By Megan M. Moore, Attorney Career and Business Coach
Did you know that operating at even a low level of stress all the time has impacts on your mental and physical health? As attorneys, we often operate in this way: responding to the most urgent matters all day, meeting filing deadlines, working with demanding clients, appearing in court, balancing a busy practice with … the list could go on. To top it off, attorneys might not get enough (any) exercise or take time away from our work. Stressful activities combined with a lack of healthy choices can lead to burnout and serious health issues like heart disease and depression.
Now that you know (or have been reminded) how stress can have negative impacts, what can you do to combat some of it? The Wellness Subcommittee of the San Diego County Bar Association has tools to help. The subcommittee’s purpose is to promote attorney wellness by offering programs, activities, and content for legal professionals. In the first Coach’s Corner of 2023, I want to share some of the resources available to support your wellbeing in 2023:
- Visit SDCBA’s Wellness page for all sorts of attorney resources, including articles, videos, and CLEs that focus on attorney wellbeing.
- Start or continue a meditation practice.
- Don’t know how to start? Join Amy Lepine and Jim Eischen for Wellness Wednesdays on the second Wednesday of each month. It’s free! You can register here.
- Learn more and, in some cases, earn CLE credit by watching past programs. Here are just a few of the videos you can access:
- Eating for Energy with Clinical Nutritionist Tara Coleman
- The Impact of Advocating for Others – Competency, Compassion Fatigue, and Lawyer Well-Being with Bethany Warren, LCSW, PMH-C
- Resolving to Have a No Burnout Year with subcommittee member Jim Eischen
- Standing Six Feet Back with subcommittee Co-Chair Megan Moore
As someone who coaches attorneys through career growth and change, I get to see firsthand how much it helps to get support from other people or organizations. Here are some practices you can put into place today to reduce stress:
- When you notice stress while sitting at your desk, pause, close your eyes, and take three, deep, slow breaths.
- If you just completed a filing or sending something important to your client, get up from your desk and take a lap around the office (or the block if you’re working from home).
- Eat lunch away from your desk.
- Practice mindful eating by taking a moment to smell your food; notice its texture as you chew, and observe how it tastes.
Taking care of yourself as an attorney often gets puts on the backburner. Let’s change that in 2023. I invite you to take one step today to reduce stress. It might something as simple as eating lunch away from your desk or watching one of the videos in this article. Drop a comment below to let the Wellness Subcommittee know what you tried and how it went.
Megan M. Moore is the Co-Chair of the SDCBA’s Wellness Subcommittee. She is a certified professional coach and licensed attorney. As President & CEO of Megan Moore, Inc., she supports career-driven attorneys to pivot away from stress and toward personal and professional fulfillment. You can visit her website or email her at Megan@MeganMooreInc.com to learn more about coaching.