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Today is the kickoff for Well-Being Week in Law, which is about raising awareness around mental health and encouraging action and innovation across the legal profession to improve well-being.
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I’m bipolar. Sometimes when I’m overworked, I lose touch with the space-time continuum and feel like I have travelled across several dimensions. My best tips are writing and re-writing a to-do list daily and make a habit of adding new things to the list as they come in throughout the day. Put everything with a deadline within 6 weeks on the list. Use the left side of the book for notes, especially for calls, and keep these in your office so you know what was said in a phone call 9 months ago. I buy multiple copies of the brown leatherette journal from walmart for my to-do lists. I also maintain a paper calendar. If an email calls for a response or task, keep it marked unread until you have responded or added the task to your to-do list and/or paper calendar. Take at least 5 minutes a day to stare outside of a window. Take your meds. Have a skin care routine.
Hi, if you’re not taking medication A white board is extremely helpful, someone in the comments mention that color coding your calendar help. Also do this for emails based on case/partner/category. This will go a long way. Also, medication helps. I’m not here to encourage anything that makes anyone feel uncomfortable. But personally, I avoided it for a while but eventually after years everything became too much. I’m on Vyvanse it makes the world…quiet, if that makes any sense.
Agree with all of this. I too ended up on vyvanse and while it’s not a fix, it does help quiet things down and really helps during the phases I’ve been staying on top of my “systems” aka lists, email folders, etc. I make sub folders for each partner and most are generic but when it’s a partner with a lot of different work for me me, the folder’s label will be the topic of the assignment. Some weeks I can’t keep up with updating due to packed days or I’m in a very burnt out phase, but it really helps to come back to and organize when I feel that overwhelming panic set in.
Hard truth: "More often than not" isn't going to keep you employed as a lawyer at a quality firm. Good lawyers make very few meaningful or noteworthy misses or mistakes. You need to find a system that works for you, or go in house. I've seen some very ADHD in house people make it along just fine.
You need to prioritise! A. Really important needs full attention. B. Important but can be worked on throughout the day along with other tasks. C. Go over it and throughout your working week add to its needs
Same. I have to have a to do list! I also have to make sure my assistant knows that I have trouble focusing so, she protects my calendar like her first born child! My calendar is also color coordinated (ex. Red means there is a court order/trial order deadline that cannot be missed). I also use focus gum and it I power through my to do list! Lastly, I give myself grace because we are not saving lives for the most part and most “mistake” can be fixed! Except court deadlines which I make it a priority every time!
One of the first thing I tell new associates is that they need to develop a system to track the matters they are on and what they need to do in each case -- and stick to it, everyday. If paper works best for you, have a separate notebook for each matter. Better yet, use something like OneNote where you can keep all your notes, case summaries, research, and a running list of issues and to-dos.
Aggressively track every deadline, internal and external, in Outlook or whatever calendaring program you have.
First thing Monday morning, go through each matter and figure out what you need to do that week and create a to-do list. Block out time for each task -- don't just work willy-nilly on each one as you find time.
Organize your email inbox: have a folder that automatically sorts your emails for each matter, but leaves all the messages in your inbox. Use flags to categorize emails by what you need to respond to that day or what can be done later, and make sure you check and clear those flags before you leave for lunch or for the day. Although you need to constantly monitor emails (at least once an hour), not every one needs a response right now. Flag them and go back to focusing on your current task. When you hit a natural stopping point, go back and respond to all the emails at once, then get back to work on the big stuff.
Continually refine your organizational process. You will soon find your ADHD-rattled brain -- like mine -- doesn't need to keep track of everything and you will consistently add more value and become much more productive.
1. I have an electronic calender on outlook. I block out the tasks I need to do so I don’t forget. The case assessment the partner asked for? I see I have a few hours on Thursday so I’ll put it there.
2. I use a large white board. Under each partner is our case and the big task item I need to do as well as the due date.
3. I have a huge print calendar that I write only federal deadlines on.
4. I have a notebook that has my daily to do list. I write down what all needs to get done in the morning and as partners talk to me throughout the day, I add to it.
there’s an adhd law bowl!!! just fyi