The Grace Period: Shining A Light on Lawyer Wellbeing
The Grace Period: Shining A Light on Lawyer Wellbeing
Episode 16: One Thing Each Day
Ever felt overwhelmed by the constant demands of the legal profession and wondered how to regain a sense of control? This episode of The Grace Period holds the key to reclaiming your autonomy and integrating self-care into your daily routine. Discover the power of dedicating just a few moments each day to activities that bring you joy—whether that's reading a novel, meditating, or simply enjoying a quiet cup of coffee. We introduce the Miracle Morning routine, which includes six powerful steps: Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing. By embracing these practices, you'll find ways to manage stress, boost your self-esteem, and achieve your personal and professional goals.
As we journey towards holistic wellbeing, we emphasize that prioritizing self-care is crucial for thriving in high-pressure fields like the law (and big law). Learn actionable steps to integrate self-care into your demanding schedule without sacrificing career success. This conversation sets a foundation for our upcoming discussion on the importance of seeking help, especially in professions where it's often stigmatized. Remember, taking care of yourself and setting boundaries is not a luxury but a necessity. Tune in for practical tips and insightful discussions that promise to help you achieve balance and grace in both your professional and personal life.
Find out more at https://thegraceperiod.substack.com/.
Welcome to the Grace Period where we get real about attorney mental health and well-being and pull back the veil on the high-stakes world of big law. I'm your host, emily Logan Stedman. In this demanding profession, it's crucial that we don't lose ourselves in the hustle for billable hours. On the Grace Period, we have honest conversations about finding consistency, minimizing chaos, developing coping strategies and destigmatizing mental health. It is time to prioritize our shared humanity, to find our grace period. So far this season on the grace period, we've defined well-being, talked about why it even matters in the law. I shared my story, defined mindfulness and encouraged y'all to give meditation a try. Last week we talked about gratitude and journaling. Today we'll talk about building a sense of autonomy by doing at least one thing each day that is just for you.
Speaker 1:Autonomy is a factor that contributes to poor mental health and well-being in the law, or the lack of autonomy, the lack of self-government or sense of control. So many of us feel like we lack control over our days. We feel at the whim of clients, courts, partners, colleagues, significant others, children and more. To an extent, we are at their back-end call. But there are ways to build a sense of control. Some are time and practice management techniques like those I talk about in season one of this podcast Controlling your calendar. Controlling your calendar, taking time off, setting boundaries, using timers and more. Another way is something I try to use daily. I say try there because I'm not perfect at it, but it is something I return to quite often.
Speaker 1:Every day I try to do one thing, no matter how small that is just for me. Every day I try to do one thing, no matter how small that is just for me. Lately that's been reading for fun. I try to read in the morning for 10 minutes. I try to read at night before sleep for either 8 pages or 30 minutes, whatever my brain feels capable of that day. This habit helps me know that even in the smallest way, I have a choice over what I'm doing with that time. But it's not just reading for fun. It can be meditating, savoring a cup of coffee, watching my favorite TV show, playing tennis, you name it. It can take five minutes an hour, anything in between or beyond. Minutes an hour, anything in between or beyond. What matters is that it is my choice, something I want to do for me and that ideally has nothing to do with work. If I have more time.
Speaker 1:I try to run through the elements of the miracle morning. This is a six-step morning routine using the acronym SAVERS S-A-V-E-R-S S is for silence, a affirmations, v visualization, e is for exercise, r reading and S scribing. What I like about this routine is that it is six distinct parts. I can do one, I can do all six, I can do any combination that suits me that day. Sometimes I'll do one in the morning and then, when I have time throughout the day or need to pause and regroup, I'll do another or another, one or two. I'm going to try to run through what each of them mean to me now. Silence means meditation. See episode four of this season for more about meditation.
Speaker 1:A affirmations are positive statements or phrases that we repeat to ourselves. They're designed to challenge negative thoughts and improve self-talk. I use two groups of affirmations. The first is simple I am safe, I am whole, I am home. These three affirmations ground me in the present moment and remind me that I am safe, I am whole, I am home. And then I use the four agreements. I highly recommend this book if you haven't read it. It leads you to these four affirmations or goals for your day. I will do my best, I will be impeccable with my word, I will not make assumptions and I will not take it personally. These four agreements or affirmations help me reshape my thinking patterns. They give me quick goals to live by each day. Studies show that affirmations help manage stress, boost self-esteem and improve goal achievement. Sometimes, when I'm really overwhelmed, I will set alarms on my phone and name them an affirmation. I've even named my devices and personal hotspot. Some affirmations like I am focused, I am enough, I am worthy. Again, like I've said in earlier episodes, I know some of you are skeptical of this, but for me, I'm not very kind to myself. So being intentional about affirmations reminds me to talk to myself like I would my friend. Keeping these affirmations top of mind also helps me recall them when I'm struggling or feeling low.
Speaker 1:Next is V for visualization. This is a journaling or meditation technique where you describe or imagine your future self in a positive way. What does it feel like to have achieved a goal that you've set yourself? What are you doing on this day, next week, five years from now? See episode five of this season for more on vision journaling.
Speaker 1:E is for exercise, which is self-explanatory. This is the one I struggle with the most. I'm definitely in a phase right now where I lack accountability in this area and I'm sort of frozen and unable to commit to myself in this way. So if you have any tips on just getting yourself to start, send them my way. R is for reading which is also self-explanatory. It doesn't have to be very long. I try to read for 10 minutes at a time just to get started, and I've actually wildly increased the amount I read for fun when for most of my life, I wasn't a big reader. So I've enjoyed this part of the Miracle Morning a lot. Finally, scribing is writing or journaling. This is where I do my gratitude practice, which I talked about in last week's episode.
Speaker 1:If you're interested in learning more about the Miracle Morning, you can visit miraclemorningcom Again. I like it because it's six distinct steps. I can do one, I can do all. I can do a combination of them. Or, if I need a pause or just have extra time during the day, them, or if I need a pause or just have extra time during the day, I can take a moment and do one of the six parts, none of which have to take very long and in a profession where we're made to feel like we need to be on all the time or that has a culture of making it very difficult to take breaks. These short, distinct options really help me take time to take care of myself, no matter how quick, and again, it also helps me build autonomy by making choices that are just for me throughout my day or to start and end my day.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining me on this episode of the Grace Period. I hope this discussion has provided some insights about small and actionable ways to do at least one thing each day that is just for you. Next week, we'll talk about getting help, something that is stigmatized in our profession and which I hope I can help you be less afraid to do, and remind myself to be less afraid to do it. Remember you don't have to sacrifice your well-being for career success. By prioritizing self-care, setting boundaries and seeking support, you can survive and even thrive in the law and in big law. Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other. That is the path to our grace period. Disclaimer this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It does not constitute professional advice of any kind, including legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by listening to this podcast.
