Holiday? What holiday? Why summer is anything but a break for doctors

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By Dr Rachel Morris

Routines fall apart as workloads intensify, making it hard to come by any real rest. But there are things you can do to protect your valuable time.

Every June I have a growing sense of unease as the summer approaches. The kids are off school or back from university and are going to be around until September. My carefully crafted weekly routines will be ruined, and I'm not sure how I'm going to be available for the family and keep up with work at the same time.

I would invariably end up in September strung out, on edge and feeling a sense of disappointment

In the past, I’d try to manage this by setting a fictional “end date” in my head – the date by which everything would be sorted, and I would finally be allowed to rest. This was usually the night before our summer holiday and my logic went like this: Once I've got everything done, I can relax. I’ll return from holiday feeling rested, recharged, and raring to go.