AttorneyMentoring.com Work/Life Balance

Is Work/Life Balance Achievable in Law?

There are numerous self-help guides and seminars on achieving
balance between your work and your personal life. But, we all know that
it isn't as easy as it looks. Lawyers are often super achievers whose
work day is jam packed with activity and mega-doses of stress. Studies
have shown that, as a profession, lawyers experience depression and
other more serious addictions.

Of 105 professions studied by Johns Hopkins University in 1991,
lawyers were at the top of the list in the incidence of major depression.
Since then, several studies have confirmed similar results. These
conditions do not merely impact a lawyer's professional life but also
impact their personal relationships. Keeping a balance between your
personal life and your work becomes even more important for this
at-risk profession.

Achieving some balance between your professional life and your
personal life starts off with an honest assessment of your goals and
priorities. Being a lawyer is an honorable profession but it is only a
profession. All too often, we are so focused on achievement that we
miss out on simple pleasures. This section of AttorneyMentoring.com
features some practical ideas to help you evaluate your need for more
balance between your personal and professional life.

Where to Start

Make a date with yourself to spend some time to list what is important to
you in your life. Then, identify how much of your life is spent related to
work activities and how much time is spent on other categories of
activities. Consider the following categories of activities when taking
inventory: work, family, significant other, friends, health, fun, education,
hobbies, volunteer activities. Then, consider whether the percentages
of time spent on each reflects your personal values and future goals.

If your work category dominates your schedule, as it unfortunately does
for most people, consider smart ways to reduce the time you spend at
work. Since most lawyers bill by the hour or bill based on some
estimated number of hours they expect to work on a project, they are
overly focused on the number of hours spent at work. This does not
always translate into time efficiencies, especially if you work at a firm
with annual billable hour requirements above 2000.

In the final analysis, the decision is yours. Do you believe that the extra
hours at the office are more important to your life goals than another
activity. Place it into perspective as well. If your goal is to get healthy, is
an hour a day one or two days a week (or 4 to 8 hours a month) set
aside to exercise important enough to you to make a change in your
schedule? Will the office really fall apart if you leave early to attend your
daughter's school play? Is it unreasonable to commit to coming home
on time 2 days a week and having dinner with your spouse or significant
other? Will the client really miss you if one night you attend a game or
function? These decisions should be made consciously ahead of time
and worked into your schedule as if they were just as important as a
client meeting. Creating boundaries is the first step to achieving
balance.

Right now, pull up your calendar and review the upcoming week. Do
you have any personal activities scheduled? Or does your personal life
take a back seat to your professional engagements. If you do not make
room for personal activities on your schedule, no one else will. Find a
free hour right now and simply block it out as personal time. No need to
come up with any activity right now. Just block it out.

At first, you may feel guilty. You may start thinking about all the things
you "should" be doing. You may not feel you deserve the time off or the
moment of indulgence. Well, these feelings will pass if you consciously
allow yourself to enjoy the moment and the sense of freedom that
comes from doing what you desire in that very moment. You deserve to
enjoy yourself and it is up to you to create time in your life for activities
that bring you a sense of pleasure and fulfillment. And, you may be
surprised to learn that you will radiate a better attitude with your clients
as a result.

All too often, lawyers live in their heads, so to speak. Rarely do they
allow themselves to follow their emotions. We have emotions for a
reason. Our emotions tell us if we are on track with our life and our
goals. Yes, it feels risky at first following your emotions but you can start
slowly. Simply schedule one hour during the week that is yours and
yours alone. See what happens.

Negotiating a Part-time or
Reduced Hours Schedule

Some places of employment have a flex-time or
part-time work programs in place.
Consequently, the first thing you should do is
check your employee handbook and or contact
your Human Resource Department to
determine whether there is any formal
program/procedures in place. If there is a
program in place, you will likely be requested to
submit a proposal to your manager or Partner.

More often than not, in many law firms, there are
no formal programs in place and you will know
easily enough by counting how many lawyers
are on a part-time or reduced schedule.
Regardless of the number of part-timers, do not
assume that such a schedule is unavailable to
you with the right plan.

First, assess your client's needs and determine
what kind of schedule would work best to serve
their needs. Then, assess your needs and
desires, to see how the two can be merged.
Create a proposal that addresses the client's
needs and how you expect to manage those
needs on a reduced timetable. Flexibility is
often key here. Rigidly insisting on being off
specific days of the week without any contact
with the office is probably not reasonable for
many legal practice areas. If you can be flexible
and come in for important client meetings and
other events, you will more likely succeed. This
may not work, however, if you have childcare
issues and are restricted to specific free days.
In that case, you might consider whether your
present practice area or employer is suited to a
part-time schedule or whether you might need
to change your area of practice to a less time-
sensitive practice or change your employer to a
more flex-time friendly environment.

Most employers will seek to keep you in some
capacity especially if you show some flexibility
and address their need to serve their clients.

Additional considerations:

Consider the impact of a reduced
schedule on your benefits and seniority
and make sure these topics are
discussed ahead of time.
Evaluate how you will be paid. If you are
not paid by the hour, you might have to
work overtime to complete your work
and should consider that up front.
Working from home requires
uninterrupted time and extra time to
manage the logistics such as sending
faxes, mailing courier packages,
purchasing printer cartridges, phone
lines, etc.
Be considerate of your co-workers and
assistant who may have to take on extra
work when you are not there. Keep the
lines of communication open at all
times.
Make sure your work quality does not
suffer and the clients always have
someone they can reach on your days
off.
Use technology to your advantage.

Find and Indulge Your Passion

Too much work and no play does make for a dull lawyer. If someone were to ask you, what would you like to be doing right
now instead of your current job, what would it be? While you may not be in a position to quit your job and follow your dream,
there are ways to indulge your dream while keeping your day job. If you always wanted to learn to cook, is it really
impossible for you to take a one hour cooking class on a weekend?   Call up a friend and ask them out to dinner one
evening. Leave an hour or two earlier this Friday night to visit your country house. The key is to give yourself permission to
take some time out for yourself.

There are numerous studies about the importance of a balanced life to one's health, happiness and productivity. We make
excuses all the time for depriving ourselves of a happy life. You can be a successful lawyer and still enjoy your life. It just
takes a commitment to set goals for your personal life as you obviously have done for your professional life.

Take it Easy

Scheduling personal activities should not create more stress in your life either. Sometimes the issue is not whether to add
more activities to your already hectic schedule but to reduce activities. This applies to individuals as well as to families.
The hectic work lifestyle has infiltrated family life, with children staying up until 11pm or midnight just to get through all of
their homework after completing their after school activities, leaving professional Mom and Dad with even less sleep.
Weekends look like marathons to race kids to their respective activities while little or no time is spent resting or simply
enjoying family time together.    Single people are by no means exempt. Evenings and weekends are jam packed with
social and other activities leaving you exhausted by Sunday night. Sit down (either alone or as a family) and figure out
which activities are important and which are just fillers. Quiet time and rest are important bodily functions for everyone.

Some activities can be shared or delegated. If you find housework takes up your entire Saturday, consider hiring someone
to help out. Is $40 to $100 going to break the bank? If the kids need transport, consider teaming up with other parents and
rotating the rides. Ask your dry cleaner to deliver those suits to you. If helping your kids out with homework is creating late
nights for you both, consider a tutor once a week to help out. If you find that you are carrying the load too much, have a talk
with your spouse or significant other to share more of the obligations. If shopping is a drag, check out an online or
supermarket food delivery service.

Consider Alternative Work Arrangements

Sometimes, reorganizing your schedule may not be enough. If you find that your current job is too stressful or too
demanding, you might consider exploring a 4-day a week schedule or different employer environments. There are plenty of
opportunities available these days for a law degree and with a little research, you should be able to find work that is better
suited to your personal and professional goals.

Check out our Temp Corner for the temporary legal work lifestyle as an alternative to a traditional permanent legal job.