If that sounds at all like you, here are 3 things you can do now to reclaim your life (and your sanity)….

It’s easy for life to get away from us lawyers. The work we do can lead to some pretty heavy consequences and sometimes we have a lot of clean up to do on behalf of our clients. Many of us carry the burdens our clients can’t for themselves.

But we’re human, too. And we often don’t do a very good job of taking care of us. Once we hit our 40s and 50s, we can’t get by on adrenaline and coffee (and maybe other substances, too – it’s not exactly a secret that our profession has a HUGE problem with substance abuse) alone.

We have to get real about what our priorities are, what we need the most, and whether we are ready to heed warning signs our bodies and our families may have already given us. Those warning signs come in the form of failing relationships and failing health.

The good news is those things can always be remedied. We always have a chance to change. To do better by and for ourselves. And that means we can do better for others we care about, too. Because we won’t be able to do that for anyone if we’re actually not around at all anymore.

When it comes to bringing our work lives into better alignment with our outside-of-work lives, there are a few places to start. A big part of making lasting changes comes from getting real about a few things so that we can create new habits that support the changes we want to make.

Here are my 3 favorite places to start…

1) Get real with your time…

If you live by the billable hour, you know that every minute of the day is NOT billable. And that shooting for an 8 hour billed day means you’re probably working more like 9 or 10, right? Maybe more… And even if most of your work is flat fee or contingent fee, it’s amazing to see how much time gets wasted when we aren’t spending it mindfully. And that means more hours working than we may find desirable.

Have you ever stopped to figure out how much time you spend on little things? Do you add up all those little bits of time spent on things like a phone call from a friend, or an unplanned visit from a neighbor? Perhaps on grocery shopping, surfing the net, or perhaps the biggest time suck of all… social media?

If you feel like you have plenty of time for everything in your life that matters, CONGRATULATIONS!!! you can skip the rest of this section, but if you don’t, I want you to stop and think about where time goes for you.

If you begin to control your schedule, allocate certain blocks of time for specific activities (such as taking and returning phone calls and responding to emails only at particular hours of the day), I guarantee you’ll find a lot more efficiency in those tasks. And probably take back a surprising amount of time in your day.

Are there things you can stop doing yourself? Get a grocery or food box delivery service? Have a house cleaner (even just once a month makes a difference), or a virtual assistant? Perhaps contract attorneys who can pick up work that needs to get done, but not necessarily by you? Are there volunteer projects that really don’t need your vision and expertise (or at least right now)?

If you catch yourself saying “I don’t have enough time to [fill in the blank],” I invite you to change your inner dialogue to “I choose to [fill in the blank.” That one sentence will make you more aware of what you do with your time. And remind you that you always have a choice. No matter what.

Instead of “I don’t have time to cook a healthy dinner,” how about “I choose to have healthy food choices available to me?” Or , instead of “I don’t have time to work out….”, try “I choose to prioritize working out today at [whatever time].”

The work will be there when you get back. I promise.

2) Get real with your money….

How much do you want to make? That’s the first question. If you don’t know the answer, it’s an important place to start. Even if you have a strictly salaried job, there are ways to increase your revenue if it’s not where you want it to be.

And if you’re working your tail off, missing out on important life events, and making more than you need, but not sure how to step down your time commitment, maybe it’s time to take a look at why you’re doing that….

Perhaps you're burning dough on things you don't need or aren't working for you. Expensive SEO not doing a thing for you? Have an admin that isn't earning his keep? Remember, you're trading YOUR time for money to support those things. It may be time to clear out expenses that aren't serving you. And that may be keeping you from spending money and time on things you really want to do for yourself, your family, or your community..

Once you get clear on this point and this point alone, you can start making different choices about how you spend your time, how you improve your practice, and what you do from here on out. It make zero sense to invest in anything different (marketing, time management, or a new admin) until you know what it is you really want to achieve, whether it’s greater revenue or more free time.

Or both.

3) Get real with yourself….

If you’ve read this far, I’m guessing the odds are high that you’re unhappy or at least just not 100% satisfied for how your life and career are aligned at the moment. A great marketing coach I had the pleasure to meet recently introduced me to the phrase “loving hardass.” If you’re not happy in some aspect of your life, perhaps you need to become your own loving hardass. You’re in the place you’re in because of the choices you make. It’s that simple. The good news about THAT is you also can change the position you’re in by making different choices. You're the one in control of you, nobody else is. It’s that simple.

Once you own your choices, your actions, and the role YOU play in your situation, you can make some HUGE leaps forward, fix anything you want, and increase the satisfaction you have in your life.

If you pick just one of these three areas as a place for you to start right now and truly commit – I mean, really, truly decide that this is the thing you want to work on right now – you will make progress. But it’s probably not going to happen overnight (although it can if you want it to!) and nobody else will do it for you.

Are you wanting to make some changes? If so, where are you going to start? Is this your time?

If you want to take some action now, reach out, book a call, and I’ll let you know how. Whether it’s just joining our newsletter list, our Facebook group, or more in-depth group or one-on-one coaching, there’s a place for you for where you are now and where you want to go next. We're here when you're ready.