When you are a practicing lawyer, so many things land on your plate. There are high-stakes situations, whether there is money involved, reputation, or family dynamics that are going to be affected. And as a lawyer, you may feel like a lot of this pressure rests on your shoulders, whether it’s coming from your clients, your superiors, or your partners.

 

As we become more stressed and overwhelmed, our to-do list starts to seem longer and longer, and the time goes faster and faster. So in this episode, I’m giving you some tools and strategies that you can use to navigate stressful situations when they come up for you in your day-to-day.

 

Last week, I mentioned a painting project I’m currently undertaking in my home office, and on this episode, I’m diving even further into this story because it’s not only amusing but what happened is something that I know you experience in your day-to-day too, whether in your professional work or personal life. 

 

I’m sure you can recall instances of making a decision, feeling great about it, and then something happening that made you second-guess it. Maybe you decided on a particular strategy at work, or with your children, it didn’t work out the way you expected, and you hear that revved-up inner voice telling you, “I told you so,” and you’re left kicking yourself for making a mistake. 

 

If you’re a long-time listener, you will be aware that I am very big on all things planning. I plan every day, week, month, and even my years. It’s so satisfying to think about plans and strategies for efficiency, results, or even a meltdown-free Sunday afternoon with my kids. So I’m taking a deep dive into planning on this episode.

 

If you want to change your practice, proper planning is going to be a key aspect of this work. And especially throughout the pandemic, we’ve been living in a very reactive way and settled into new routines. But things are changing and we’re entering a new normal, so if you want to break out of those ways of working, it’s going to take some strategic planning.

 

What steps do you take when you find yourself drifting off track from your goals?

 

It’s pretty easy for us to sense when this is happening in an area of our lives like our health or our relationships, but when it comes to the realm of our professional work, we may not notice those consequences for weeks, months, or even years. I know we can all relate to this, so today, I’m offering some strategies you can use to bring yourself back into alignment. 

 

Something almost all of my clients come to me for in my coaching work is a pep talk. They need a cheerleader who can be a pillar of support through tough times or someone to bounce ideas off of. So this week, I’m offering a resource that you can keep coming back to when you find yourself needing a pep talk.

 

In the legal profession, it can be particularly challenging to ask for the support you need. I’m sure you’ve found yourself in this kind of dilemma, with no one to turn to, and you’re most definitely not alone. Whether it’s cases you can’t talk about due to confidentiality reasons, or situations where you’ve made a mistake and just want to bury your head in the sand forever, you’re in the right place. 

 

What I’m bringing to the podcast today is central to the work that I do with lawyers. I’m giving you the three most common misconceptions that I see that stopping women lawyers in particular from creating a joyful practice where they feel fulfilled professionally and personally.

 

Are you at a stage where you’ve done all this hard work to get to where you are, you’ve gone through articling, the junior years, and you expected to be feeling more fulfilled at this point in your career? Maybe the work you’re doing isn’t resonating with your core values, or maybe you love the work you’re doing, but your life circumstances have changed so the environment doesn’t feel like a good fit anymore.

 

I see so many lawyers who struggle when it comes to their time. They’re feeling anxious and overwhelmed, running from task to task, and all this busyness doesn’t necessarily result in greater productivity. I find that a lot of them want solutions like apps, calendars, or strategies for managing their time better.

 

However, the answer that I have for them is that there is no one single app, calendar, or program that will really help them be more efficient with their time. So, what can you do if you’re having difficulty using your time effectively? Well, I’ve got one simple solution for you on this week’s episode.

 

Loneliness is something that so many lawyers experience, but rarely want to acknowledge and discuss with others. So, this is a great opportunity for me to share some of my own experiences as well as my clients’ to offer you some insights that might help you, and if you are feeling lonely, to turn that around.

 

I’m inviting you to think about times where you’ve felt alone, either in a professional capacity or in your personal life. I, for one, have certainly had the experience of being surrounded by people, but still feeling lonely. And if we don’t address these occurrences, it can have a profound negative impact on our professional development and advancement.

 

This week’s episode is dedicated to all you moms out there. Whether you’ve got young children, or you’re further ahead with older kids, reconciling the distinction between your pre-parent life and your post-parent life is extremely challenging. I’ve personally spent a lot of time thinking about the realities of being a professional working parent lately, and I think my insights will be helpful to you today.

 

Balancing our roles as parents and our roles in the workplace comes up a lot in my coaching conversations. My clients often struggle with navigating the balance between being active parents while also focusing on their careers, and they find my experience of how I’ve managed this to be interesting and helpful, so I’m sharing it with you too.

 

Today’s topic is one that comes up continually in the coaching discussions that I have with clients. We all have some experience with difficult conversations. Whether it’s in your practice or your personal life, they’re pretty much unavoidable, and they range from slightly uncomfortable all the way up to absolutely terrifying.

 

Well, in this episode, I’m giving you some elegant approaches to conversations that you might find awkward or difficult, so you can negotiate these situations with confidence and ease and create outcomes that you actually want when it comes to difficult conversations. And some of them may sound a little counterintuitive, but I invite you to stay with me and try these for yourself.