“Lawyers work an average of 54 hours a week, and it’s not uncommon for some to work upwards of 100 hours when the firm is especially busy.”

Overworking is slowly becoming less of a norm in our society. Overworking was, and is often, praised because it meant you were dedicated, focused and accomplished. But with the mental health stigma slowly unraveling, we are realizing that overworking can destroy and hurt your emotional and physical well-being. Burnout can cause serious health issues like heart disease, fatigue, insomnia, stroke, high blood pressure, and depression.

If you are a parent or caregiver, burnout can magnify during times such as spring break or when kids are out of school for the summer.

According to The World Health Organization, burnout can be divided into three components:
1. Feelings of exhaustion or depletion
2. Increased mental distance or feelings of negativity towards one’s job
3. A lack of accomplishment or ineffectiveness

Your state of burnout can affect your entire law practice. If you are burned out, it can be hard for you to focus on the vision of your firm. Your clients pay you to solve complex problems so it’s important to be at your best. The way you manage burnout can reflect on your team members and the culture of your law practice. If you are withdrawn, angry, exhausted, or irritable, this can trickle down to other team members.

Here are some ways you can prevent burnout, halt overworking, and still get the job done:
1. Delegate – by delegating to a team member, you are taking pressure off of yourself. You are also learning to trust your team. If you take time off, you know what team members will get the work done
2. Know when you are at your best – when you are at your best, you can focus on things that are more complex. When you aren’t at your best, learn to delegate, or take a break so you don’t overdo it
3. Determine what contributes to your burnout – if you know what contributes to your burnout, you can delegate, schedule a designated time period to focus on specific tasks, or do something once the task is done to help you relax
4. Seek balance – take a vacation, take a break, spend time with family and friends, or make time for yourself. If you have balance in your life, it will affect how you manage burnout and daily tasks. If you notice symptoms of burnout, you can seek out a therapist or professional help. You can also consider hobbies like yoga, working out, meditating, or journaling

Here at Atticus, we strive and commit to helping you cultivate a great practice and a great life through balance. Our goal is for you to take time off, re-energize, and have your law firm run itself. This may seem impossible, but attorneys and shareholders who we coach have proven it to be possible.

• Author Details

Abbie Guerrero

Abbie Guerrero

Assistant Marketing Manager/Resource Advisor

Abbie joined the Atticus team in 2021 with more than a decade of digital marketing experience. She is results driven and has an extensive background in content creation, lead generation, understanding the customer development process, solving problems, and advertising. She is an expert at building relationships and sets high quality expectations. She loves to set and exceed personal and professional goals.

Abbie is currently the Resource Advisor for Atticus livestream webinars and workshops. In addition to her Resource Advisor role, she is the Assistant Marketing Manager. In this role she leads the strategy for digital marketing, creates content for weekly newsletters, all advertising campaigns and executes many ad hoc marketing projects.

Abbie has her bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Utah Valley University. She is a blogger and published author and enjoys spending time with her family in both Utah and California.