You might be suffering from Burnout if you:
- Feel depleted and exhausted – even when you’re getting ‘enough’ sleep.
- Feel mentally distant from your career or your practice – even if you appear to be very successful.
- Are just not very productive, no matter how hard you try.
I used to believe that burnout happened to other people – and that letting it get that far was a sign of weakness or incompetence. And as a lawyer, you’d never admit that you had burnout because it would be a CLM (Career Limiting Move), or worse. And besides, as we are supposed to be tough and just power-through this psychological stuff. Right? No, it’s completely wrong.
The truth is that burnout is not just an occupational hazard for lawyers, it is an occupational certainty.
We lawyers, are particularly prone to burnout based on our personalities and the demands of our profession including, long hours, lack of resources, intense consequences for our work, and our tough-it-out culture. These same traits keep us from admitting a problem or taking steps to work on it because there is “no time” to fix it. After all, we can’t just stop everything we are doing to fix our burnout.
Here’s the first step – and you can do it right now.
Accept the fact that burnout happens, and it doesn’t mean that you are weak or have failed. Burnout is a medical condition resulting from chronic stress. That’s according to the World Health Organization which classifies Burnout as a “syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”.
When you let go of the stories in your head about burnout you will be free to take the steps to manage stress effectively and either prevent burnout or work on recovery. It’s like any legal problem you have to solve – you start with being aware of the facts and circumstances of the case. Those same skills will help you learn and see the truth about what it means to be overwhelmed and burnt out. And then you’ll have the space to take the next steps.
Next, start taking better care of yourself with simple things like sleep, exercise, and nutrition. Giving in to the impulse to work harder and longer, to skip exercise, and to load up on sugar and caffeine will not make it better. They only set you up to fail when the crash comes – and it will. When you are overwhelmed your body goes into freeze, fight or flee mode. Getting physical exercise – even if it’s just a walk outside – honors the body’s need to be in motion. And it provides some mental space to get a better perspective.
Nutrition plays a huge part too. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to pay attention to the fuel you’re putting in your tank. The short-term benefits of self-medication with food and beverage are dwarfed by longer-term effects. Start slow, with one thing at a time.
Don’t go it alone. Getting over overwhelmed is not a solo activity. You’ll need to be able to seek and accept honest and positive support. You probably have people around you who would love to help. They may not be sure how to do it, or whether you want it. So you’ll probably need to ask – and that’s not a weakness.
For example, you might make some simple operational changes at your office to relieve some triggers and pressure points causing overwhelm. Or you might create some regular ‘check-ins’ with supportive friends or family members or even a mentor. Or you might need something more, like advice from a medical professional or another expert. The key is to do something to get support – it will help you feel more control which will be helpful as well.
If you’d like to know more about how to fix some of the causes of overwhelm in your practice then you can sign up for a free confidential consultation – where we can talk about your situation and how you might start making it better today. Click here to sign up – space is limited.