Workplaces do not start off toxic, they develop into hostile environments over time. Get the warning signs a work environment is corroding -- and practical tips to help fix the problems. Disgruntled employees. Low morale. Infighting. Wasted time and low…
In recent months, there has been an increase in the discussions of the high rates of substance abuse and mental health issues burdening lawyers, rates much higher than the general population. A recent study has confirmed what many of us…
Given the prevalence of alcohol abuse and the opioid epidemic across the US, it is probably safe to say that everyone either knows of someone or has heard of someone in the media who has suffered from substance abuse. Some of these stories do not strike us as surprising because they fit our stereotypes of what a substance abuser looks like. We are usually not taken off guard by stories of wealthy, bored celebrities living a party lifestyle eventually entering rehab for a substance abuse problem or hearing about the high rates of drug abuse among homeless individuals (assuming that those examples reflect stereotypes you hold).
Among the numerous factors that seem to contribute to the greatly amplified rate of depression among lawyers is the fact that the sense of mission, of using a law degree to make a positive contribution to the world, which motivation many people to go to law school, can evaporate in the context of real-world ways to make a living and repay those humongous student loans. Some studies suggest that those lawyers whose work lives focus on doing good for society (typically lower paid jobs) are actually in better moods.
One of the ways that stress steals your contentment in life is by how quickly we can start to waste most of our free time thinking and worrying about the future. When you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, it can be hard to shut off the thoughts about what you need to do tomorrow, how you are going to manage a potential crisis at work, how will your superior at the firm react to you requesting time off, or how you need to pull in more clients to keep the practice afloat. These thoughts often do not have concrete solutions. There are no simple answers that will satisfy the concern that you feel. Yet we almost instinctively respond to stress by wasting more time worrying about the sources of that stress.
In our world of individual achievements and the importance of a stellar reputation, it is easy to fall into the trap of believing that you need to do things on your own. Be independent. Handle it yourself. Take care of business on your own. Make it happen. And the pep talk continues. The truth of the matter is that none of us have learned to do anything in a vacuum. We all have needed and benefited from the support of others. Whether it was learning to talk and walk when we were wee ones or learning to make a compelling oral argument, we did it with the help of many people in our lives.
One of the helpful strategies to improve your productivity and reduce procrastination is to effectively use your “power hour”. The power hour is the time of day (which could actually be multiple hours) that you feel the most energy, the most focus, and can be the most productive. The idea of using your power hour is to identify when it is and plan to work on the most difficult tasks of the day during that time. This works out the best when your power hour is at the beginning of your day so that you can ride the wave of productivity the rest of your workday. But what is one to do when their power hour is at the end of their workday? Or even worse, what if it is during off-work hours?
There are countless ways of improving your time management and increasing your efficiency. Simply do a Google search for “time management” and you will have pages of resources, web pages, blog posts, and books from which to choose. For example, here is a good place to start. So is this just another blog post on time management to add to the list? Well, technically yes. But instead of giving you specific techniques, this blog post is about how to actually start doing some of those helpful suggestions.
We all want to succeed. We want to make the best decisions, complete our work successfully, and feel competent in the things we are asked to do. However, when our desire for success becomes a pursuit of perfection, analysis paralysis can be the by-product of the fear of failure. When we want perfection so badly or when we fear failing too much, making the wrong decision can seem like the worst thing ever. This can influence us to avoid an uncomfortable decision, feeling frozen or weighed down; your brain unable to act.
In game theory, a zero-sum game is the situation in which one person’s gain is equal and opposite to their opponent’s loss. For one to win or advance, the other must lose or retreat. There are situations in life where the zero-sum game is undeniable. These typically have to do with dividing up commodities (money, time, property, etc.). However, most problems in life have less to do with commodities and more to do with what those commodities represent. Hence thinking beyond the zero-sum game can be one of the most power tools to resolving conflicts.