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How do you balance your work and home life?

I am looking at pursuing medecine but I am not sure it is the lifestyle I want, since I am hoping to have a family and ensure I have time at home to spend with them. #student #medecine #futuredoctor

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Gloria’s Answer

Work - Life balance are a matter of what you feel is important. For that, you have to know what you value. Stress comes often from feeling that you are not doing all the things that you want to. If family is important to you, making time for them is an important consideration. Sometimes that is about time management. Many times it is about saying NO to other demands. This will be tricky as a doctor since your time is sometimes not your own, such as during residency. However, in the long term, you will need to learn the skill of how to say NO and when. For example, in my job, I am a salaried employee. That means that no matter how much work that I do, there will be work for me to do tomorrow. Some of my coworkers work well over 8 hours a day, which is not good for relationships or overall health. I do not allow myself to do more than 8 hours a day except in certain conditions. Otherwise, I will say NO to any requests for additional hours. I prioritize my hobbies and relationships over working longer hours. Start with knowing what you value and then make sure that you defend that time by learning when to say NO.

Gloria recommends the following next steps:

Determine what you value and what that looks like (Example: Sunday call to my parent every week)
Make a plan for how you will handle it if you have to miss an event
Do research on ways to say NO. (For example, I may not be able to work late tonight but it will be okay if I get it done by 10am the next morning)
Thank you comment icon Adding on to Gloria's advice, I would make sure that you schedule and set reminders on your phone, in order to make sure that you make time for your top priorities. Erica Favela-Johnson
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Carolyn’s Answer

Hi - for me i try to put them into perspective - I think of it as a scale - you remember that old fashion scale. Sometimes i must put more on the work side, sometime more on the family side but most of the time its pretty even/balanced - work is how i make the life i want to live and Family/Home is the WHY. it can get tricky if i ever lose perspective but i try to keep the why in the forefront.
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Raya’s Answer

Hi Dana

It's a hard question and one that nobody can answer for you. Lists and plans work for some people. Investing in one or the other at different stages in your life works for others.
At the end of the day, just give yourself permission to make trade-offs and find the balance that feels right at each point. Be brave about setting your boundaries and asking for help or saying no.

Don't be afraid to go into medicine just because of that - the time/work balance is something that all of us have to find.

Good luck
Raya
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Claudia’s Answer

Time management is the key, I utilized my to do list and calendar that helps me stay on track. I have a clear understanding that I can not attend to every meeting or item so I also use colors on my calendar. Also have a meeting with family members and let them know that medical school is going to take lots of your time , but make a priority day to spend with family.
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David’s Answer

Well, It is all depend on your plan and/or how you doing it. Everyone would like to have a family of their own in a way or two. Some just because they are not sure how to balance it due to Time Management issues or stress they have from work or life balancing. I can see you want to be in the medicine field and maybe a future doctor. First thing, is balancing your life, time, and work load. what I mean by that you have to take care of yourself meaning your health, Time - how you are using it and what it is use for, Work - meaning school work, part job, and more how you are executing if while you are in school, class, home, and etc. A lot of people are doing it wrong or stressing themselves is due to these reason for not separating or managing it correctly. I believe it is all about your dedication and determination which plays the most important part for it as well. So Career vs. Family it is all about how you balancing it and using it.

Good luck and I believes you can do it.
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Monique’s Answer

It is very personal and everyone is different - AND you ultimately integrate your work and life versus balancing them.

Develop strong time management skills (there are many free online resources and app for that) and plan your personal time just like you plan work.

Learn how to say NO - it's the best gift you can give yourself!
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