Time Boundaries: The Non-Negotiable for Healthcare Work-Life Balance

This post is not about skincare tips or beauty products; it's about safeguarding your boundaries and ensuring your well-being shines brightly.

Let’s face it,

Every day, numerous people (including yourself) may try to sabotage your self-worth. If you have a supportive family, friends and work environment, they can help reinforce your self-worth instead of undermining it.

Today, I will introduce one of the eight healthy psychological boundaries, all essential for maintaining our physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being:

time boundaries.

Our communication skills—how we interact with others and ourselves—serve as our shield against breaching these boundaries.

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7:30 AM. A colleague disrupts the personal time I set aside before my shift.

Though my workday starts at 8:00 AM, I arrive at 7:30 AM to get a cup of coffee, tidy my desk, tend to the plants, and plan for the day ahead. Yet, without fail, someone approaches me with work-related queries during this tranquil time.

Perpetrator: An impatient colleague disregarding my time.

Type of boundary: Time boundary

Protection: As soon as I sense that pre-8am disruption coming, my "psychological immune system" kicks into high gear. It's like a tiny team of firefighters rapidly suiting up - hauling out the hose of assertive communication to extinguish that boundary blaze before it can spread.

How people with different communication styles would protect their time boundary?

Passive Style People

These people find difficult to defend their boundaries due to fear of conflict or confrontation, a strong desire to please others and gain approval, low self-esteem and lack of self-worth, a tendency to put others' needs before their own, and feeling guilty for asserting boundaries.

“I must attend that person, even though it requires giving up personal time" ❌

Aggressive Style People

These people aggressively defend their rights while disregarding others because of their anger over feeling wronged, their mindset that their rights come first, their lack of empathy for others, their inability to control their emotions, and their defensive stance against anyone they see as a threat.

"Don't you see it's not even 8 o'clock, and you are already here? Come back at 8!."

 ❌

Assertive Style People

These people know how to protect their boundaries through clear, confident and respectful communication due to their self-confidence and self-respect, their ability to calmly regulate emotions, their empathy and consideration for others, their belief that their own needs are valid, and their view of boundaries as necessary for self-care.

"Good morning! I’m here a bit early to get myself settled. I’ll be ready to address any questions or concerns starting at 8:00 AM. Please come back a bit later. Thank you!.”  ✅

What are time boundaries?

Time boundaries are about setting limits on how your time is used and ensuring those limits are respected, both by yourself and others.

In healthcare, they're essential for preventing burnout and ensuring you have ample time for personal needs, professional duties, and family.

Common scenarios where time boundaries are often breached in healthcare. Are they familiar to you?

Apart form the one described in the previous example, while I am sure it sounds familiar to most of you, there are other situations that will require from our assertive communication skills to be addressed:

Extended work hours: Clocking out should mean heading home, but it often feels like there’s no end in sight. Extra patients or paperwork can lead to exhaustion and less time for personal rest and family.

Working through breaks: Lunch breaks become elusive as non-urgent interruptions pile up, robbing you of precious recharge time and increasing stress.

Last-minute requests: Just when you’re about to call it a day, urgent tasks crop up, forcing you to stay late and disrupting your work-life balance.

Non-Emergency calls and messages during time off: Even on your days off, work finds a way in. Non-urgent calls and messages encroach on personal time, preventing a complete break and causing mental fatigue.

Unplanned Staff Shortages: Peaceful mornings can vanish in an instant with frantic calls to cover unexpected shortages, disrupting personal plans and causing stress.

Giving up your time occasionally is truly not going to significantly affect your life, and sometimes it is absolutely necessary as part of healthcare roles, but you must also enforce reasonable boundaries to avoid burnout and maintain your own well-being.

Takeaways from this post

Remember that self-care isn't selfish - it's about protecting and caring for yourself today...so that you can protect and care for others tomorrow.

Stress, burnout, and anxiety are influenced by various factors, but effective communication skills (assertive style) can help you set boundaries and protect yourself.

Stay tuned for more insights on protecting your boundaries and avoiding self-neglect!

Have an assertive day!

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