Blog
Get a Life: Avoid Legal Overwork
By guest blogger: Shawndria McCoy, Esq., a North Carolina attorney
The practice of law can be exciting and very rewarding. It is a great feeling when you have a job that you absolutely love and co-workers that make you desire to come to work every day. What a wonderful life you have. As a new attorney, it is easy to get caught up arriving to work early and staying late in the office daily, because you want to show your boss how committed you are and how they made a great decision to hire you. You want your boss to see that you are dedicated and will go the extra mile for the firm. That is awesome. It can be difficult finding someone with such conviction and passion. However, being over-zealous can have a negative impact on you as well.
There is more to life than being a lawyer. Indeed some attorneys eat, breathe, sleep, walk, talk, and bathe law. Maybe that works for them. However, there is still more that you need to see and experience outside of law and an office. Do not let life pass you by because you became so caught up in working and making other people’s lives better than you have yours. To be a great lawyer you need experiences outside of law. You need to be able to relate to your clients and understand their motivations and fears. How can you do that if they cannot have an intelligent conversation with you about their life, because all you know is what the law says or what you saw in court? Be well-rounded and GET A LIFE! Get some real world experience.
Work generally can be monotonous, especially when you get into a daily routine. Break up the monotony with life experiences. Let your hair down, take a breath, go on a safari or international trip, take a walk through a jungle and listen to the sounds, feel the wind in your hair and the sand between your toes. Think about a home that is closed up, blinds closed year-round and the sun that never gets in. That home will be dark and cold. Don’t allow your life to be dark and cold. You can enjoy and love your job the same way you enjoy life and love new experiences. Create memories so that when you are old and retired you can meditate on them. This is part of self-care and preservation.
What should you do if your boss expects you to work 60+ hours per week and you are feeling overconsumed? Schedule a time to speak with your superior and let them know how you feel – in a respectful manner of course. We are all human and we all require time to regroup. The re-grouping you may need may be in taking some time away from the office to go on a trip with a friend or your family. That’s perfectly fine and expected. Do not be afraid to ask for what you need. There is so much outside the walls of your office and beyond the legal brief you have been working on for two weeks.
For so many people, life is fleeting. You cannot afford to let life pass you by. If you do not have a life outside of work, GET A LIFE! Go mountain climbing, take a flight to nowhere, experience a hot air balloon ride. Get out of your norm and expand your horizon. You never know, you may even learn something outside the office that will help you or your client inside the office. It may sound easy; well it really is. Simple. Get. A. Life.