How You Can Maintain a Work/Life Balance as an OT

As occupational therapy practitioners, we give a lot of advice that we ourselves might not always take. We recommend home exercise programs even though we may not be able to carve out the time to work out as much as we would like. We recommend finding the simplest, safest way to complete a task even though we may find ourselves fighting through something the hard way.

But one of the most important pieces of advice we give involves finding balance in one’s life, regardless of their occupations. As OTs, how can we personally develop a work/life balance? We’ll discuss doable strategies to help you start working on this today.

Identifying Work/Life Balance

Before we can even begin worrying about maintaining a work/life balance, we need to identify what that balance should be for us. As with most things in occupational therapy, one person’s work/life balance will look very different from another’s.

Our work setting, experience, family life, and many other personal circumstances will greatly impact how much of our life is spent working and how much is spent outside of work.

Occupational therapy presents unique risks to our work/life balance that need to be kept in check. For example, OT can be a very physically demanding job. Lifting patients, chasing kiddos, sitting in a car or at a computer for long periods, and carrying around therapy equipment can all take a toll on the body.

If we are not careful that toll can lead to us losing some of the time we would otherwise spend doing things we enjoy outside of work. The amount of time we spend in documentation and other administrative tasks can also subtly overwhelm us. Learning new documentation systems, getting distracted while writing notes, and lengthy staff meetings can all encroach on our “off” time.

Not to be forgotten is the emotional burden and compassion fatigue we all bring home with us. This can make it hard to enjoy time with family, friends, or pursuing hobbies. Instead, we sometimes focus on doing things outside of work that can help our patients, such as developing treatment plans or collecting materials to work towards their goals.

Signs You’re Out of Balance

Since imbalance and burnout can sneak up on us, how are we supposed to know when our work/life balance has been disrupted or is leaning too far into work? There are a number of potential signs. For example, we may find ourselves feeling chronically stressed, irritable, or fatigued.

When we are at work, we may find ourselves not enjoying the work we do as much as we have in the past, and this can even affect our job performance not to mention our mental well-being. Outside of the office, we might notice a decrease in our participation in hobbies and a withdrawal from personal relationships. And there might be a “bleeding” effect, with work coming home with us more and more.

Strategies to Stay in Balance

When it comes to dealing with patients, we as OTs are quick to come up with strategies that can help them. When it comes to dealing with our own problems, it can be a little more difficult. One trick that we can use is to simply imagine that we are a patient that has come to us as an OT for advice. This simple change can help us view the situation objectively and provide the “client” with some helpful tips.

Generally, techniques for keeping our work and life in proper balance fall into a few categories:

• Mindset changes
• Work-related techniques
• Self-care time/strategies

Mindset Changes

Mindset changes are some of the most important things we can do to reset our balance. Setting appropriate boundaries with work will help keep it in its proper place. This includes setting reasonable expectations on ourselves when it comes to what we can do.

Modestly recognizing our limits will help us to not feel overwhelmed by a heavy caseload or daunting deadlines. Having strict work hours will help us recognize when we should expect to work and when we need to stop. If something can’t be finished on time, having open communication with management or peers can help us stick to the boundaries we have set.

Work-Related Techniques

While we are at work, being productive in the general sense will also help us to avoid work following us home. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, taking some time at the start of our day to make a reasonable schedule of what can be accomplished will help us stay focused and direct our energy wisely.

For example, by looking ahead we may be able to find firm plans in our schedule, like meetings or appointments. This, in turn, can help us to find open slots that we can use for documentation or other administrative tasks. Delegation is also a great tool to manage our workload. As OTs, make full use of OTAs, aides, and support staff that may be able to help. In line with local and state guidelines, having OTAs perform aspects of evaluations or progress notes that are appropriate for their skill and licensure can take a heavy burden off of OTs.

Don’t Forget Your Own Self-Care

Most importantly, the time spent outside of work needs to be meaningful and enjoyable. The value of maintaining an active physical routine and keeping up with hobbies cannot be overstated. By keeping our bodies and minds happy outside of work, while doing things we truly enjoy, we can come back feeling refreshed and excited to work again. Making full use of vacation time and weekends, and even just taking the occasional “me day” can help keep things in proper balance.

_________________

Of course, none of us can do it alone. Having the support of those involved in both our work and life can help tremendously in striking the balance. Peer support and clear communication with management can help us to set boundaries and stick to them.

Making it known to our friends and family what we need outside of work makes it possible for us to enjoy our free time. Supporting those around us in finding their personal work/life balance will also make for a better culture where balance is found and everyone gets the most joy from work.

What do you do to maintain a healthy work life balance as an OT practitioner? Let us know any additional suggestions you would add in the comments below!