by Nancy Payeur

Recently a Fast Company article entitled “Is Balance Bunk?” questioned the realism of achieving work-life balance. Given the daily pressures of practising law, many lawyers will agree that achieving perfect work-life balance is impossible, especially during busy periods.

Over the long term, though, lawyers ignore the need for balance at their peril. Our experience with lawyers tells us that many struggle with work-life issues. A chronic lack of balance may contribute to depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and relationship difficulties.

As with other professionals struggling with this issue, lawyers face external and internal stressors.

External stresses include pressures for productivity at the workplace. While technology has made life easier in many ways, it has also brought with it the challenges of constant interruption, distractions, and unrealistic expectations for an immediate response. Technology has diminished the boundary between work and home life so it becomes even easier to take work home. Deadlines and heavy workloads often pull legal professionals into leading unbalanced lives. Such lives have scant time for leisure, activities with family and friends, and everything else that brings joy and revitalization.

Lawyers are typically achievers with high expectations of their own performance. They often put great pressure on themselves, setting unrealistic goals or trying to control factors over which they have no control. They may not want to admit to being overwhelmed, and may be reluctant to ask for help.

For lawyers concerned about balance, some recommended strategies include the following:

• Make a commitment to wellness. This includes developing habits of healthful eating, getting enough sleep, and regular “down” time.
• Learn stress management techniques: meditation and physical exercise have helped many.
• Set realistic expectations of yourself and others.
• Let go of perfectionism – for some tasks, “good enough” is enough.
• Establish clear boundaries between work and personal time.
• Say “no” to unreasonable requests and offer reasonable alternatives.
• Manage expectations with senior partners, colleagues and clients, and negotiate workable deadlines or tradeoffs.
• Make technology work for you, including knowing when to turn it off.
• Build in daily “buffer” time for reflection, planning and prioritizing.
• Communicate your needs to others and ask for help when you need it. Take a teamwork approach.

Defining work-life balance is highly individual and changes over time. To achieve it is challenging but not impossible with commitment and planning. The final goal is to become healthier, happier and more productive at the things that count in life.

Nancy Payeur, MSW, RSW is a Regional Director with Interlock. She presents frequently to organizations on wellness-related topics.

If you’d like help getting into balance, call 1.800.663.9099 or 604.431.8200. Interlock provides professional, confidential counselling to BC lawyers and their immediate family members. The Program is available at no charge to members of the Law Society of British Columbia.

This article was published in the December 2004 issue of BarTalk. © 2004 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.