The Importance of Stress-Relieving Hobbies for Medical Professionals

Medical professionals are often high earners. But the financial resources available to you aren’t always enough to buy the downtime you need to recharge and continue performing at the high level your patients and coworkers need. The health care industry continues to go through major systemic changes that have driven up the emotional, physical, and mental demands on doctors, surgeons, specialists, nurses, and support staff. Days off may be far between, and vacations even further away.

If a patient came to see you whose job was driving up their blood pressure, darkening their mood, and putting them on a crash course with burnout, you’d prescribe some stress relief. 

Here’s why medical pros should start taking some of their own medicine and investing more time in their hobbies.

More of the good, less of the bad

First, some things you already know:

• Stress drives up levels of cortisol and adrenaline, which, over time, harm the heart and the rest of the cardiovascular system.
• Stress increases the risk of hypertension, chronic inflammation, high blood pressure, and heart attack.
• Stress tends to induce more unhealthy behavior, like not sleeping, eating poorly, and drinking too much alcohol.
• And stress can have a negative impact on your most important personal and professional relationships.

So, when it’s time to decompress, why are hobbies a better option than crashing on the couch?

Because hobbies keep our gears turning in healthier and more productive ways.

When we practice an instrument, read, write, or craft, our bodies generate eustress, a positive stress that’s energizing and engaging. It’s that good stress that comes from facing a challenge and using our skills to solve a problem or improve our efficiency. Some activities, such as intense exercise or creative work, can also induce flow states that increase our ability to focus and improve performance.

By reducing the bad stress that we’re experiencing, eustress can also help us find balance and perspective, engaging the parts of our brain that are stimulated by creativity, inspiration, daily achievement, gratitude, and positivity.

Diversifying Your “Portfolio”

In finance, we teach the importance of diversification. You would never put 100% of your net worth into a single stock because if that stock crashes, you lose everything.

The same principle can apply to how we think about ourselves.

Medical professionals have invested so much just to earn the ability to work in health care. All those extra years of school, all that extra student debt, and all those long hours as an overworked, underpaid resident finally paid off when you earned your title. You might even sign checks and your kids’ field trip permission slips with “M.D.” at the end of your name.

And when that work is going well, few careers are as fulfilling, not just in how you’re able to help people, but in the camaraderie you establish with your coworkers and the satisfaction that comes from performing well when the stakes are highest.

But when bad patient outcomes, malpractice lawsuits, conflicts with administration, and long shifts start to pile up, medical professionals who are overinvested in their jobs don’t have anywhere to turn for relief. They’re so tied up in work they lose sight of everything else they are.

As important as your job is, you can’t be a doctor or nurse all the time. You need to allow yourself to be an amateur athlete, rock star, painter, or chef so that you can decompress and experience more from life than just work.

Making strong investments in all areas of your life is also a good habit to build as you start thinking about retirement. Schedule a meeting and let’s discuss how Life-Centered Planning can support everything that you are and everything that you’re hoping to accomplish!

Investment advisory services are offered through Kingsview Wealth Management, LLC (“KWM”), an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Insurance products and services are offered and sold through Kingsview Insurance Services, LLC (“KIS”), by individually licensed and appointed insurance agents. KWM and KIS are subsidiaries of Kingsview Partners.