The Workday You Have Today May Be Shaped by Beliefs You Have Never Questioned.

What if the reason you keep working late is not just your workload, but what you believe a good physician is supposed to do? 

You finish seeing your last patient and your workday is far from over. THere are still charts to complete, inbox messages to answer, results to review, and phone calls to return. You tell yourself this is simply part of being a physician. You have patients who depend on you, responsibilities you cannot ignore, and high standards you want to maintain. Have you ever stopped to consider whether some of the beliefs guiding your daily decisions are actually making your workday longer? Sometimes, what keeps us working late is not just what we have to do. It is what we believe we must do.

There are certain beliefs we carry about being a good physician. Physicians develop beliefs about what excellent patient care and professional responsibility should look like. Here are some examples: A good physician gives every patient as much time as they need. I must answer every message as soon as it comes in. I cannot leave a patient encounter until every concern has been addressed. My documentation needs to be perfect before I can move on. I should be able to handle everything myself. If I don’t personally take care of something, it may not get done properly. 

These beliefs often come from a place of compassion, dedication, and a genuine desire to provide excellent care. However, something worth questioning is whether these beliefs are always serving you, your patients, and your well-being. Being a good physician and working late every day are not synonymous.

Unexamined beliefs may quietly add hours to your workday. Let us examine this belief: every patient needs as much time as possible. With this belief, you continue conversations even when the patient’s immediate concerns have been addressed. You hesitate to transition to the next patient because you worry about making someone feel rushed. The schedule gradually falls behind, leaving less time for everything else. 

How about this belief: everything needs to be perfect. Having this belief leads you to repeatedly review and refine documentation. You spend extra time adjusting wording or including details that may not be clinically necessary. As a result, charts remain open longer than they need to. 

Let us look into the third belief: I need to take care of everything myself. With this belief, you hold on to tasks that could be delegated or shared. YOu do not ask for help because you believe it is easier or faster to do things yourself. Your inbox, phone calls, and administrative responsibilities continue to accumulate. 

One more belief to explore: I must respond immediately. As a result of this belief, you interrupt important work to check messages and notifications. You repeatedly switch between tasks. Your attention becomes fragmented, making it harder to finish anything efficiently. 

Each decision seems small and reasonable in isolation. Together, these decisions can turn a manageable workday into hours of unfinished work after your last patient. 

You do not have to abandon your values to change your workday. Even though you know that by changing the way you work you will get a different result, you are harboring fear, the fear to change. You may worry that spending less time on certain tasks means providing less compassionate care. You may think that moving through your work efficiently means rushing patients. You may feel uncomfortable delegating because you want to ensure everything is done correctly. 

What if there is another way? You can listen attentively to patients without allowing every encounter to extend indefinitely. You can provide thorough documentation without striving for perfection in every note. You can be responsible without personally carrying every task. You can be responsive without interrupting yourself every few minutes. 

You do not need to become a different physician. You do not need to compromise your values or sacrifice the quality of care. You may simply need to question whether the way you currently honor those values is the only way. You do not have to become a less compassionate physician to become a more efficient one. 

Before changing your systems, start by questioning your beliefs. I encourage you to pause and consider the beliefs influencing your everyday decisions. 

Ask yourself:

       What do I believe I must do to be an excellent physician?

       Which of these beliefs are truly necessary, and which have I simply accepted without questioning? 

      How might these beliefs be influencing the way I spend my time?

      What would it look like to honor my values while approaching my work differently?

I encourage you to approach these questions with curiosity and without judgment. You do not need to change everything overnight. Recognizing one belief and experimenting with a different approach can be the beginning of meaningful change. Preparing to leave work on time begins before changing your schedule, templates, or workflow. It begins with understanding what is driving your decisions.

What if your workday could look different?

Imagine finishing your last patient and having a manageable amount of work remaining. Imagine completing your charts, inbox, and other responsibilities without spending your evenings and weekends catching up. Imagine leaving work on time while still providing the compassionate, excellent care that matters so much to you. This does not necessarily require seeing fewer patients, working part-time, or changing jobs. It begins with questioning what you have always believed about how you work.

If you are a physician who feels overwhelmed by unfinished charts, an overflowing inbox, and hours of work after your last patient, you do not have to figure out a different way of working on your own. Through my 1:1 Physician Coaching Program, I help physicians identify what is keeping them working late, develop practical strategies that work for their individual circumstances, and reclaim their time so they can leave work on time, enjoy life, and rediscover the joy of practicing medicine. You deserve a workday that allows you to care for your patients and take care of yourself, too.