Avoiding Burnout in the Legal Profession
Many lawyers consider that work stress is “just part of the job” and that the inability to cope with the stress is a sign that the person suffering simply “cannot cut it as a lawyer”.
It is true that stress is part of the job and it is not a realistic expectation to remove all sources of work stress and remain a lawyer. Indeed, a certain level of stress is what makes the job exciting and challenging. However, poorly managed stress can eventually lead to burnout which can have a long term impact on our career and our wellbeing.
Burnout has been recognised by the World Health Organisation as “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed” (WHO, ICD-11). The research on burnout tells us that it shows up in 3 ways:
Exhaustion: overwhelm, helplessness and/or hopelessness, insomnia, emotional instability
Depersonalisation: indifference to work, pessimism, absenteeism
Reduced efficacy: feelings of incompetence or lack of achievement
I’m sure we have all had a personal experience of some of these symptoms at various points during our careers. However, when these symptoms become debilitating it is a sign that we are tipping into burnout.
So, how can we take action to avoid burnout and ensure the long term sustainability of our career?
Energy management is the key. Professional athletes include recovery time into their training schedules to allow them to continually improve their performance. The legal profession is also about continually improving performance. Lawyers must also think of themselves as professional corporate athletes and build in recovery time into their schedules. These energy management practices should be a mixture of daily activities and longer term practices. Examples include:
Daily practice: good sleep hygiene, physical exercise and mindfulness.
Longer term practice: strong work boundaries, using your leave entitlements and actually taking a break while on leave!
Some readers may scoff at these suggestions - arguing that in order to have a successful practice you must be available to clients or superiors at all times. But is this really true? And if it is true, are these the clients that you want to rely upon to build your career?
In conclusion, the key to avoiding burnout is not to remove stress completely but to treat ourselves like professional corporate athletes and to build in energy management practices into our lives that will ensure continued and sustainable performance in the long term.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss how coaching might help you with managing burnout.