Lawyers Managing Stress: Living a Healthier, Happier, and Less Stressful Life

Episode Notes

Transcript

Dave Scriven-Young:

Hello everyone, and welcome to Litigation Radio. I’m your host, Dave Scriven-Young. I’m a commercial and environmental litigator in the Chicago office of Peckar and Abramson, which is recognized as the largest law firm serving the construction industry with 115 lawyers and 11 offices around the us. On this show, we talk to the country’s top litigators and judges to discover best practices in developing our careers, winning cases, getting more clients, and building a sustainable practice. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcasting app to make sure that you’re getting updated with future episodes. This podcast is brought to you by the litigation section of the American Bar Association. It’s where I make my home in the A BA. The litigation section provides litigators of all practice areas, the resources we need to be successful advocates for our clients. Learn more at ambar.org/litigation.

Resilience is our ability to adapt to life’s misfortunes and setbacks, the ability to get up after we’ve been knocked down and maybe even better than we were before. From the stress of a partner placing an unreasonable deadline on you to having a bad ruling handed down for your client to a client failing to pay among others. The practice of law can be filled with misfortunes and setbacks. Today’s guest will give us some practical tips to develop resilience within ourselves so we can bounce back even stronger from these experiences. And today’s guest is Erin Clifford. You’ve heard her on our tips segment in past episodes. She’s a lawyer and director of marketing and business development at Clifford Law Offices in Chicago. Erin provides overall management of strategic business development such as planning, coordinating, and implementation of marketing and business plans. She’s also the founder of Erin Clifford Wellness, where she works with families, professionals, and corporations in creating and maintaining healthy lifestyles through nutrition, life and wellness coaching. Welcome back to the show, Erin.

Erin Clifford:

Thanks, Dave. I’m so happy to be here.

Dave Scriven-Young:

So let’s start with a background question because I think some people may be confused. You’re a lawyer, you’re a director of marketing business development, you were also a wellness coach. Take us a little bit through your career and kind of how you ended up in this wellness space.

Erin Clifford:

Yes. So when I first actually graduated from college, I taught high school in the Chicago public schools. And at that time I really saw that a lot of my students and their families were really struggling with their wellbeing. And having grown up in a legal family, my father’s a lawyer, many of my family members are lawyers. I saw a lot of connections between these two sections of society that you necessarily wouldn’t think shared a lot of things, but no matter where you’re at, I think life can be extremely stressful at times and your job and your life circumstances can get in the way of your wellness. So when I graduated from law school, I was still really interested in this and how could I help people? So I ended up going back to school and getting a certification. I did a year program for health and wellness coaching, and I specifically started working with lawyers and working with law firms.

And then eventually I realized if I really wanted to take this to the next level and really help people in our profession, I really needed that mental health component. So then I went back to Northwestern and got a master’s in clinical mental health counseling. And here I’m at and I really enjoy being part of our profession, but then being able to give back to the lawyers, to law firms because I really think this can be a very fruitful profession, but unfortunately it’s riddled with such chronic stress and overwhelm that it’s so important now that we really do think about our physical and our mental health.

Dave Scriven-Young:

Well, and you did mention chronic stress, so let’s get right to the meat of the topic here. How does chronic stress impact the mental health and physical health of attorneys?

Erin Clifford:

So chronic stress can really create, as you mentioned, that physical unwellness really a lot of physical illnesses can come from chronic stress and of course the mental health disorders, whether it’s depression, anxiety, as well as substance use and addiction. And when I think of chronic stress in our profession, I really think about it as the lawyers are so overwhelmed, whether that’s billing, making sure you have enough billable hours dealing with your colleagues, your clients, all the personal accolades and successes that you want, that it can often become extremely isolating. And I work with a lot of people who will mention feeling really a loss of joy and fulfillment, even if they may have checked all the gold stars within their career space there because of the stress and all of the demands that are on us, lawyers often get put in this little pigeonhole and then they don’t realize they’re neglecting maybe their other life domains, which are really helpful in rounding out your wellness and your wellbeing.

Dave Scriven-Young:

Well, it’s funny you mentioned joy and fulfillment. So I’ve been working with my own coach, if you will, and one of the things that I noticed, and it’s not only in my lawyer life but also kind of bleeds over in my personal life a little bit, is that I have a lawyer brain that’s turned on all the time that sometimes forbids me from feeling joy in the moment. And maybe this is going to sound a little weird, but noticing and being present for joyful moments because I’m kind of looking around the corner for something bad that’s going to happen. Do you notice that? Is that a lawyer thing or is that just a me thing?

Erin Clifford:

I think it’s really a lawyer thing. We are such critical thinkers, and when you’re good at your job, it’s because you’re able to really focus. So it can be hard to take a step back and really turn your mind and everybody always says, oh, we should meditate and do all these different mindfulness things. But when I think of to connect it with the joy, when I think of mindfulness too, it’s not just being able to be present in the moment, but it can also be achieved by doing things that bring you joy. So for instance, if growing up you loved to paint or color, I love to cook, sometimes I like to bring in other things that clients really felt joy in doing now or at some point in their life as their mindfulness activity to teach them to be able to put themself in that space where they’re present. And I would say too, the fact that you realize this is happening is a really big deal because a lot of times we’re on autopilot. But if you’re getting to the point where you’re like, you know what, I actually realize that this is really hard for me, I think that’s the first step to making a shift

Dave Scriven-Young:

Shift. Absolutely. And what is the thing for you that kind of brings you joy in terms of maybe something from your childhood or something that you kind of brought back from your childhood when now as a lawyer and as a coach?

Erin Clifford:

So one of my absolute favorite things is I grew up cooking with my grandmother. She was Polish and she used to cook everything and bake everything from scratch. So when I started getting really stressed out, which really was when I entered the legal profession, and I’ve been working on my own wellness for a really long time, I started taking cooking classes again. And that is one of my all-time favorite things to do. I’m in Chicago and I take a lot of cooking classes at the chopping block. I do things online whenever I’m stressed out and I come home at the end of the day just cooking a nice meal for myself, my family can just be so therapeutic. I really don’t think about anything else. I’m just focused on what I’m doing. Of course spending, I have golden retrievers and spending time with my little girl Daisy brings me more joy than I can say.

Dave Scriven-Young:

Oh, that’s cute. So what are some signs that an attorney may be experiencing like very high levels of stress or trauma? I mean, certainly I think we know when we’re under stress, but what are some of the signs that we know that we need to get some help?

Erin Clifford:

So I think one thing is of course there’s the physical illnesses. A lot of physical illnesses can really take hold when we’re extremely stressed out. So making sure that we’re really taking care of ourself on that end as well as the mental health concerns. But sometimes you might not realize when is it really a mental health concern that I need to talk to somebody about or get some assistance for? And I think sometimes it’s areas that you might not think about. So for instance, if you’re constantly getting sick or you’re consistently getting headaches and lots of aches and pains, if you have digestive issues, changes in appetite, if you’re having trouble with sleep or experiencing insomnia, fatigue all day, I think if you get up and you were just overwhelmed, you don’t want to get out of bed, those are really signs that the chronic stress is getting to you as well as just being really irritable, frustrated, moody. If you have experienced changes in your sex drive or how you feel like you’re relating to others, all these things can be little signs of us slowly starting to let that chronic stress build up. Because what we don’t want to have happen, and I think that’s why it’s great to talk about strategies and prevention is get to the point where we do become really physically or mentally unwell.

Dave Scriven-Young:

Yeah. I’ve heard a lot about the concept of resilience and grit, a lot of these kind of concepts. Can you tell us what resilience might mean to you and what it means in the wellness space for attorneys?

Erin Clifford:

Sure. When I think of resilience, I really think of how do we adapt well in the face of any kind of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, significant sources of stress, so something happening in the workplace, financial stressors, things with your family and relationships. If you do struggle with some serious health problems and it’s really that idea that stress is going to happen, life has all ups and downs. So how can we get to a place where we can build up our resilience, where we’re able to bounce back from difficult experiences or if somebody has a setback and their personal life or at work, you’re able to move past it and not just let that experience define you. And the thing about resilience is we can all build it up, but you actually have to do things to work on that. It’s not just going to happen for us.

Dave Scriven-Young:

And one of the things that I’ve noticed, and I think it’s maybe a Tony Robbins quote, but it’s something like thinking about when something happens to you, what is the meaning that you’re going to take from that experience? And is it going to be something that’s going to hurt you for the rest of your life or is it something that you’re going to learn from and kind of move on, which is extremely hard to do. And we’re going to talk about some strategies on how to build resilience, but I also like to think of these strategies as something like a shield. You think of like a knight putting on an armor and you have your sword and your shield, and before you walk into the Courtroom or even to the office, you have these practices may allow you to kind of not only ward it off what’s happening kind of in front of you, but also as maybe a potion to help you feel better afterwards. So let’s talk about some of these practices that we can use to build resilience in the face of stress and trauma. What is one example that you’d like to bring to us first?

Erin Clifford:

Sure. I mean, I think one thing that can be helpful is having a toolkit to use when you get yourself into those stressful situations. And just like anything over time, these things become really a part of us, even on a neurological level too. So for instance, with we often tell individuals that it’s really good to have those mindfulness practices like breath work, meditation, but if we don’t do those things at a regular basis, it’s not going to help us When we’re really stressed out in court, if we can take a deep breath, but that’s something we do regularly, our body’s going to get used to being able to calm itself down. I also think grounding exercises can be great. So if anyone’s ever really stressed out in the moment thinking about your five senses, what do you smell? What do you taste? What do you hear?

What do you see? What do you touch? Why do I say that? Because if I’m thinking about those things, I’m giving myself a second to kind of calm down When you think about having a shield, if I can just take a minute to think and not react, that can be really helpful. As well as continuously from a preventative standpoint, making sure that we have routines, we build our self care, we have boundaries in place, and really living in a way where we’re being self-compassionate, we’re able to give ourselves grace. And a lot of that too comes from that positive self-talk. As we mentioned, sometimes we have setbacks in our profession personally or in our situations with our relationships, but am I able to say something positive to myself, I can move past it. Can I learn from this as opposed to taking it in and adding it to that chronic stress? Can I say, you know what, I’m a great person. I did my best today. I can learn from my experiences versus what I did terrible today. I’m a bad attorney. If we’re constantly saying those things to ourselves over time, that’s really going to put a damper on our mental health and our resilience to bounce back.

Dave Scriven-Young:

Well, let’s talk about routines because I’ve heard a lot about morning routines and things that we can do to set ourselves up for success. I’ve noticed, and this may be, again, this is just something with me, but I imagine it’s an attorney wide thing where we often, or I often tend to set myself up for failure with the morning routine. For example, I want to work out in the morning. I’ve been doing a great job with that and really watching what I’m eating and that sort of thing. But in order to do all of that before an early morning appointment, that means I’m pushing back my wake up time to maybe a very unreasonable hour, which is probably not good in itself. So tell us a little bit about how we should be building a routine and specifically a morning routine and maybe share some of the things that you do.

Erin Clifford:

So I think when we were thinking about morning routines, I love routines. I actually think that having morning, evening and workday routines can really be almost like a superpower for attorneys if you can get them together because this is going to help you be able to get all these self-care practices in the building resilience if you’re able to do it on a regular basis. And because our schedules can be so crazy at times, you might have a really busy week where you’re at a conference or you’re on trial traveling. You can easily adapt your routines when they’re in place. Or even if you feel like you got off track or a little bit out of alignment, you can come back to something. So they can be a really good base. So I know what you’re saying. If you try to put too much stuff in, it can’t always be successful.

So the one thing I would note, whenever I’m setting routines with somebody, I always think about sleep. So what time do you want to wake up? We really all need at least seven, they say seven to nine hours. All the research tells us as adults to really get the best sleep. So we’re able to function really well. So even if you’re going to go on the low end and say seven hours, you want to make sure when you’re thinking of not just your morning routine but your evening routine, how can I set this up where I’m getting the allotted amount of sleep? Then doing something that I always say sets a positive mindset for the day. So for some people that might be working out, it might be cooking your breakfast. My husband loves to just sit and physically read the newspaper and have some coffee and just chill for a little bit when he gets up.

And I think that’s a great stress for him. That’s sort of a de-stressing morning routine instead of just being on the phone right away. So personally for myself, I like to get up. I usually get up around like five 30 and I do something. I’m an early bird, and when I do, I do something physical. So whether that’s going to work out with my trainer doing something at home. And I am also very kind to myself. If I get up and I’m not feeling a hundred percent, sometimes that just means 10 minutes of stretching, but I’m always good when I get up and move around a little bit. I also like to reflect on in the morning how I’m feeling. One of my favorite things to give my clients is when you get up in the morning to take a second to think about how do I feel physically, mentally, and emotionally, because that’s going to really dictate where I’m at that day.

If I get up and I’m really in more of a positive mindset, I’m feeling really sharp, that’s great. But if I get up, which I do some days and I’m feeling maybe if I’m feeling a little down or anxious or I am tired still, that’s going to sort of dictate for me how I’m showing up. And I look at it totally without judgment, but is there something I can do that can kind of flip my mindset? And I’m also mindful about when I go interact with somebody, if I go interact with my husband, when I come into the office and I’m interacting with my colleagues, if I know where I’m at, I’m much better able to engage with them. And then of course, before I leave for work in the morning, I always like to spend a minute with Daisy giving her a hug. That always makes me feel great.

And another great strategy I have for people is beyond checking in with yourself to how you’re feeling, thinking about just five things that you’re grateful for. And it can be as simple as your family, your home that you’re in. Maybe you’re able to easily get to commute to work or you’re working from home that makes you happy. But always just reflecting on five things that you’re grateful for and setting an attention for the day, whether that’s you have a really important thing at work that you really want to stay focused on, or maybe you just want to stay in a more positive moon or be kinder to yourself. If you wake up and you’re kind of feeling on the wrong side of the bed just saying, you know what? I’m going to give myself grace and just be kind to myself today. But I think the idea with the morning routine is something that is going to let us check in with ourselves and set us up to get into a more calming, relaxed mental state.

Dave Scriven-Young:

That’s really smart. And I’d like you to also put on your business development hat as well. And we’re going to talk about boundaries because, and again, maybe this is just a personal therapy session, I don’t know. But one of the things that I struggle with often is trying to figure out the balance between the things I can do for business development and then finding time for myself in terms of sleep. You mentioned seven hours of sleep, you’re getting up at five 30, that means you’re going to bed at what, 10, 10 30. You must be able to then very specifically say, okay, well there’s only so much work I can do during the day, then I’m coming home and spending time with my family, and then I have a pretty set bedtime. So for an attorney who’s in private practice and you’re trying to bring in business and you’re trying to impress and make partner, all of that kind of stuff, I think the tendency, and I see this a lot in myself, which is getting involved in just a super number of activities.

So I’m in a PROVISORS group, I belong to the Chamber of Commerce, I’m in bar associations, all of this leadership stuff, and you’re trying to meet clients and you’re trying to do all this stuff and you’re trying to do your actual work. How do you recommend folks to set those boundaries and say, okay, there’s really only so much that I can do only so many hours, I can build only so many activities that I can accomplish and meetings I can take before I need to start taking care of myself. So talk a little bit about boundaries in a business development context.

Erin Clifford:

Sure. I mean, I think one thing that we all have to recognize, and it took me a really long time to get this myself. When I first graduated from law school, I worked as a clerk on the appellate court, the two women that were my co-works in our chambers who have become two of my best friends. I had been with them for a couple months and it was Christmas time and they bought me for Christmas, a red no button that says no 10 different ways. And I was like, why did you buy me this? And they told me, Erin, we haven’t known you that long, but you do way too much stuff and you’re not taking care of yourself, so we thought that this would be really good for you. And this was around the time I started my coaching program, and that always resonated with me because I personally struggle with boundaries.

It’s taken me a long time to realize that to be successful in my career, I have to have boundaries because what’s also important to me as an individual is that my other life domains matter to me too. So I think one thing is recognizing that if we are overworked and overstressed, we’re not going to be at our best from a business standpoint, from an attorney standpoint. So it really is important that we learn as we grow in our careers to recognize what are the things that I have to do If it sounds like me, you’re involved in a lot of things outside of the law, traditional practice, whether that’s being on boards, being involved in professional groups, I always say, how many things are you willing to go to after hours? If you’re somebody who’s got things five nights a week, you’re going to really burn out quickly.

So I always tell people to think about write down what it is that you’re willing to do, so you’ve got your work hours. And then if you have, whether it’s social events with your family and friends, if it’s professional development events, if it’s board events, whatever those things are, how many you’re willing to do a week. Because a lot of times in my mind, this is really about strategizing when we think of setting boundaries, because if we don’t strategize, we’re going to say yes to too many things. And then on the flip side, if your boundaries, I like to say we want our boundaries to be flexible because if they’re too porous, we have a tendency to take on too much stuff. But if they’re too rigid, then we’re going to miss out on things and it’s really going to lead to that isolation. So I think the part of this is just that mindset of, I always tell people, put that oxygen mask on first. If we’re not taking care of ourself and our health, we’re not going to be the best for everybody else. So if we can come at it from that perspective and thinking about what do I need to do? What am I willing to do? Because if we end up taking on too much to get back to where we started with, you’re going to end up with chronic stress, you’re going to end up with some kind of illness, and then whatever it is you’re trying to achieve and protect isn’t going to happen anyway.

Dave Scriven-Young:

So Erin, tell us about how you go about saying no to things because, and maybe this is an obvious question, but attorneys are presented with so many different opportunities, as you mentioned, bar activities and other things. How do you go about saying no without offending somebody and not closing that door in case something comes along where you just can’t say no and you have to give something else up? So tell us about some strategies behind saying no and determining what you should say no to.

Erin Clifford:

Sure. I mean, I think one of my favorite quotes is you can do anything, but you can’t do everything. And so I think as lawyers, we need to really take that to heart. So we are presented a lot of times if we’re lucky, right? With all these great opportunities, but you can’t do everything. So I think it’s important to think about from a career standpoint, from a personal standpoint, when you get asked something A, is this something that’s important to me? Is this something I would want to do? Secondly, do I have time to do this? How is this going to impact the other areas in my life? I think it’s important to think about that too because often when we think about a career opportunity or something that we think might benefit our career, we’re sort of thinking about it from that lens. But if somebody has a family or they have some other obligations, or if they’re suffering from an illness at the moment and they feel like they really need to hone in on their health and their self-care, it might not be the best time.

So I think spending a second to actually think about it is important because I also think that we have a tendency as lawyers to respond really quickly and feel like we have to answer someone immediately. So I think it’s helpful to take a step back, really consider it, don’t react to it or impulsively decide. And if this is something that you’re interested in, then of course accepting it. But if it’s something that you might be interested in but you don’t think it’s the right time, I think it’s the best way is just to be direct. I mean, I think that as attorneys and people really in the professional space, I also work with a lot of high level people in different corporations who struggle with some of the same things that we do as attorneys, and I think we all get it. So I think you’re not closing the door when you say respond to the person or have a conversation with them, whether it’s through email in person, over zoom the phone just saying, this is something I am very interested in the future, but right now given what I have going on with my work in my personal stuff, this just isn’t the right time.

And just continuing to have that conversation is important. And somebody told me this once, and I find this very helpful. If you’re waffling about something, think about and you’re like, if this was in a couple months from now, I would say yes. So maybe I should say yes. Now, whether this is a career opportunity, it’s a dinner with a friend, an event you have to go to, if you don’t want to do it today, you are not going to want to do it in three months. I rarely ever see that that happens. There’s something about it if you’re waffling on it, and I think you have to go with your gut some things.

Dave Scriven-Young:

That is a really good piece of advice because I often find myself waffling about going to an event or joining something, and then I impulsively just think about it in the moment and just say, well, okay, well, I’m just scared and I need to get over that frightening aspect of it and I need to just push through and just do it, and then I join whatever. And then I think to myself later on, I really shouldn’t have done that, so totally get that. But it’s a hard feeling because I think and all of the, what do they call it, personal development stuff that you see on YouTube and social media these days, they all try to act like you have to be some superhuman character who can do everything. And if you feel scared, then that means you just have to push through it. Sometimes it means your gut is telling you it’s just not the right thing for you to do. Right?

Erin Clifford:

Yeah, and I always think about too, especially as somebody who’s a mental health professional, that when we can just be honest with ourselves that you know what the thought of doing this is making me anxious, overwhelmed. I feel like I’m just taking on too much. I’m a little scared that this is just going to be one more thing. I think to me that’s brave, right? Being able to be honest with ourself and others, and I also think of setting these sort of boundaries as building a skill. If you think about it, if you haven’t worked out in a long time, when you go to the gym, it’s going to take you a while to be able to lift more weights, to be able to do a little bit harder cardio, to really build up. The same thing with boundaries. The more we practice these things intentionally, the better we’re going to get at it, and the more we’re going to recognize our own physical and mental signs when something is a yes, something is a no.

Dave Scriven-Young:

Okay. You mentioned exercise, so give us some of your kind of best tips on for folks who haven’t been to the gym in a while or don’t have a particular exercise regimen, how to go about starting one?

Erin Clifford:

Sure. I mean, I think exercise is just so important, especially for people in our profession. Not only does it help with chronic stress, physical help, it really boosts our mental health. It makes us get a sense of calm. It’s also wonderful for our longevity. It’s actually the number one thing if you look at all the longevity research that really keeps us healthy and helps us age well, so it’s important that we all have some sort of activity in, but you don’t have to do too much to get it in. I mean, I always tell people to start small. Ideally it’s great to at least put in schedule in your calendar. I’m a big fan again of having routines, so having an exercise routine, having in at least three days a week where you’re scheduling in some sort of exercise, and when I say three days a week, that doesn’t necessarily mean to be an hour, right?

It could start off by 10 minutes, 20 minutes and build up from there. I mean, the reality is if you look at from just a health standpoint, we don’t need to do more than 150 minutes of exercise a week when we build up to that to stay healthy. And so that can be doing those workouts in the gym. It can be doing a yoga class, it could be taking a walk. It could be things that you do in your own life if you have a dog when you’re walking your dog or you park your car far, take the stairs, all of these things add up, play with your kids garden swim. My doctor, who I really admire, she’s got some great little simple tips and she tells all of her patients to plan, plan in three workouts a week and then just be active in your life.

Set movement, alarms on your phone. If you’re someone that sits all day like I do it, most of us attorneys being sure that we get up every hour or two even just to stretch and walk around. These are all great ways just to get movement going, and I tell people to be intentional about it. That’s why I love scheduling things around workouts or just putting in your routine in that schedule. Because even if something comes up with work and you’re like, well, or your kids or you really can’t make it, what would we do if that was a work appointment? We would just move it like we would any other appointment. So I think it’s really about being intentional and realizing even just walking is a great activity and you don’t need anything to do that.

Dave Scriven-Young:

We’ve covered so much ground here. Do you have any other last minute tips or thoughts about resilience that you might want to give to our listeners today?

Erin Clifford:

One of my favorite stories from growing up is the tortoise in the hare. So I always like to tell people that it was the tortoise, not the hare that wins the wellness race. What I mean by that is it’s not about rushing towards things or rushing to have that resilience or rushing to have the perfect routines. It’s about slowly building things up over time, slowly adding things in that do give you some more resilience, that give you some more self-care. When you’re setting those boundaries, recognizing that it’s okay and it takes time, and if you’re moving in the right direction, that’s really what’s the most important. And at the end of the day, if whatever happens in your life and in your career or at the office that day, really being able to give yourself some grace because it’s something that we all deserve. We’re all just trying our best. And I think when we can really have that graceful mindset that’s focused on compassion for ourself, others, and gratitude, we can eventually carve out the life that we want to have.

Dave Scriven-Young:

Excellent. Erin Clifford, thank you so much for being on the show today. Really appreciate all of your tips through our tip segments and also through today’s interview. It’s been such a treat. Thank you so much for being on. Well,

Speaker 3:

Thanks for having me.

Dave Scriven-Young:

Thanks to litigation section, premier sponsor, Berkeley Research Group for sponsoring this podcast. BRG is an award-winning global consulting firm composed of world-class experts and accounting, damages analysis, economics, finance, intellectual property valuation, data analytics and statistics who work across industries, disciplines, and jurisdictions delivering clear perspectives that you can count on. Their guiding principle is intelligence that works. Learn [email protected]. And now it’s time for our quick tip from the A BA litigation section’s, mental health and wellness task force. And I’d like to welcome back Haley Maple to the show. Haley is a shareholder at Kat Siegel and Maple in Tampa Bay, Florida where she focuses on representing design professionals, general contractors, subcontractors and manufacturers in all stages of litigation and in professional liability matters, commercial litigation, contract disputes, and construction defect litigation. Welcome back to the show, Haley.

Speaker 3:

Thanks, Dave.

Dave Scriven-Young:

Well, I understand you’re going to talk about volunteering outside of pro bono activities, so what’s your quick tip today?

Speaker 3:

I sure am and I know that this is something that is near and dear to both of us. I’m lucky enough to have you as a colleague, and I know that you do a lot of volunteering out there outside of your day-to-Day legal job. I’m constantly looking for strategies and ways to decrease my stress, mental load and increase my mental health and thereby increasing my physical health too. I think all attorneys and in particular litigators are on a similar journey when we’re looking on how to care for our mental health. I think typically we start by thinking about how to take something off of our plate. We look at our to-do list, identify a chore that a child can take on grocery shopping through a delivery service or otherwise delegating a task to a paralegal or colleague. Frequently, what we don’t do is think about taking something else on other than perhaps something like yoga or therapy.

It may seem counterintuitive, but an excellent way to increase your mental health is by volunteering. And the beauty of volunteering is it presents an option to do something outside of your personal life and career, something outside of you as you are on a day-to-day basis, finding a cause you care about allows you to flex parts of your brain that you don’t always get to access and to learn new things, whether that’s volunteering for an organization like Habitat for Humanity and learning carpentry skills or volunteering for a podcast like this one and learning how a podcast is made, volunteering has been shown through various studies and reports, including those from the Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic to boost mental health because giving back to the community decreases stress and anxiety levels and actually boost your overall health, not just your mental health. Volunteering releases serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins and gives us a sense of purpose and a new perspective.

We can recognize how blessed we are depending on what we’re doing or give back to those who may not have as much as we do or be as fortunate while we can get that feeling of success. When we win a summary judgment motion arguing, a summary judgment motion comes with the time and stress of preparing for it, writing it, and having careful considerations for our client’s strategies and our client’s budget. Volunteering doesn’t come with all of that. The beauty of volunteering is you show up, you do what you can when you can for as long as you can, and you do that with something that you’re passionate about. Whether that’s a cause or something you just enjoy, be that theater, the arts, horses, food banks, voting rights, registering people to vote, community parks, the welfare of children. It’s endless and you really can do it whenever you want.

Even something as simple as organizing a food or a diaper drive can give you that reward feeling and that dopamine boost. You can use that as a way to connect with clients, to meet people, and to just generally give back. There’s a local organization here in Tampa that collects flowers from weddings and funerals and florists then also collects VAEs. They take the flowers and the VAEs and deliver bouquets to nursing homes and retirement communities brightening the day of the recipients of the flowers as well as those who get to deliver and give a gift of joy to somebody. It’s a little thing, but everyone wins. I am not providing this tip for the purpose of promoting the A BA, but it’s absolutely the truth that one of the reasons I volunteer with the ABA Litigation Section is that it gives me a way to meet people I otherwise wouldn’t meet who have similar challenges and interest while working on things that are interesting to me like a podcast or things that I’m passionate about, like mental health, which is what I’m talking about here today. It’s important as supervisors and lawyers that we support this boost in endorphins in our staff by supporting days of community service for our team or otherwise offering recognition for good work. Like so many of you, every time I volunteer, I’m reminded of how good and makes me feel, and I try to make it a priority to find new things and go back to other things I’ve done in the past that give me that good feeling again, counterintuitive, but making the time to volunteer can really improve your mental and physical wellbeing. Thanks, Dave.

Dave Scriven-Young:

Thank you Haley, so much for being on the show today. We really appreciate your tips.

Speaker 3:

Thank you.

Dave Scriven-Young:

And that’s all we have for our show today, and I’d love to hear your thoughts about today’s episode. If you have comments or a question you’d like for me to answer on an upcoming show, you can contact me at [email protected] and connect with me on social. I’m at Attorney Dsy on LinkedIn, Instagram X and Facebook. You can also connect with the ABA Litigation Section on those platforms as well. But as much as I’d like to connect with you online, nothing beats meaning you in person in one of our next litigation section events. So please make plans to join us at the 2024 Class Actions National Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, taking place October 24th through the 25th. The National Institute is to Premier class action conference in the United States and is attended by practitioners on both sides of theBar, esteemed Juris in-house counsel and academics. The world of class actions moves quickly and with several recent court decisions and litigation trends.

This year’s conference promises to be more relevant than ever. To find out more, and for registration information, go to ambar.org/class actions. If you like the show, please help spread the word by sharing a link to this episode with a friend or through a post on social and invite others to join the show and community. If you can leave a review over at Apple Podcasts, it’d be incredibly helpful to us. Even a quick rating at Spotify would be super helpful as well. And finally, I want to quickly thanks some folks who make this show possible. Thanks, to Michelle Oberts who’s on staff for the litigation section. Thanks. Also goes out to the co-chairs of the Litigation Section’s audio content committee, Haley Mapel and Tyler True thank you to the audio professionals from Legal Talk Network. And last but not least, thank you so much for listening. I’ll see you next time.