Summer’s Over:  Only Nine Months Until I Can Have Fun Again

Some lawyers on summer vacation lounge by the pool.  Some explore exotic and ancient places.  Some get active and take off on bicycle or hiking trails, taking in the treat that is summer outdoor living.  And some just take time to get through an entire book without interruption.  It’s become a ritual that come summer, the legal profession slows down and gets a life.  Lawyers wait all year for permission to shut down the rat race for a few precious moments and just relax and have some fun.

But inevitably, Labour Day sneaks up and before you know it, twelve weeks passed by in a flash, the kids are starting school, and the senior partner has three or perhaps thirty new files for you to take on.  Magically, as the ninth month reveals itself, so does the return to ‘reality’.  Work, and lots of it, becomes the priority and life just has to wait until the sun comes out again and the profession bestows once more, its imprimatur to slow down.

So, where is it written that lawyers aren’t permitted to have lives between September and June?  Some of us must have been sick that day in law school – probably the last guilt-free sick day we ever took, in fact.  And while for some, this lack of ‘me’ time is an unfortunate but tolerable side effect of legal practice, for many, the absence of down time translates into bigger problems such as addictions, depression or anxiety and overwhelming stress.  The staff Ontario Lawyers’ Assistance Program see this on a regular basis.

A recent Canadian Bar Association-Ipsos Reid survey found that 68% of those lawyers they surveyed stated that they have difficulty achieving a balance between their professional and personal lives, with time demands, according to 84% of them, being the greatest challenge.  In another survey, nearly half (48.1%) of supervised lawyers from all practice sectors agreed with the statement: “I feel stressed and fatigued most of the time.”

To be sure, work/life balance is a subjective game.  Two associates, working at precisely the same pace, may have diametrically opposing opinions of the work they’re doing and what type of ‘life’ that represents.  There exist a significant number of legal practitioners who simply love the work and can’t get enough of it:  Work time is ‘me’ time.  Long hours at the office mean doing more of what fuels them.  Others, however, scratch and claw their way through each day.  They can’t wait to get their work done so that they can finally have a moment’s peace – a respite from the grind, and summer vacation may be the first significant personal time they’ve get in a long while.  Undoubtedly, most of us find ourselves somewhere in the spectrum between these two poles.  Each person must strike that individuated balance based upon their unique values, preferences, needs and goals.

So where are you on the work/life spectrum?  What values do you bring to the table?  At your core, what’s most important to you?  When you look back at your life and career at age 80, what will that person think of the life you’re now living?  This last question, often referred to as the Future Self exercise, is a telling one.  Lawyers generally find themselves where they are, on a treadmill to somewhere, not always conscious of the purpose or ultimate goal of the whole exercise.  A quick way to spring into consciousness about the road you’re on is to check in with your Future Self.  What most people find when they visualize a conversation with that person is that the Future Self has a more expansive, less judgmental view of the purpose in their lives and what truly is fulfilling to them.  One lawyer’s Future Self may tell her to give herself a break and not be so hard on herself.  They may give her a perspective on the relative importance of money versus spiritual or social pursuits. Another lawyer’s Future Self may look at the current associate, working long hours on complex, challenging projects with passion and verve, and reflect on how that pursuit will stand that lawyer in good stead at the end of a long, rewarding career.  The key is that when one strips away the immediate concerns of face time in the office or this month’s billable hours goal, one can more clearly see the true motivation for their trajectory in life.  They can take a longer view, more attuned to who they are and how they want their professional and personal life to unfold.

Invariably, the members of the bar who best honour their own unique values, are the ones who find themselves the most contented.  They are their own navigator, and no one else sets the course of their journey.  So what course are you taking?  What do you do to honour your values?  What activities hit you right at the core of who you are, creating a feeling of contentment and peace.  We often find ourselves unconsciously ignoring the things that make each of us feel alive in our own unique way.  For some, music enlivens them, yet they rarely listen to music.  Others get great satisfaction from physical activity, yet they never seem to make time to move.  Still others have noticed how rewarding they find volunteering to help disadvantaged communities, and yet they don’t allow themselves the time to access that source of personal fulfillment.  For some reason, we just forget or neglect to actively inject personal non-professional fulfillment into our lives and only notice when it’s too late.

In addition, the other area of life that gets shunted aside in favour of more work time is rest and relaxation.  If one only takes time to rejuvenate oneself during a few weeks in the summer, that simply cannot satisfy the body, mind and spirit’s need to be still and recharge.  Lawyers want to be at the top of their game – the best they can be.  Olympic athletes who are the best in their event train incessantly and study religiously.  However, one element that top performers always make sure to include is rest.  We sometimes forget this essential element of productivity and success.  We need rest and rejuvenation.

The moral of the story is:  live consciously.  Make time for work and make time for leisure and fun and rest and family.  Just decide that you’ll take care of yourself year round, and not just when summer comes.  Get off the treadmill and decide where you want to walk, based on what moves and inspires you.  And sometimes, stop walking and just lay back and enjoy the view.

Doron Gold is a Case Manager at the Ontario Lawyers’ Assistance Program.  In addition, having previously practiced law, he is now a Certified Personal Coach with a private coaching practice working primarily with lawyers.  He can be reached at the OLAP offices at 1-877-576-6227.

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