If you’re a lawyer in legal practice, chances are your day-to-day experience is filled with uncertainty. I’ve had many lawyers, from junior to senior, confide in me that they feel a lack of confidence over some aspect of their practice due to the uncertain nature of their work, so if this resonates, you are most definitely not alone.

 

Lawyers live in a world where we’re expected to be confident. There’s the notion that lawyers are trusted advisors who are practically omniscient and whom other people turn to for answers. We’re expected to embody confidence, but how do we portray that when we operate in an environment with inherent uncertainty?

 

What makes time management so challenging for lawyers?

 

If you find yourself sacrificing time with friends and family, unable to practice adequate self-care, or unable to prioritize the things you care about outside of work, you’re most definitely not alone. While the practice of law presents a few unique challenges that make managing your time feel close to impossible, the good news is I’ve got a five-stage roadmap that will help you identify your personal challenges and offer tools that will give you control, confidence, clarity, and a sense of calm around your schedule.

 

Have you ever imagined what a perfect workweek would look like for you? Do you have a plan for more balance in your life but struggle to stick to your schedule? Why is your ideal week currently just an aspiration, and how can you bring it to fruition?

 

You ultimately want to feel calm and confident about your workweek, but the reality is that the lawyers I speak with often feel like they’re at the mercy of their practices, exhausted, and overworked. If you’re ready to learn how to create weeks that align with what you truly want, the truth is you need systems and strategies to make it a reality, and I’m sharing my top tips with you today.

 

Do you ever wish you could clone yourself and have multiple versions of you who can execute the functions you undertake?

 

Whether in your professional or personal life, delegation might bring up a number of challenges and cause you some level of frustration. If all you want is someone to whom you can delegate work with the comfort, safety, and knowledge that it’ll come back exactly the way you want, and this is far from your current experience, today’s episode may help you.

 

Joining a firm as a new lawyer or a junior lawyer can be incredibly intimidating. There is the legal aspect, where you may be inexperienced in the tasks the firm needs you to do. Then there is the aspect of working in a professional environment which you may never have experienced before. Developing your skills is a must, but how can you do that when you’re brand new to the field or firm?

 

To answer this question and many others with me this week, I invited lawyer, coach, and author Adriana Paris onto the podcast. As the Director of Attorney Development and Recruiting at Rissman Law, Adriana oversees the hiring, training, and retention of lawyers at the firm. She is also the author of Rising Lawyer, a practical guide for law students and junior associates who want to succeed in the legal profession. In her work as a productivity coach for lawyers, she helps her clients navigate the challenges and opportunities of their careers while getting the most important things done more efficiently.

 

Over the last six years of my coaching practice, I’ve witnessed many lawyers just like you who are experiencing a feeling of stagnation or plateau in their careers. They question why they’re stuck when it seems like everyone else around them is happy in their practice. If you’re experiencing an internal nudge that something needs to change, you’re most definitely not alone.

 

My clients are invariably brilliant, smart, ambitious lawyers who want to create an impact that is often beyond what they’re currently achieving. They strive to foster professional excellence while cultivating a supporting environment in their personal lives, but face a bottleneck and can’t see a path forward. To make progress, we must first uncover why you’re feeling stuck, and I’m sharing my observations with you this week.

 

How do you currently record your billable hours, and how does your process make you feel?

 

The lawyers I work with often commit to a solid docketing practice at the beginning of the year, only to find themselves slipping and playing catch-up by this point in January. They tell me that recording their timesheets feels more challenging than it needs to be, and they find it a painful process that stirs up feelings of dread, resistance, and resentment, leading them to drag their feet.

 

Boundaries tend to be a novel issue for many lawyers practicing in today’s world. In a profession mired in a culture of achievement and excellence, you’re not alone if the notion of setting and upholding boundaries feels scary, but the truth is it’s more important than you might think.

 

Bena Stock is a litigator-turned-counselor for lawyers and the founder of The Lawyer Mindset. Among the many issues she helps lawyers overcome, she’s also been teaching lawyers how to set boundaries for over six years. She’s here today to walk us through how to set boundaries in environments where it’s particularly challenging, and why reinforcing your boundaries matters.

 

One of my favorite New Year’s traditions is to set a word of the year, a practice I’ve maintained every year since becoming a coach. This process revolves around casting a vision for the energy, decisions, and goals you’ll pursue throughout the year, serving as an incredibly helpful guide and anchor.

 

The word-of-the-year process typically involves choosing an aspirational word. However, there will inevitably be some days when we can’t fully embody the word we’ve chosen. This can lead us to feel a lack of connection to the word and, eventually, give up on it completely.

 

The promise of a New Year is an exciting time, and it’s the perfect opportunity to begin mapping out your future. It’s one of the most satisfying ways to use your time and there’s nothing I love more than writing out a plan, so to get you started, I’m helping you craft a business plan for your practice on this episode.

 

This episode will help you tweak your plan for 2024 if you already have one, or will provide lots of great suggestions if you haven’t already created one. If you want to make it to the end of 2024 with the results you’re envisioning right now, clarity and focus are essential, and a business plan is your path there.