Maintaining a work-life balance in your legal career

The legal profession can be an extremely rewarding one, but can present challenges in maintaining a work-life balance, with most lawyers working long hours, mitigating conflict on a daily basis and engaging in highly strenuous mental activity.

The following considerations are essential to assist you in meeting expectations of your new role while keeping a healthy balance outside of the office.

 

Choose carefully

Before accepting any role, ensure you research the firm thoroughly – consider everything that comes with the position. A specialist recruiter will also have a good understanding of the different cultures across firms and can be a useful source of guidance when choosing a firm that’s right for you.

A specialist recruiter will also have a good understanding of the different cultures across firms and can be a useful source of guidance when choosing a firm that’s right for you.

Be organised

It is vital you plan and critically assess your day-to-day process, understanding where you can potentially lose time and where you can complete tasks quickly.

Know your limits

In order to cope effectively, remember to set yourself boundaries when managing tasks. Whenever possible, ensure that you can delegate certain tasks to your juniors – allowing more time to focus on the key deliverables at hand.

Becoming too involved is a common complaint with lawyers. Learning to let go of emotionally-intensive situations. Mentors can be a great sounding board to help put things into perspective.

Time management

Throughout your day, set aside adequate time to engage in leisure activities such as taking a 5 minutes walk outside. This will provide you with a much needed break to minimise stress at work. Allocate these into your work schedule as you would other tasks and you may find this makes a noticeable impact on not only your stress levels, but your work-life balance and overall productivity. 

If you are looking for a career in Law and require more information please contact:

Jonathan Berry, Senior Manager (Middle East)
jonathan.berry@robertwalters.com
+971 (0) 4 818 0100

Alternatively, if you have a friend who is looking for a new job, why not be rewarded for recommending Robert Walters? Find out more