Top 10 tips for lawyers

Top 10 Tips for Lawyers

Work, work, work. There is a life outside of work. Have you thought of starting a completely new hobby? If the Olympics have taught us anything, it’s that ordinary people can achieve great things. So go on, try something new, you just never know what you could be good at. Or, volunteer in your community; make new friends from other areas of your life or your past. Explore areas of yourself that you never knew existed.

1. Take a holiday at least once a year, and enjoy it. Making time to have a real break from work, works wonders. That does mean switching off your Blackberry/iphone for more than 1 hour a day. If you have children, try and take a week away with you and your partner and really enjoy a complete break.

2. Take breaks during the day, walk outside when the weather permits, and strive to disconnect, even if it’s for five minutes.

3. Don’t expect yourself to be highly productive all the time. There are periods when you need downtime—take it, and don’t feel guilty about it.

4. Involve your family in what you do. Take them to conferences, bring them to lectures, and make them feel as important as they are. Talk to them every day about your day.

5. Build a healthy routine. Set parameters for when you come in and when you go home. Maintain your boundaries. Make a plan for your goals and a schedule of what time you will spend on meeting them.

Buy as much time as possible, and sell as little as possible.

6. Learn to say no. You have limits, and recognising and respecting them is important for health and wholeness. Do less and make it count more.

7. Learn to celebrate. Take in a film, a game, a walk in the park after completing a project or meeting a challenge. Reward yourself and accept your achievement before moving on to the next thing on your list.

8. Listen to your needs and that of your friends and family. Don’t push your perfectionism so much that you can’t enjoy what you do and who you are. If you are stressed, take the time to analyse why.

9. Expect and accept change. Your time will be spent and allocated differently depending on the stage of your career and the needs of your personal life—as you evolve, so must your approach to balance.

10. Love yourself as well as what you do. We are often hard on ourselves and feel we don’t deserve some ‘me’ time, or quality family time (without the blackberry). But you can and you should allow yourself that time to truly love yourself, exercise, eat well, love life and all the special people in it.

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