Edmond Makes A Big Mistake
“Do you realize, Edmond, that your oversight could have caused us to lose the case and probably the client? Thankfully, my paralegal caught your error just in time. If something like this happens again, you and I will be having a different kind of conversation. Close my door as you leave.”
Edmond softly shut the door and hung his head, as he shuffled slowly back to his office. He couldn’t blame anyone else. It was his fault.
No one knows he is having crises in his personal life. His wife is still fighting cancer after she had been diagnosed last year.
His father is in the advanced stage of Alzheimer’s, and his mother can no longer keep him in control. Edmond made a tough decision to put his dad in a facility. His mother can’t cope and is not taking this decision well, at all.
None of these personal difficulties matter because he must bill his required 2100 hours. Edmond took time off last year when his wife was first diagnosed with cancer. He feels like he is about to explode from the stress.
Stress in a Law Firm
The legal profession is one of the most stressful occupations. Everyone is stressed. Stress is thrown around, as if everyone is tossing a volleyball from one to the other.
Lawyers, of course, face the same problems as everyone else: personal challenges at home, marriages difficulties, illnesses, raising babies and young children, rebellious teens or aging parents.
Stresses, anxiety, tension, trauma, feeling hassled, worried and nervous are like a best friend who you love to hate. While an individual works, trying to concentrate on the task at hand, these emotions sit curled in the corner, trying to distract you.
Stress is a way of life for attorneys. Each day, the lawyer faces the question: is it going to be a high-stress day, a low-stress day, or an impossible day? The intensity varies. The biggest question is: how can stress be managed?
3 Ways You Don’t Want to Handle Stress
- Stop testing yourself to see how long you can endure headaches, stomach cramps, indigestion, chest pains, depression or anxiety before you crack.
- Avoid pushing yourself to the limit. Enduring constant anxiety and fear can result in long-term or short-term psychosis, and a lawyer can become trapped in long-term depression.
- Do not white knuckle it through your day and upon arriving at home, drink as much alcohol as possible or take prescription or nonprescription drugs to relax.
3 Ways to Manage Your Stress
There are 3 Habits attorneys can develop to fight stress. They are very straightforward and easy.
- Every 90 minutes take a 5-minute break. Step away from your desk and walk around while taking three deep inhales and three long exhales to relieve stress in your body. It’s a good idea to take a couple of stretches. Set a reminder if needed.
- Make sure you keep your body relaxed. Stop holding your breath or hunching your shoulders: When you catch yourself holding your breath or letting your shoulders creep up towards your ears you are working in a stressful or anxious mindset.
- Drink Water: Water can ease you out of the stressful fight and flight mode. Remember your fight and flight response is an ingrained, knee-jerk response that comes upon you. A health coach, Carol Egan, told me about an app called Waterlogged. I happily quadrupled my water intake after using this app.
Extra Credit Stress Buster
I also highly recommend meditation. I have been meditating for over ten years and can’t imagine life without meditating. There are many resources to help you to develop this practice. It improves concentration, enhances health and peace of mind.
Overcoming Stress is Not Easy
These are natural activities, but you must MAKE yourself stop and do them. Stopping yourself and managing your stress is not easy.
If you spend two weeks making these habits a part of your daily routine, you will focus better, make fewer mistakes and be more productive.
The Pod/Team Work Model for Associates
When working with law firms, I always recommend that they adopt the Pod/Teamwork Model. Instead of the silo approach, where attorneys like Edmond, who we met earlier, who end up struggling silently and alone. The Pod has associates working as a team that supports each other, while making sure that all of the work is completed before deadlines and that all billable hours requirements are met.
The Pod/Teamwork Model is a win/win for law firms, partners, and associates. It is cost effective, and it increases the firm’s profits.
Overcoming Stress is Not Easy, But You Can Overcome!
Attorneys would benefit by making a goal to focus and incorporate these three stress-relieving habits for two consecutive weeks.
Once you develop these three new habits, you will reclaim your health, your mind, and your body. These new practices will result in a much more efficient and enjoyable way to practice law and will make you more available to enjoy your life and enjoy your loved ones.
If your law firm is trapped in habits that cause your associates to leave much too soon, send me an email at pamela@pameladeneuve.com and we can set up a time to chat.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.