Overdoing It!
Sometimes we over-function in a way that can’t be sustained. Here’s a link to my Q&A on that topic published in the September issue of Mass. Lawyers Journal. Jeff Fortgang, PhD
Tips on winning the fight against anxiety – Tip #2: Just wait
In a previous post I recommended that cheating was a great way to fight against anxiety. My second tip in the fight against anxiety is equally as counterintuitive. Another effective technique to fight anxiety is to do nothing and wait it out. This is easier said than done. Just to set the stage, by definition anxiety works through our natural warning system that tells us when a threat is present. The presence of a threat activates our “Fight or Flight” response which charges us up and gets us ready to attack or run away in order to protect ourselves. It almost demands a response. At least, it can certainly feel that way.
Love Languages: So many opportunities for miscommunication
It should come as no surprise to anyone that all people want to be loved. It’s one of our deepest needs. Even within our professional relationships, we want to be loved. Now most people would not identify that need as love per se when it comes to coworkers and supervisors. But the basic elements are there. We want to know that our colleagues and bosses care about us, support us, and think well of us. So call it what you will, the same need exists within our professional relationships the same way it does in our personal ones.
Stress and Time Management Group
Got Stress? Want to learn ways of handling it better?
LCL and LOMAP are offering a free Stress and Time Management series starting this Friday (August 28, 2015) and running for three weeks. We will cover topics related to recognizing stressors and your response to them, ways of dealing with stress so that the stress does not wear you down, and practical time management skills that can make a significant impact on your stress levels.
A Story of Hope and Redemption
Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers means many things to many people. Ideally those that seek its services do so before their personal challenges result in professional problems.
I’m a regular member of LCL’s Professional Conduct Group, a group made up of attorneys who have been subject to some form of Board of Bar Overseers discipline. Members represent every stage of the disciplinary process: Most have already been subject to a sanction, be it suspension, or disbarment. Some are in the very earliest stages of the disciplinary process and may even still be practicing pending a temporary suspension or some other, lesser disposition of their matter. Others have already done their time as it were and have already been successfully reinstated to the practice of law. It’s a testament to the importance and power of this group that those lawyers, the reinstated ones, who are under no obligation or mandate to come to this group, continue to do so, in many cases years after they’ve returned to the practice of law.
Re-entering the job market through the OnRamp Fellowship
Today’s legal job market is competitive. With the number of law school graduates exceeding the number of law firm job openings, many struggle to find a way into a job working in a law firm. On top of this, many experience law firms as looking for a very specific resume and feeling as though they need to fit into a cookie cutter mold and surrender over their lives in order to get hired. Historically, there have been significant gender differences in the practice of law which can be grossly summarized as large firm culture has favored men. Women lawyers often report that their experience as associates in large firms is significantly less satisfying (as in their compensation) than their male counterparts (you can read more here and here).
Tips on winning the fight against anxiety – Tip #1: Cheat
Growing up we all learned that games have rules and you have to play by those rules, otherwise you are cheating. And cheating is bad. If you cheated you were considered a poor sport, someone who couldn’t play nice with others, or someone who just always wanted their way at all costs. Again, all bad. So it’s no wonder that we resist the idea of breaking the agreed-upon rules. So how does this translate into a tip to fight against anxiety? Stay with me.
Change is BAD! Or at least, that’s how it can feel at first.
There is comfort in predictability. This is one of the reasons we develop routines and habits. In fact, the more comforting our routine, the more painful it is to change it. To put it simply, deep down inside we often times would prefer the comfort of a bad habit to the uncertainty of a potentially positive change (that’s why it is so difficult to change habits – even bad habits). Despite the negative aspects of our routines, the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. This principle of resisting change contributes to the fact that the only reason we give in to change is when our status quo becomes too uncomfortable. Sometimes the motivating discomfort comes from within you (feeling bad about the status quo) and sometimes it comes from the environment (new jobs require learning new skills).
A 3-Part Interview with Attorney Lee Holland: Part 3 – The Work You Love
We continue our conversation with Lee Holland, Esq. about his journey through personal and professional crisis. (You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here).
LCL: In setting up your firm you focused on work you love, how did you go about identifying the work that you loved and wanted to focus on?
LH: I found my specialty as a FINRA advocate for consumers and reputable industry clientele largely by happenstance, but have always had a strong sense of enforcing fairness. Past legal representations had exposed me to many different areas of practice, and with those, many different types of clients with many different backgrounds. From my experience, I felt the strongest connection when working with individuals as clients, and the best of those interactions were largely 1-on-1 relationships. I became a FINRA arbitrator in 2005, and I quickly grew to respect the organization and its mission, while simultaneously becoming more active and interested in promoting effective financial regulation.
Avoiding Burnout
Burnout is one of the more common catastrophes that occur in high stress legal jobs, whether that be in a large firm or a solo practice. The key to avoiding burnout is to recognize the warning signs and be prepared…