. Still others are inconsequential, like Wordle.

Prioritizing the essential, being smart with my resources to make time for the important, and avoiding squandering my time and energy on the inconsequential is my goal.

Do you find the work-life conundrum to be an issue of balance or an issue of budgeting or do you have another construct entirely?

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Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.

Cite this: Jennifer Frank. Work-Life Budgeting Rather Than Work-Life Balance - Medscape - Feb 23, 2022.