Looking after your wellbeing

WELLBEING

Looking after your wellbeing

Living and working through a pandemic has been extremely tough for all of us and as we slowly emerge from the other side, many of us are feeling stressed, burnt out, exhausted, and emotionally battered and bruised. We have all had a lot on our plates over the past year and legal professionals who have contacted LawCare’s support service during the pandemic have talked about the stress of juggling work and home schooling, feeling isolated at home, a lack of support from work, and this is before we add in the fear and anxiety caused by COVID-19 – and for many recovering from serious illness or mourning the loss of a loved one.

Whilst working at home has been fantastic for some it does mean that the boundaries between work and home have become blurred for many of us, making it much harder to switch off from work. Many are working longer hours than ever before. Added to this is the strain of managing demanding clients who are frustrated, overwrought and stressed themselves, which can make interaction with them difficult to navigate.

In addition to the challenges presented by the pandemic and profession itself, the type of person that often goes into the law can often have traits which hamper wellbeing. Legal professionals have high expectations of themselves and what they want to achieve in life and are often perfectionists, which means they find it hard to say no to people and any bump in the road can be hard for them to manage. They find it hard to ask for help, believing they should be self sufficient.

All of this combined creates a perfect storm for poor mental health – stress, anxiety, and depression. Sometimes it may be hard to tell there is a problem. You may have got so used to working at a certain pace or feeling a certain way that you don’t realise you need to slow down or ask for help. It’s important to look after yourself or it can cause problems later both mentally and physically – your health is far more important than anything else, and being mentally healthy will mean you can do your best legal work.

Acknowledge what a tough time you have been through, and may still be going through, and above all be kind to yourself over the next few months by prioritising your wellbeing.

Tips for wellbeing

■ Stick to a routine and have a clear boundary between work and home – avoid checking emails late at night for example. Research shows that working longer hours does not improve productivity.

■ Take regular breaks, including a lunch break, and try and get out for a walk every day. This may seem impossible but you will do better work if you do this, time spent in nature can renew our attention spans when they are flagging after an extended period staring at a screen.

■ To avoid overwhelm do one thing at a time and break complex tasks down into manageable chunks. Disable notifications and close your inbox so you can focus.

■ Breathe – if you can feel yourself getting anxious try taking ten deep breaths, inhaling for 5 seconds and exhaling for 10 seconds. It can make you feel calmer.

■ It’s easy to let healthy habits slip when we are at stressed but make sure you eat well, get to bed at a reasonable time and find time to do some exercise. These are essential basic requirements of staying mentally healthy.

■ Allow yourself to feel difficult feelings – focus on what you ARE feeling rather than what you SHOULD be feeling – suppressing your feelings and emotions won’t help.

■ Don’t rush back to old ways of working – hold off committing to a return to the office straight away. Make the new normal work for you rather than defaulting to what used to be.

■ Book some time off work. Most of us are exhausted from carrying the emotional load of the last few months – we all need time to rest, relax, recuperate and reset and something to look forward to.

■ Talk to someone. Talking your problems through makes a real difference and provides reassurance you are not alone. Reach out to a friend, family member, colleague or contact the free, independent and confidential LawCare support service on 0800 279 6888, email support@lawcare.org.uk,visit www.lawcare.org.uk.

■ If you are having trouble sleeping, having panic attacks, experiencing mood swings or have physical signs of stress such has headaches, digestive problems etc make an appointment with your GP.

LawCare is an independent charity providing free, confidential, emotional support to all legal professionals, support staff and concerned family members. You can call the helpline on 0800 279 6888, email support@lawcare.org.uk or access online chat and other resources at www.lawcare.org.uk. ■