Not Taking Vacation Because You Feel Guilty? You’re Damaging Your Law Practice!

Are you a lawyer who feels guilty taking vacation? Can you even imagine unplugging for a day, let alone a week or two?

The billable hour requirement doesn’t go away when you do; I get it. Also, no one is going to take the work off of your desk while you’re away, amirite? Plus, you’ve likely bought into several (if not all) of the 5 lies lawyers tell themselves such as: Lie Number 1: I have to grind all the time to be successful; Lie Number 2: If I’m not busy, I’m lazy; and Lie Number 3: If I’m not busy, I’m lazy. If any of this sounds like you (or even if it doesn’t), you should most definitely read on.

Let’s start with some stats with some alarming stats from a recent Washington Post article that caught my eye. “Americans are about half as likely to be taking a vacation in any given week as they were 40 years ago” is the line that caught my eye. Dig deeper, though, and the statistics are even worse! Back in 1980, a measly 3.3% of people were taking vacation on any given week; today, that statistic is a measlier (yes, that’s a word) 1.7%. The article goes on to explain the “drop-off has been driven by our failure to take full-week vacations.”

Lawyers, holding advanced degrees should be, according to the statistics from the same article more likely to take both full week vacations (2.5%) and partial week vacations (2%). But are they properly represented in that data set? In other words, are lawyers actually taking time away from the office to recharge at the rates depicted in the article or, perhaps, less?

Sure, the use of vacation will vary depending on your position. For example, if you’re a true solo, you make take, perhaps a long weekend away, when courts are closed, think national holidays, and nothing else. If you’re a partner at an AM Law 100 firm, you may actually take a full week away totally unplugged. My guess is most lawyers are on a sliding scale that is weighted towards that true solo.

Now let’s talk about the importance of time away, truly away, from the office and work and what benefits would accrue to you, your clients, your firm, your family and friends, and your community. As I’ve spoken about (click here for a recording of my presentation on the basics of flow), the flow cycle consists of the following 4 phases: (1) Struggle; (2) Release; (3) Flow; (4) Recovery. Short (20 minute) periods of recovery daily to maintain your ability to achieve flow, however, aren’t enough in the long run. We need to disconnect, truly disconnect, in order to fully recharge and recover. That time away will redound to the benefit of not only your physical and mental health, but your productivity as well. We need look no further than professional athletes to understand this concept.

Many (if not all) professional athletes step completely away from their chosen sport during the “off season.” Some might look at this model and conclude it does not translate to the law firm environment. To those people, I ask one simple question: Why not? Lawyers are akin to athletes: we have to perform at a high level on a regular basis; our work is often divided into busy and not-so-busy cycles, akin to athletes ramping up for competition, etc. The only real difference is for lawyers, our “muscle” is our brains. Others may think they world-class athletes stay at the top of their game despite their time away. Talk to any Olympian or professional athlete, however, and they’ll tell you they are able to stay at the top of their game because of their time away, not in spite of it.

The benefits of recovery are well known in the athletic context (muscle recovery, cognitive rejuvenation, etc,), similar benefits come to lawyers who take time away: we are better able to perform our work, we are better leaders to our staff, we communicate better with clients, and we show up differently with our families, friends, and in our community.

The downside of not taking sufficient time away, truly away, from your work is an increased potential for burnout, or, worse yet, becoming one of the statistics our industry laments associated with alcohol abuse, depression, stress, and anxiety.

We’re all aware of the mindset “work hard; play hard.” The reality for many lawyers is “work hard; keep on working.” It’s a recipe for disaster.

Jeff Blackburn and Neil Young penned the lyric “it’s better to burnout than to fade away”; if you don’t take time away, this may as well be your mantra. The problem is that mantra hurts everyone. If you burnout, there are clients in the world who will never have the benefit of your unique legal mind; your firm, family, and community will suffer.

Don’t be that lawyer. Take time away.

If you struggle with taking time off and unplugging (or any of the 5 lies), reach out so we can have a conversation.

The 5 Lies Lawyers Have Bought Into: Lie Number 3 - You Must Be Available 24/7.

Cell phone. Text message. Email. Lions. Tigers. Bears. Oh my!

I think Steve Jobs was a genius, but part of me absolutely despises him for being what I view of the enabler of the lie all lawyers are told: you have to be available 24/7. That thought is balderdash! It actually sets lawyers up for failure. 

There are no fewer than two reasons why failure is the only result of being available 24/7.

First, there is a concept in sales you should under promise and over deliver in order to create clients who are evangelists for you and your work. This concept is true for lawyers as well because we all know a 100% referral-based business is the holy grail of any law practice. If you can create that, your client creation is a flywheel that, in essence, is a perpetual motion machine.

If you set the expectation with others you are available 24/7 and will respond immediately, you can only fail! There is no way you can keep batting 1.000. Ain’t happening, my friend. People will remember that one time you didn’t keep your promise and respond relatively immediately. That’s failure and that’s what you’ll be remembered for.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, if you’re available 24/7 why in the world did you become a lawyer? You could go work in retail, fast food, or any grocery store, and get decent benefits, get paid a living wage, and be able to unplug after your 8.5 hour shift. You’d be able to have a LIFE! You could find that illusive work-life blend we all seek. You would have freedom! Instead, by being available 24/7, you’re creating a cage, albeit a platinum one with presumably high pay and at least a modicum of respect. 

I’m here to tell you, you DO NOT have to, nor should you be, available 24/7. 

This all comes down to setting reasonable expectations with clients and any other people you interact with on a daily basis. Set your heuristics (the rules you live by) and stick to them.

When I had an active legal practice, I let clients know I would typically return emails within 12 hours and voicemails within 24 hours. I would also tell them I would not be available after 6 p.m. my time and, if they attempted to contact me, to not expect to hear from me until the following day. Same for opposing counsel. Same for my law partners. 

Those were the my rules. 

The benefits of setting those rules at the outset of my engagements was that I was able to unplug and be fully present with my family and in my community, absent the week leading up to and including jury trials. I also set myself up to exceed my client’s expectations because, occasionally, I would respond to a message immediately or closely after receiving it. My clients became my evangelists and my client pipeline was full of pre-qualified, closer-to-ideal, clients.

You have to get the thought you must be available 24/7 out of your head. It doesn’t serve clients, your law practice, your family, your community. It simply does not serve you.

The 5 Lies Lawyers Have Bought Into: Lie Number 2 - If you're not busy, your lazy.

Picture the hamster on its wheel or, for those with more refined taste, Sisyphus pushing his boulder up the hill. 

There’s a bill of goods we’re sold from the moment we enter law school, that is double-downed on when we practice law: 

If you’re not busy, you’re lazy.

I’m here to tell you it’s a bunch of crap and, in fact, the opposite is true.

I believe busyness is laziness. Let me explain.

We all have 168 hours each and every week. That’s all the time we have. Period. We can’t make any more. The decisions you make for what goes into your 168-hour pie is where the real work is. If you’re lazy here, then you’ll be busy, busy, busy, everywhere else. 

But what are you busy doing? Are you busy doing your high-leverage work. The work only you can do? Are you taking ideal cases from ideal clients that give you energy and excitement? Are you saying no to virtually every opportunity that comes your way?

This isn’t just me talking here. According to Inc., Warren Buffett believes: “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.” Steve Jobs famously said: “Focus is about saying no.” Tim Ferris, best-selling author of “The 4-Hour Work Week” wrote: “Being busy is a form of laziness—lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. Being busy is most often used as a guise for avoiding critically important but uncomfortable actions.”

Please don’t come here believing, as a successful lawyer, you’re some kind of unicorn to whom the rules don’t apply. Don’t tell me these people who have dented the universe in their own unique way got it all wrong when it comes to attorneys in general and you in particular.

Please, stop lying to yourself. Please, stop listening to others’ lies. 

Any coach worth her or his salt can help you build a system to attract ideal clients and make decisions based on what is important to you. A good coach can help you build guardrails so your 168-hour week is filled with meaningful work. That is, frankly, the easy part.

The hard part is finding a coach who can help you radically rewire your mindset so you can learn to block out the voices - both external and the voice in your head - that tell you if you’re not busy you’re lazy. 

I am that kind of coach if you’re ready to do the work. Here’s what sets me apart from any other coach on the planet:

• Your bullshit doesn’t scare me

• I will never shame or “should” you

• You cannot convince me you aren’t great

Are you ready to get to work transforming your life?

The 5 Lies Lawyers Have Bought Into: Lie No. 1 - You have to grind all of the time to be a successful lawyer.

When you take time during your work day to walk or simply zone out, do you feel guilty? When you shut it down at the end of your day do you worry someone will question your dedication? When you’re not head-down focused for days on end are you worried you won’t achieve your goals? All of these thoughts, and countless others, are based on a lie you’ve been told: You have to grind all of the time to be a successful lawyer.

It’s total nonsense. Frankly, it’s worse than nonsense, it’s bullshit, it’s destructive, and it results in less success, not more. If you want to be successful (no matter how you define that word), you simply cannot grind all of the time.

Look no further than Olympic and professional athletes. Those at the very top of their game do not grind for hours on end. Instead, they break their days down into three types of activities: planning, focused work, recovery. There’s a reason they go about their business this way: it works. Period.

Elite athletes also use a system called periodization. They build in times of less intense work over the months of training and competition. These periods of less intense work always come on a regular basis and after intense work has been happening. 

Instead of this type of process, lawyers are told we have to grind to be successful.

There’s an alternative to grinding that will move you closer to success more quickly than grinding. That alternative is being able to enter a state of flow where you have your neurochemistry work for you. It is a process that enables you become up to 500 times more productive, elevates the quality of your work, your clients are served better than they’ve ever been, and, literally, changes your life. It’s called flow. Flow can certainly help you get out of the grind. It’s a system you can put in place.

But learning all about flow and how to trigger it isn’t enough. 

Instead, your mindset needs to be radically rewired so that you don’t get trapped by this and other lies lawyers are told. With a new mindset, you’ll learn to set your own course, define what true wealth means for you - hint, it ain’t all about the Benjamins - and chart your own course.

Are you ready? Click here to schedule a 30-minute discovery session.