FOUR Steps We Are Taking for Work-Life Balance

Since starting Debt Wise Dentist and committing to refinancing our student loans, our lives have become increasingly dominated by work. We both work on Saturdays and pick up extra days when possible, often working 6 days a week when we have the opportunity. It’s amazing because we are making the most money of our lives, yet spending less than ever before. As W.C.I. advises, we “live like a resident”. We figure we should work as hard as possible right now while we are still young and kid-free.  However, we also realize that our happiness depends on finding a good work-life balance. So, we’ve tried to employ the following strategies to achieve more balance in our lives.

MAKE EXERCISE A PRIORITY

It’s embarrassing to admit how long we went without exercising. When we were single we both worked out multiple times per week. And before getting married we had our wedding diet! And then marriage happened. Or more accurately, life happened: working, paying off debt, venturing into blogging. And before we knew it, 6 months went by without exercising. We both grew up playing sports and exercising in college, however it’s been difficult to incorporate exercise into this stage of our lives. I think the difficulty stems from being too tired/lazy to make the effort after working all day. When my husband actually commented that his personality felt different (i.e. more tense and pessimistic), we knew it was time for a change.

We made a conscious effort to get outside the house. We started walking around our neighborhood in the evenings/weekends, and it’s been an amazing way to unwind and process the week. We also bought a gym membership. We debated whether this was worth spending money on, and there are some great arguments that support our decision here.

TURN OFF DEVICES

Additionally, we love taking walks because we leave our devices at home. We have conversation together without any distractions where before we found ourselves frequently coming home and spending the first thirty minutes checking social media, watching videos, etc. Walking has been a much more productive way to relax rather than mindlessly browsing our phones.

We also watch way too much TV. We have been known to binge watch entire Netflix series over the weekends (Stranger Things, The OA, Peaky Blinders, Money Heist). I doubt we will stop that completely, but we are definitely cutting down on the amount of time spent watching television. We are limiting ourselves to one hour per day with the goal of eventually cutting the cord completely. One of my favorite moments this year was actually spending an evening playing Scrabble. It was a nice reminder that we don’t need devices for entertainment.

We had to take a photo because it was a tie game!

ACTIVELY MANAGE TIME

It never feels like there is enough time in the day.  Our typical routine was getting home around 6:00PM and going to bed at 11:00PM if not later. At least two or three of those hours before bed were spent watching TV. What a waste of time! Now we make ourselves leave the living room at 9:00PM. That suddenly makes the hours between 6-9 much too valuable to sit around on the couch. Instead, we are actually making time for other interests, such as house projects and gardening. The best part of all: by practicing time management, we are getting a lot more sleep.

There are still days where all we want to do after work is sit on the couch BUT we are slowly changing our ways. It actually feels energizing to use our time for exercise, cooking dinner, reading, and writing instead of sitting on the couch. Our old routine just exacerbated how tired we felt after work. I think maintaining a level of activity and completing tasks actually prevents burnout at the end of the day. Who knew?

CHANGE MINDSETS

In order for work to feel less exhausting, we have to change the way we think about work. It can’t be something we wake up and dread or stress about from the get-go. It also can’t be something we dwell on when we get home at night. It’s important to focus on what makes us LIKE our jobs. We can communicate (and vent) about the day but ultimately have to move on during the rest of the evening. Complaining about being exhausted IS exhausting! My husband has always encouraged me to not get too caught up in my day. However, the dentist perfectionist in me has trouble some days and like many things in life, it’s a work in progress.

At the end of the day, it’s important to find ways to relax and decompress. It took us a while to realize that sitting on the couch isn’t the best way to accomplish this. So we’ve decided to prioritize our time and unplug and see how that brings us more balance every day.