Additional menu

Pamela DeNeuve

Lawyer & Law Firm Peak Performance Strategist

Courageous Lawyers and solicitors Insist on Finding Light At End of their Tunnel in their lives and law practice. 

posted on

Share
Tweet
Pin
0 Shares

Is there light at the end of the tunnel for a lawyer or solicitor?

Many attorneys and managers are too used to working in an agitated, frantic, nervous or disturbed state. Statistics tell us one out of every lawyer in the U.S. struggles.

How many busy people do you know that walks fast, talks too fast, rushes through their meals barely chewing, never giving themselves enough time to even sleep? Many get by on coffee, alcohol, and adrenalin.

I have heard it said, “Pamela, this is just the way it is. The pressure is always on. There is no light at the end of the tunnel.”

I remember listening to a senior lawyer named Lester. He couldn’t stop chuckling, “I laugh when I see the television shows depicting lawyers. My life and law practice is more like a trampoline. Up one minute and down the next. Up one week down the next. Sometimes the stress is unbearable to me. But I keep on. I have no choice.”

“No doubt about it,” I replied, “Practicing law is a stressful profession. I like the visual of being on a trampoline. Lester, I think stress has taken its toll on you.”

Stress is Addictive

Stress is addictive. Because of the chemical release when operating on stress, the chemicals the body releases keep your internal body in a fight, fright or flight mode.

To cope with stress an individual either self-medicates to shut down, become indifferent, apathetic or angry.

How do you respond to prolonged stress? 

Here is a list of some stress-related habits.

Do you:

  • Drink too much alcohol most nights?
  • Wake up suffering from a hangover?
  • Sleepwalk, through your morning as you brush your teeth, get dressed feeling comatose?
  • Depend on strong jolts of caffeine to drag yourself through the day?
  • Eat bad foods, combined with alcohol it feels like your stomach is doing somersaults?
  • Suffer from a migraine headache that feels like a jackhammer pounding at your temples?
  • Do you push around paper waiting for lunch to get some?
  • Feel sluggish after lunch because you ate too much?
  • Does your energy you crash around 3:00 pm after a too heavy lunch?

Long-term stress raises the level of adrenaline and corticosterone in the body, which in turn increases the heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and puts more physical stress on bodily organs.

Long-term stress can be a contributing factor in heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and other illnesses. These physical factors combined with overeating and drinking too much can be like a volcano about to erupt.

Meet Patricia

Patricia faced the crunch of billable hours and other duties that crowded out her day and week. “Week after week my work piles up. I have the added pressure of being expected to catch up week after week and month after month. If I didn’t eat too much or drink a little too much at night, I don’t think I could survive the stress.”

Patricia felt that there was no light at the end of her tunnel.

Make Light at the End of Your Tunnel

More and more attorneys realize that their hectic work, bad eating and drinking habits are taking their toll and cannot be sustained.

They are seeking the help of a counselor, therapist or coach to help them take the bull by the horns and get the balance they need to sustain their practice.

Although it is difficult, they take a vacation, a weekend off. Perhaps they cannot get away for an entire weekend due to family and work commitments.

However, everyone can make time for a staycation. A staycation is spending time at home or enjoying local attractions. I call it getting away from your head and work to enjoy your life. 

For parents, it can include time with or without the children. Many parents feel like they have worked a second job all weekend entertaining their children. Sometimes you just need a break. Take it! Everyone in your family will benefit. Here are a few suggestions you can do to make light at the end of your tunnel

  1. Take a weekend off and go to a movie.

  2. Spend a day at the museum.

  3. Walk in a beautiful park.

  4. Animal lovers can go to sanctuaries for animals.

  5. Go into the country to get away from the hustle bustle.

  6. If you live in the country take a day in the city.

  7. Go to a play, a musical or a dance

  8. Spend a day working in a coffee shop.

  9. Go for a hike, a run or a walk.

  10. Spend an afternoon in bed surrounded by good books.

  11. Go to an amusement park.

  12. Have a play date with your children with kites, electrical cars or boats

  13. Spend an afternoon with a friend you enjoy

  14. Take a weekend and visit family or go to bed and breakfast.

  15. Snuggle or cuddle with your children, your spouse, partner or pet

Make Light at the End of Your Tunnel

It is your job to make light at the end of your tunnel. These simple

staycations can increase your productivity up to 50%.

 

A weekend off, a walk in the middle of the day, a staycation, can make all of the difference. It is your responsibility to take care of yourself. If you are tired and exhausted all of the time, you need to make getting enough sleep each night.Also, it is a good idea to get into the office earlier than most before the phone starts ringing and get your billable hours completed first thing each day then allow time for administrative tasks, email, phone calls later in the day.

Remember that taking a break, reinvigorating yourself can increase your productivity up to 50%.

Lawyers: Get in the Drivers Seat: Take charge of each morning. These actions will not only increase your profit financially but will help to lift you up to enjoy happiness, can profoundly enhance your marriage, your relationships with your children and in your community.

#Solicitor #lawyer #attorney #Barrister #Lawfirms #Biglaw #Stress #Depression #Engagement #Attrition #Goals #2017 #legalsupport #coach #consultant #adviser
Pamela DeNeuve

Pamela DeNeuve

Helping Lawyers & Law Firms to Improve Profitability & Productivity

pamela@pameladeneuve.com

904-607-1211

email me to get on the waiting list of my upcoming book: 

“12-Days To Boost The Love Life of A Lawyer.”

(put “book” in subject of email)

Share
Tweet
Pin
0 Shares

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Quotes from our Lawyer of the Week

  • I am here to protect the human rights and I will do the best in my capacity to do so.
    Diana Constantinidou
  • I love this work. I really do. To me, especially now more than ever, we need a strong news media. It’s not just a business. It’s part of our democracy.
    Edward Birk
  • You don’t have to be large and on the world stage to seize these opportunities and to apprehend these threats. It really is a function of the vision and the insight of the leaders. When they get it, then there’s an opportunity for them to persuade and help their partners get the message and act to remake themselves.
    George Beaton
  • I did not intend to create this legacy, but I see the ripple effects of it, and it’s so meaningful to me. I think that through the podcast, I’m also hoping to create a legacy of service to the profession.
    Okeoma Moronu
  • That’s one of the things that I find very satisfying; building bridges between people from different countries, working closely with them and seeking those deeply satisfying relationships that are created in cross-border trade and investment facilitation.
    John Grimley
  • I’m very lucky to have a family and a wife that absolutely just creates a life that’s there and that one can go to. I think about the stress that we experience in our work, that is the best we can offer. So I really live for that. It’s something to be grateful for.
    Nic Swart
  • The legacy that I want to leave in the work that I’m doing is having made a difference and having hopefully spearheaded some type of meaningful change in the culture of the legal profession, as it relates to addiction and mental health specifically.
    Patrick Krill
  • It’s not so much my practice that I want to make a difference in, but I want to know that I left the legal professional a little bit better than I found it.
    Courtney Wylie
  • the real reality is some of the lawyers, some of the law firms, are going to be left behind because they’re not moving into the current reality where they can’t just rely on referrals.
    Montina Portis
  • When you take a lawyer out of the system, you take the voice and the ability of the people to protect themselves from overreaching government and overreaching organizations out the equation.
    Ian Connor Bifferato
  • I think a lot of attorneys are very, obviously, economically driven, which is fine, because we all need to make a living. But, at the end of the day, I also think that we are in this profession to give back and I would like to see that happen to a greater degree.
    Dr. Jeanne-Mari Reteif
  • "I would like my clients to think of me as of being a valuable resource to them and a knowledgeable resource that helped them protect their business and the most valuable assets of their business, which is their inventions, their ideas, their brand and that they remember me as somebody they could go to at any time to help them protect their intellectual property assets.
    Crystal T. Broughan
  • The person I’m looking for is the one who is going to come along and say ok; we can’t just tweak what we do with law; we have to radically re-invent it.
    Ken Grady
  • So you have to be that person who is challenged again and again so that you will grow as an expert.
    Dr. Peter MacMillan
  • I always tell my clients and my friends and colleagues, it’s a two-way road. You know- you give, and you receive, you give back, and it keeps going that way. It’s wonderful.
    Fernanda Alem-Freitas
  • In terms of successes, I will tell you, having done this, I’ve gone much further and made more connections and more friends and more inroads into the industry much earlier in my career than I ever could have possibly imagined.
    Gene Quinn
  • my thinking was that I really need to understand what clients really wanted. So in order to really do a good job, I needed to find out what moves them, what kept them up at night.
    Silvia Hodges Silverstein
  • So when we talk about a legacy, it’s a legacy that people to this day tell me — oh, I remember working with your Grandfather and he was such an upright man. Wow, let’s hope they say that about me.
    Jordan W. Charness
  • this answer made me to become a lawyer instead of a mathematician.
    Anandavasagan K.
  • What I want to try to do is create the beacon, or the light toward, developing law firm culture, as in the legal profession culture in general...where they do find a sense of meaning, purpose, connection, joy and want to stay in the profession.
    Anne Brafford
  • it is my goal to try to increase diversity within our profession, and even for as long as I’m here, I will advocate for the inclusion of different perspectives, different peoples, and different ideas that can make this world a better place.
    Robert Johnson
  • I have learned a lot of things the hard way and if I can help others sort of avoid the mistakes I’ve made and have the vision I lacked, then that’s how I want to help
    Frank Ramos
  • "I’m sort of traditional with an edge. I have respect for tradition. I have respect for history, but I’m also very inquisitive. I like to, you know, sort of architect things.
    Mark A. Cohen
  • I am all or nothing. I believe that the world has enough mediocre people. I had a mentor tell me that once and I give 110% to everything I do.
    LaKeisha Randall
  • You’ll never know how high that peak can be unless you find recovery, and with recovery, anything is possible
    Brian Cuban
  • Being able to live and work anywhere in the world. And we do live, you know- we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, in County Cork, Ireland now.
    Walt Hampton
  • You know, the best thing that anyone could possibly do is think about what’s important to them and get back to that really basic thing. Personally, professionally, financially. You know, where would you like to be? Because you can be there if you take a couple steps, you know? And it just- it can be incremental
    Bridget Venus Grimes
  • The people I represent have their own families and their own spouses and I see that vividly through my own experiences and trying to help them. I often try to, although perhaps not the easiest thing to do, but try to put myself into their shoes and approach a case with that regard.
    Mark A. Torres
  • My legacy really is to try to enhance the wellness of the members of our profession and to open up this dialog.
    Heidi K. Brown
  • At the end of my days, I want people to look back and say, "Yes, he really did make the world a better place and here are some concrete examples of places where he's influenced people, or influenced organizations, or cultures." So, if I can do that and leave that to the world, then I think I've done a pretty good job.
    Maurice L. Rabb
  • Pamela helped brought us a $12MM deal and was a key player to help finalize the negotiations. She was a valuable investment for our firm with a magnificent return on our investment.
    Bill L., Chairman of Litigation
  • I was on the verge of losing it. I felt confused and had no idea why I was practicing law in the first place. Pamela helped me to regain my enthusiasm and grow my practice enjoy my life again.
    Lewis M., Partner
  • I have worked as an in-house attorney for 20+ years with major corporations. I hired Pamela during a transition in my career. When I began working with Pamela, I needed clarity and direction as I forged a new path. Through Pamela's unique coaching techniques, I learned a tremendous amount about myself and what I wanted out of life. She helped me put plans in place, encouraged me and held me accountable for taking necessary actions. Coaching is clearly not just a business for Pamela. She truly cared about me and repeatedly went above and beyond to help me achieve the goals I set for myself. Pamela is highly knowledgeable and accomplished and I trust her judgment and coaching. I would highly recommend her to anyone who is looking to make a job or career change.
    Renee Cogdell Lewis
  • Why should only sports figures get coaches? I represent whistleblowers in highly complicated litigation cases. The work is stressful and I can't afford to be distracted or unfocused. Maybe some lawyer out there finds that easy, but if any lawyer/mom/wife does, I'd like to meet her. I needed to be at my peak ALL the time so I hired Pamela DeNeuve as my coach and -- wow! Hiring Pamela is like having someone right there with me in my practice as coach, mentor, confidant, and troubleshooter. I am on my A+ game thanks to Pamela.
    Lee Wallace
  • Pamela DeNeuve works with powerful men and women who look to the world like they have it all together. So that includes everyone who is successful because we all have skeletons in our closet. We all have an area of life that is painful or frustrating. While I looked like I had it all, a beautiful wife, a son who I have a great relationship and a long-time financial career, a growing business as a motivational speaker, something was missing. Something was off and I couldn't put my finger on it. Working with Pamela DeNeuve is one of the best things I have ever done. Her insight, her showing me the blind spots that I tried to ignore or avoid was an awakening. I have regained my enthusiasm again. I wake up with the wonder and excitement I had lost as the years wore on. I highly recommend Pamela DeNeuve's 8-hour intensive session. You will make quantum leaps in your career, increase your income and your wife will become the love of your life again.
    Tom Heitz
  • Any lawyer or law firm who want to expand their practice, increase client base, or re-ignite your love of the law will be wise to work with Pamela DeNeuve as your business/marketing coach. She has more than 25 years of experience working with AM100 law firms, small firms, and individual lawyers across the United States, in Asia, and South Africa. Pamela understands all aspects of the legal profession. She understands the challenges that we attorneys face. I retained Pamela to help with business development and some special projects in my First Amendment/Communications law practice. Almost immediately, I started to once again see opportunities in the challenges rather than the other way 'round. Practicing law is more enjoyable because of this work with Pamela. Asking for help is sometimes the hardest ask of all. After working with Pamela for her help, I'm glad I asked. I highly recommend her to any attorney or firm.
    Edward Birk