The magic number reported most often is 20 %. I can practically hear the internal dissident saying that this is great but unhelpful as we do not have the flexibility to devote a fifth of the work week to things we enjoy doing . The reality is the opposite : research has demonstrated that high-level workers spend more than 40 % of their time on administrative tasks that could be handled just as well by someone else . This reframes the issue . The first aspect of improving our professional lives becomes the identification of tasks that we do but do not enjoy that could also be handled by a person already employed . For physicians , this may mean finally relinquishing pathology result phone calls to a staff member or hiring a scribe , but this part resides firmly within the purview of the individual . The end result should be the same . We must delegate wherever possible , and we must replace the newly freed time with tasks that we enjoy . The positive takeaway is that improving our work lives only requires getting the proportion of time we spend doing things we are passionate about to one day per week , totaled . This doesn ’ t mean hang-gliding on the job either . Many corporations , most famously Google , ask that employees use this time intentionally to learn new skills . It just has to be a new skill the person actually wants to learn , on average , for a total of 20 % of their time .
I learned another valuable lesson from an experiment involving Legos . Researchers paid participants to build Lego figurines for a slowly decreasing sum ($ 3.00 , then $ 2.70 , then $ 2.40 , and so on ). In one arm of the study , the builders were paid to build figurines which they were told would be re-packaged for another experiment . In the second arm , researchers broke down the Legos in front of the individual doing the building . Something about seeing their work torn apart in front of them significantly affected performance . Those who watched their work being torn apart in front of them were roughly 50 % less productive . This experiment , connecting the belief that lack of productivity develops in people who believe their work is not meaningful , has been repeated many times over .
Narrative responses from physicians in particular have suggested that we are not immune to the sentiment . Doctors repeatedly identify making a difference in a patient ’ s life and connecting with patients as the most satisfying portions of our work . But there ’ s more . Researchers , using not Legos but origami , demonstrated that the more time a participant spent making an origami figurine , the more valuable it became . 2 The harder this task was , the more emotional attachment a person assigned to it . The above-mentioned physician responses fell exactly in line with those findings . When we ask physicians about what centers them , we often hear , “ A tragedy where we overcame the limitations of medicine , and sometimes life itself , to make a deeper connection with the individual we were treating .” 3 Indeed , growing evidence suggests that the physician-patient relationship may be the most important determinant of physician satisfaction ( not even considering how much benefit the patient receives - note , this was published in 1979 ). 4
So , we must do what we love , and we must connect with patients : rocket science simplified . It can be hard to define happiness , but however you do define it , research has demonstrated a correlation between increased happiness and reduced divorce rates , higher income and higher productivity . 5 We should not convince ourselves , either , that physicians are somehow immune . Small experiments have shown that medical students and practicing physicians alike improve their diagnostic accuracy when they are given objects that improve happiness just prior to performing tasks . 6 So if being happy on its own merits isn ’ t enough , consider that patients suffer when we do not ensure our own happiness in addition to theirs . So we must all take it to heart when we admit , as a profession , that our happiness may be the determining factor in helping patients get better .
We are fortunate in medicine to have some important factors for happiness be inherent to our jobs . Survey data has suggested that finding meaning in work may be one of the most important determinants for satisfaction at work . Research has also suggested that being challenged is important as well . We know , to come full circle and draw on experiential evidence , that the opportunity to do something that requires a great deal of effort often leaves us the happiest . I ’ m not proposing longer hours , rather utilizing the wisdom of my father when he told me to pick my battles . It is advice that I am still trying to take . We , as a profession , have many challenges ahead . Thankfully we all have different ideas of fun , and there are lots of ways we can make ourselves happier .
References :
1
In his book , Stumbling on Happiness , Daniel Gilbert , among many of the research studies I mention in the first two paragraphs , discusses selecting the appropriate dish on a menu . Contrary to what I would have believed , as long as you do not frequent a restaurant too often , you will actually be happier if you select the menu item you know you love rather than a new one each time .
2
Some of this data comes from Dan Ariely , some of it he cites in published works online that has not been accepted in manuscript form , to the best of my knowledge .
3
Horowitz CR , Suchman AL , Branch WT , Jr ., et al . What do doctors find meaningful about their work ? Ann Intern Med 2003 ; 138:772-5
4
Mawardi BH . Satisfactions , dissatisfactions , and causes of stress in medical practice . JAMA 1979 ; 241:1483-6 .
5
Lyubomirsky S , King L , Diener E . The benefits of frequent positive affect : does happiness lead to success ? Psychol Bull 2005 ; 131:803-55 .
6
Isen AM , Rosenzweig AS , Young MJ . The influence of positive affect on clinical problem solving . Med Decis Making 1991 ; 11:221-7 .
Dr . Rogers is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology , Hepatology , and Nutrition at the University of Louisville .
January 2024 15