How do you keep down your stress levels at the office?
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Stress management doesn’t come easily to lawyers, who are paid to stay on top of things. In the ABA Journal magazine, columnist Jeena Cho notes that lawyers’ analytical nature can get in the way of staying in the moment.
Cho starts simply in her six steps to starting meditation. Find a quiet spot, a chair and five minutes of time. At first, your mind will wander, but eventually you’ll be more focused and less stressed.
Meditation isn’t for everyone, but there are many ways to grow more resilient to stress. There are 80 listed in a tip sheet circulated by the ABA’s Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession. Strategies include encouraging workplace growth, planning group activities and extending personal acts of kindness.
One striking suggestion is to elevate the focus on client care. In the working group’s Well-Being Toolkit for Lawyers and Legal Employers, lawyer Anne Brafford writes that a focus on client satisfaction reduces stressful, competitive workplace behaviors.
This week, we’d like to ask: How do you keep down your stress levels at the office? Do you schedule time to work out? Organize a book club? Give bonuses based on client feedback?
Answer in the comments on our social media channels via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Meanwhile, unwind with some water-cooler discussion on last week’s question: Which fictional lawyer do you think is most true to life?
On Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, this topic drew both compelling comments and goofy GIFs.
Featured answer:
Posted by Sonya Olds Som on Twitter:
“Claire Huxtable from The Cosby Show was my role model for wanting to go to law school as a kid in the ’80s. And Maxine ‘Max the Maverick’ Shaw from Living Single, who I watched while in law school in the ’90s. Strong, smart, funny, confident #BlackWomenLawyers with rich, full lives.”
Do you have an idea for a future Question of the Week? If so, contact us.
