How to Protect Your Energy (and Sanity) as a Canadian Clinician

Let’s be real: “work-life balance” in healthcare often sounds like it was coined by someone who’s never chased a fax at 6 p.m. or charted through dinner. Between patient loads, inbox avalanches, and the emotional math of caring for everyone, you usually end up last on your own list.

Burnout isn’t a character flaw — it’s an occupational hazard. The CMA’s 2025 National Physician Health Survey found that almost half of Canadian physicians report high levels of burnout. Translation: it’s not just you.

But before you book a one-way ticket to Tofino and call it “self-care,” know this: there are small, practical ways to protect your energy and stay human in a system that often forgets you are one.

1. Treat self-care like it’s billable

You wouldn’t no-show a patient, so don’t ghost yourself. Schedule your recharge time — even if it’s just a solo coffee, a 10-minute walk, or sitting in silence pretending your phone died.

Tiny breaks make a massive difference. Research says rest sharpens judgment, empathy, and even chart accuracy. (So yes, napping is technically good medicine.)

2. Redefine “balance” — it’s not 50/50

Balance isn’t a perfect scale; it’s more like juggling flaming syringes. Some weeks, work wins. Some weeks, life does. The trick is noticing when you’re tipping too far for too long and hitting reset before you’re running on fumes.

That might mean no inbox checks after 7 p.m., saying “no” to one more committee, or outsourcing that admin task you hate. Balance looks different on everyone — yours should fit your actual life, not your CME slide deck.

3. Audit your tech fatigue

If your EMR makes you sigh audibly every five minutes, that’s not “user error.” That’s tech getting in your way.

Try a digital detox that actually sticks: mute non-urgent notifications, batch your messages, and question every workflow that starts with “we’ve always done it this way.”

And if your EMR is part of the problem… well, we’re building something that isn’t. Just saying.

4. Build micro-connections (because you’re not a robot)

Medicine can be isolating, especially when you’re charting alone in a dark office at 9 p.m. But connection doesn’t have to mean group therapy — it can be a text, a meme, or a hallway laugh that lasts 20 seconds.

Tiny human moments are how you remind your nervous system you’re still, well, human.

5. Outsource shamelessly

We’ll say it louder for the people in the back: you don’t have to do it all yourself. Virtual scribes, admin help, grocery delivery — none of it makes you weak. It makes you sustainable.

If you can afford to hand off something that drains you, do it. Consider it preventive medicine for burnout.

6. Ask for help before you’re on empty

You’d never tell a patient to “just push through,” so stop telling yourself that. Whether it’s therapy, peer support, or the Physician Health Program, early help beats heroic burnout.

There’s no medal for suffering silently. (And even if there were, you don’t need another certificate to hang on your wall.)

The takeaway

Self-care isn’t a luxury; it’s an act of rebellion. In a system that runs on overwork, protecting your energy is how you fight back — calmly, compassionately, and without apology.

You can’t pour from an empty cup. But you can set it down for a minute, refill it, and come back stronger.

And we’ll keep building technology that gives you the time — and headspace — to do exactly that.