October 2017 – The dreaded work-life balance

“So, have you made any friends on the island?” my practice manager asked kindly from behind his desk. It’s the end of my three month probation period and I’ve just had my review. While the review in general was thankfully positive (Hooray!), under the section on my feedback form entitled ‘How can you improve in the next 6 months?’ I had written, tongue in cheek: ‘Get a life’.  Of course, throughout vet school and indeed, the veterinary literature, the work-life balance is widely discussed as part of the wider discussion of the mental health of veterinary professionals.  I know it’s important but I’m not sure worrying about my poor work-life balance is helping my stress levels!

In first year it took me until February to make a firm circle of friends in spite the hectic social schedule of Glasgow Vet School, so I was not overly concerned about my lack of new social life. But since this meeting I have reflected on my rather blasé attitude to friend-making, if it takes me 4 months to make friends in the busy environment of university, how long will it take me to settle in somewhere without forced social interaction? Eek! In all fairness, I feel it’s taken my three months just to find my feet, move into my new flat and generally get my life in order. However now I have more time to think about my social life, or lack thereof, I realise action needs to be taken.

So it was with mild trepidation and a lot of excitement that I found myself with two fellow new grads at Bouley Bay Dive Centre on the north coast of Jersey. The day was a balmy 17°C and the sea a perfect 15°C. After spending considerable time and effort pulling on a wetsuit (for the first time in my life) I was feeling rather warm and after strapping on all the gear I was definitely ready to get in the sea. Well, the diving was wonderful, the visibility wasn’t great but it was just amazing to be breathing underwater – even if my buoyancy control needed improvement (it seems I am naturally very buoyant). We all convened on the local pub for a spot of lunch and enthused about future dives. Next to get back in the saddle, Paddy is a lovely big Shire-X owned by the practice manager who was very well behaved as we hacked around the quiet lanes of St Ouens. It was a lovely ride but left me wanting my own horse to have fun on, unfortunately slightly out of reach for me at the moment! Between getting out a bit more and making a bigger effort attending birthdays and meeting work mates on the weekends, I have definitely made improvements upon the quality of my leisure time.

A vet that I work with told me not long into my 2nd month at the practice that he tries not to work more than 3 months without a break. And so it happened I had my 3 month probation interview and then had a week off, I was feeling pretty drained by this point but loved coming back to work (even if it was straight into a week of nights) and enjoy the job as much as I ever did; so this is advice I will be putting into practice! Speaking to my friends who haven’t managed to take any of their holiday allowance this year due staffing issues or other reasons, I realise how important it is to take the holiday you are entitled to. Obviously we want to be team players but surely it’s better for business if we take time off and come back to the job refreshed and raring to go than work for 6 months straight hating every moment? Taking time off is just as important as finding a life outside of work, even if our clients expect us vets to be at the job 365 days a year!

Bouley Bay Dive Centre on the north coast of Jersey