May is mental health awareness month, and more specifically, the 15th-21st May is mental health awareness week. Though our mental health is something we should be considering just as much as our physical health, it is very easy to become too stressed or overwhelmed and left unmanaged, these feelings can then have adverse effects on our wellbeing.
Stress is often the biggest mental health issue which affects people at work. In law, we can also deal with a lot of difficult topics and vulnerable clients which should be met with appropriate support, but our day-to-day management of our work will be the most typical and immediate contributor to headaches, migraines, low mood and overwhelm.
Let’s really HOME in on what we can do at work (or even at university) to manage our stress levels.
Hydrate – This is probably something you’ve heard a lot – but it’s true! We are made of 60% water and it really is key to our overall health. Sometimes when we are busy it’s easy to forget the very basic necessities. Keeping track of our hygiene, making time to eat and tracking our water intake can easily fall by the wayside but are very important in keeping us going, providing us with energy and helping lift our mood.
Organise – Look around you at your workspace, how cluttered is it? It’s very easy to start working and soon you have papers all over, various pens have been lost and then found, that book you wanted to look something up in is still open and underneath it all is that post-it with the shopping you need to pick up on your way home.
Take a step back, take some time to put everything back and see what’s left. Maybe you could do with another in-tray or pen pot to properly store things. While you’re at it, adding some greenery with a plant or a reed diffuser can also help focus your mind and create a positive atmosphere (citrus and mint scents are great for this, avoid lavender as it will make you sleepy!) A messy desk is a messy mind and it can lead to more mistakes. With more people going paperless, this goes for your desktop too! Organise your emails, your bookmarks and your digital folders. You will hopefully feel better for it and it will be easier to maintain once done properly the first time.
Manage – Correctly manage your work, spending a few moments getting yourself prepared for what you need to do in the day can save you a lot of time later becoming disorientated. In a morning, collect all your priorities together and rank them into:
Things that absolutely must be done (meetings, appointments and formal deadlines)
Things that should be done (things informally due today but won’t be a hinderance not to get done)
Things that can be done (but can also wait until tomorrow)
if anything falls below these categories, see if you can delegate the tasks to someone else.
When you’re prioritising, make sure you allow time for breaks. Say no to any tasks that will lead you Finally this will allow you to re-evaluate your workload daily, if you find everything falling into the first category then you may be able to look at other things to improve your efficiency such as automating tasks or more delegation.
Exercise – Exercise has great stress-busting benefits by increasing endorphins. It doesn’t have to be intense, even just a brief walk outside during your lunch for ten minutes can make the world of difference in breaking up your day. Similarly, consider your commute, could you walk or bike to work instead of driving? Is it possible to get off a stop earlier on your bus to walk a little further home or to work? Even just doing a few stretches at your desk or when making a cup of tea can help you feel a bit more refreshed.
My final tip is to always take things one at a time. It can be hard when we have the phone going whilst writing an email you remembered mid-draft of that important contract but you will only be giving everything part of your attention and your brain will be working overtime (also it makes it way harder to time record!) Block out your time if you have to, finish what you’re doing before you call that client back and don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. If you take on too much you will lose productivity, make mistakes, and even end up ill. I hope this has helped even a little on how you can manage your workload and if you do feel like it’s too much, speak up. Your training manager, fee earner or lecturer doesn’t want you burning out either.
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