BE WELL
It’s Time To Take Time BY NIKKI G. MAPLES
Nikki G. Maples is a partner at Maples Jones, PLLC. She practices family law exclusively in Austin with a focus on divorces involving high net worth and complex property division. Maples also shares a love and a passion for health and wellness within the legal profession and her community.
TIME VS. MENTAL HEALTH Time…Who’s got time to go on vacation? Hasn’t every lawyer had the feeling of not having enough time to step away from their practice? As lawyers, we find it incredibly difficult to turn off our work brain. Personally, my brain is constantly taking mental snapshot images of my calendar, which includes meetings, discovery deadlines, pretrial deadlines, etc. Oftentimes, just the thought of how much effort is required to manage those deadlines and prepare your calendar for an extended absence to step away and peacefully enjoy vacation feels like more work than reward. It takes an exorbitant amount of time to manage the complexities of our law practice —management of case deadlines, time-sensitive responses, case emergencies, demanding clients, employees, etc. Those time-consuming tasks also contribute to stress, anxiety, panic, and depression. It is no secret that lawyers are among one of the top 16
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professions that suffer from alcohol and substance abuse. Those vices are often used as a means of coping, albeit in an unhealthy manner. We are not hostages to our careers. We are not owned like property or chattel by our profession. We are also not slaves to our clients. The minute we start believing that we have no options or that we have no ability to step away is the moment when our perception is grossly skewed and flawed. It whittles down to preparation. We are lawyers, which means we should all be accustomed to and conditioned for preparing our cases for various stages of litigation. So, take the time to assess your existing case load and tasks. Determine what needs to be done to get your practice to a place where your cases are idling. Then, take the time to make a plan! Plan a vacation, just do it! ECONOMICS VS. MENTAL HEALTH Who can afford to take the time
When considering the definitions of “value,” we can make an excellent argument that the monetary worth of our services are much more valuable when we are performing within our zone of excellence. That said, in order to get to our zone of excellence, we must sharpen our skills, abilities and talents. To sharpen our skills, abilities and talents, we simply cannot be burned out, fatigued, or impaired. away for vacation? Time away from our cases usually results in a loss of income. It is a double whammy to incur costs related to travel and vacation while not earning an income. In terms of economics, let’s consider worth and value. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “worth” as: a) monetary value, b) the equivalent of a specified amount or figure, c) the
value of something measured by its qualities or by the esteem in which it is held, and d) moral or personal value. When considering “worth,” we can apply each of the various definitions and make a valid argument to support the notion that taking time away from the practice of law is worth it—worth it for our mental health, worth it to our support team at the office, and worth it