https://www.nationaldayofunplugging.com/
We all know technology in the practice of law has numerous benefits. It allows for prompt client communication, readily available research databases, video conferencing, and the flexibility to work nearly anywhere. Additionally, today’s marketing revolves around a healthy website and social media presence. The internet is one of the first places many prospective clients look to locate an attorney. Aside from the practical implications, ethics rules often require competency in technological parts of your practice (i.e., e-filing).
However, this often leads to attorneys feeling like they’re always “on the clock.” There can be overwhelming expectations and pressures (both externally or internally) to always be available via email, text, or on your cell phone. As you can imagine, this leads to some very blurred lines between one’s work life and one’s personal life.
For the last year, we have all been dealing with a global pandemic and technology has become a larger part of our day-to-day practice. However, this has also led to less human interaction (personally and professionally), an increase in self-reported loneliness, and – in a lot of cases – exacerbated mental health and substance use issues that existed pre-pandemic. And Zoom fatigue is something that many of us deal with regularly.
Accordingly, it’s even more critical to be proactively thinking about your own mental health and what you want your professional life to look like. When you have an extra minute, we’d encourage you to sit down and draft a list of priorities as it comes to your practice. What can help you maintain better balance? Do you need to set more boundaries with clients? How can you make improvements to your home office to allow some separation between your home life and your work life? What are you doing to take care of yourself? What can you be doing better?
Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers can help you think through these questions and provide services to implement change. To talk with someone about what services and support options might help, please give us a call at 651-646-5590 or email us at help@mnlcl.org.