Young lawyers have many responsibilities when it comes to building our practice, dealing with clients, and getting the hang of the endless professional deadlines. With such notoriously busy careers, it’s no wonder we consistently fail to take time for our own mental health. The tendency to ignore our mental health is not exclusive to young lawyers – it is a failure across the profession. It may seem harsh to call it a failure, but using our brain is the basis of our entire career, and if we neglect our brain it’s basically like we accumulated all that student debt for nothing.
It’s no surprise that young lawyers tend to be workaholics who don’t take care of themselves. After all, we are still fresh out of the all-nighter mode of law school and the crazy hours of articling. Plus, there’s the ever-present pressure to prove yourself as a recent call so that you can keep moving up the ladder of your career to reach that position you’ve been coveting, be it partner, judge, or whatever else. But wouldn’t you rather get that dream job AND be mentally healthy? I spoke with some of my peers about the things that they do to keep themselves sane and that help them avoid burnout. I found that all the answers I heard fell within one of three common themes: (1) making a support network, (2) leaving the office, and (3) getting some rest.
Note from the Author: In no way is this list exhaustive. In fact if you have some great tips that work for you that I’ve missed, I’d love to hear about them, and I encourage you to share them with your peers as well. I’m also not a medical professional – all tips below are based on anecdotal and personal experiences.
MAKE A SUPPORT NETWORK
Lawyers are often solitary creatures during work hours, but we don’t have to be during our down time. It’s important to not only put effort into your home life (whether that includes kids, a partner, or just a cat), but also to have a social network that gives you a third outlet outside of work and home. It’s especially nice to have a group of friends with non-legal careers so there’s no potential for law-based conversation to pop up unexpectedly. Whether you hang out with these friends every week or just a couple times a year, it is comforting to have people in your corner if you ever need to see a friendly face.
In addition to personal supports, as lawyers we have access to many professional support systems. Many firms provide their lawyers with benefits that can be used for mental health counselling. Or if you’re in a situation where you don’t have health benefits, there are free counselling services available through the Law Society of Ontario. The LSO and CBA websites are also full of helpful articles and links to other resources. I highly recommend taking the time to see what services and resources you have access to before you’re in a position where you desperately need them.
LEAVE THE OFFICE
This second tip isn’t just about physically removing yourself from your desk, but about learning how to leave your work in the workplace. It’s not unusual for lawyers to have to work extended hours and to be on call, but it’s important to give yourself space from your work as much as you can. Something as simple as taking all the vacations days you’re entitled to throughout the year or turning off your email notifications a couple evenings per week can give your brain the much-needed space it needs so that you can reset and refresh.
A big part of successfully creating distance between yourself and your work involves setting boundaries and forcing yourself to stick to them. If you’re struggling to pull yourself away from your computer, start small – set a “work curfew” for yourself where you aren’t allowed to look at anything work-related after a certain time in the evening, or try cutting yourself off from checking your emails during meals. A big part of setting boundaries is saying “no”, which is especially difficult as a young lawyer who wants to make a good impression. There’s no magical way to stop feeling guilty about saying no, so again I recommend taking baby steps. If you’re already feeling swamped and you’re asked to take on something non-billable like attending a networking event, sitting on a panel, or writing a blog post, tell them you would be happy to participate in the future but your schedule is full for the month. Of course we never want to turn down work, but if you’re getting bombarded with assignments, find a way to express that you feel the quantity of work is going to negatively impact the quality, and try to find a solution that makes everyone happy. You won’t be a good part of the team if you’re constantly burnt out, so being open and honest is good for everyone involved.
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