Dentists wear many hats all day long. In their dental practices, they serve as Doctor, CEO, Team Manager, Team Educator, Marketing Director and more.
In a typical corporate business, one person would fill each of these roles. In the dental industry, however, most of these roles are carried out by the dentist…alone.
Trying to juggle each of these hats often requires working 60+ hours a week and comes with a great deal of stress and exhaustion. The long hours and immense responsibility often lead to lack of sleep, poor diet, lack of exercise, stress, overwhelm and if you’re not careful….burnout.
The economic pressures that dentists face also serve as a big contributor to burnout. So often, dentists begin their careers with enormous student loans hanging over their heads. When you add in the costs of building a dental practice it’s no wonder why finances feel like a daunting dark cloud hanging over your head!
Often, in an honest attempt to dig themselves out of a financial hole, dentists will work through lunch breaks and push off vacations so they can work more. We’ve personally observed many dentists buy into the mindset that for the first two years of building a dental practice they can take no vacation time….ever.
While these ‘no vacation/breaks’ mindsets might feel like the “right thing” for the growth of your practice, ultimately it puts you and your practice at risk. Not taking time to rest, reconnect and refuel wreaks havoc on your emotional, mental and physical health and can affect the productivity and profitability of your practice.
Taking time away not only serves your health but it also creates the space for you to reconnect with your ‘why’ for practicing dentistry and building a practice in the first place! When you remove yourself from the day-to-day hustle of your practice, you are able to reconnect to your purpose, your passion for practicing and discover solutions, strategies, and connections that you would never find from an exhausted place.
Stress and overwhelm are no small things in the dental industry and burn out rates are increasing every year among dentists. When you don’t make your health a priority it can take a big toll on your health over time.
💡 Did you know that studies show that the #1 killer of dentists is in stress-related cardiovascular disease?
Stress is one of those things that will communicate to you quietly at first and then get louder and louder over time. If you ignore it or stuff it down, stress will start screaming at you through burn out, depression, chronic illness, disease, etc.
We reduce stress through exercise, delegating where we can, taking breaks throughout the day, nourishing our bodies with sleep and good food and by enjoying our personal lives through time off, adventure and vacations.
So the next time you’re about to tell your front desk to schedule you through lunch or want to say ‘no’ to the vacation your partner has been wanting to take…think twice!
Your health, your family, your practice and your patients will benefit. We promise!
Share with us a photo of you on vacation or enjoying your lunch break over on our Facebook page!
