How do I cope better with work? Working hours aside, I'm so stressed and can't focus. Emails come in every 1-2 minutes (we don't have a chat function, so the team tends to send emails that are even just one sentence long). My partners keep asking for work "now" and all the deadlines are so tight, and sometimes they ask for multiple things at the same time. Sometimes I just get paralysed and overwhelmed and freeze.

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Here's my two cents, and feel free to completely disregard it.

First, you can only do what you can do. When I was a prosecutor, I had a similar situation every time trial call or a calendar call rolled around -- hundreds of defense attorneys suddenly knew my name and wanted answers from me right away. Right before and during court, even. Even though they had weeks beforehand to get with me. Hundreds of emails blowing up my inbox, phone ringing off the hook, all wanting to negotiate deals or complain about offers. How do you cope with all those emails, multiple demands for immediate responses? Well, you can only do what you can do. Don't kill yourself trying to please everyone simultaneously -- you will only burn yourself out, and for what? Nobody will appreciate it anyway, most likely.

The main thing you can do is start to learn to prioritize the work that is flying at you. I am sure it all seems urgent, but look at it all again and perhaps number them all somehow in terms of relative importance. Then you can logically attack your workload like a calm, cool and collected attorney. Your partners should understand the need to do this and have to respect your approach to your workflow. If they decide to be unreasonable with you, i.e. you make your list and start on Partner 1's email task but now Partner 3 is demanding his work "now", you will need to advocate for yourself my friend. Be an attorney. You say something like, "Excuse me. respectfully, I was hired to be an attorney and exercise my judgment as to the work I am being assigned by Partners 1, 2, and 3. This is how I have decided to approach these assignments today. If you believe you have a more pressing matter that requires immediate attention for some reason, let's have that conversation so I can prioritize more efficiently for the team." You will alleviate stress this way, take control of the situation, and perhaps gain a bit of respect as well for speaking up for yourself.

If you suffer in silence, these people will continue to pile on top of you. If you speak up, respectfully but in a way that articulates your situation, I don't see how a reasonable-minded partner is going to fault you for attempting to prioritize your workload. You can only work on one thing at a time! You need to get that right and then move on to the next thing. Take deep breaths. Go outside, get some fresh air, walk around a bit if you can. Go back to your office and bang out the next bunch of "nows".

Don't kill yourself for these people, you have to work smarter and not harder to beat the game -- just prioritize and speak up for yourself when they come calling on you. And breathe. I believe you will feel better once you take charge of this situation. Good luck to you!

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Attorney 1, you rock! Thank you for supporting young women attorneys in a real, tangible, helpful way. Your advice is spot on, IMO.

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Me too. You aren't alone. I get this about every six months. I'm in it deep right now. My list keeps growing and my mind keeps rebelling against everything. I even tried Adderall for this kind of thing, but contrary to popular belief, it is no substitute for willpower. It works OK sometimes. But not enough to eliminate the problem. It helps with focus, not fear. Sometimes I get so frozen, I will realize that I've been staring at a pen for like... Two hours. It's no joke. I wish more people would admit that it happens. Maybe then we wouldn't feel so alone.

I try to step away when I realize it's getting to that point. Hop on a stationary bike or do some weights. Maybe take a walk if the weather is nice. If I'm not working, might as well be doing something good for myself.

I also close my email for a bit. If it is an emergency, someone will call. (Of course I apparently missed an email Tuesday night and the client emailed the partner Wednesday night to ask if I was OK because it isn't like me not to respond, so that was mortifying. Be careful.)

I wish I had better advice. But email sorting and rules never worked well for me. And despite having experienced this every year for six years, I mostly just have to ride it out until the fear of getting fired overwhelms my fear of my workload. But I wanted to let you know you aren't alone.

Also, we're a pretty chill firm. And we are all pretty close. I know the partners experience this too because we've talked about it. That helps.

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It's a relief to know I'm not the only one who feels this way. Yes, ironically the more work there is, the less productive you get right? I think I once spent 1 hour just clicking every email that came in, thinking what to do, writing one sentence, then when the next email came in, doing the same thing - till after 2 hours I realised I did basically nothing.

This has been really encouraging, thank you (:

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Echo the advice above. You’re getting slammed because you’re responsive. Acknowledge you caught the ball and respond with a proposed time.

It’s also time to be strategic. Think about the partners, clients and work you like. Look at any holes the firm has where you might be able to get up to speed quickly and be the go to person for that area. Also, if you’re too busy doing great work for the partners and clients you like, then you can pass along work you don’t like. You can then let abusive partner or client know that you’re covered up with such and such, but will free up later on. Let them duke it out over who gets you.

You may get points (and a break) for delegating work so you can let partners know you’re covered up, but ask if there is someone else you can work with who needs hours.

The whole thing is a pyramid scheme—work is won and delegated. The goal is to push it as far down as possible to keep as many people working as possible. Yes, you can be cynical and think the partners are making all the money off your hard work, but there wouldn’t be work if they didn’t win it.

Be kind to yourself! Take lots of deep breathes. You’ve got this.

likesmart

Yes, see if you can delegate to push tasks down, but take responsibility for the result! Eyeball the work product yourself, if possible, and let the partner know to whom/what you have delegated. (The partner may have an opinion too. Not all associates have the same level of experience or work to the same level of timeliness or quality, and some have reputations of which you may be unaware. Always tread wisely.)

My two cents as a “survivor”. LOL. You can prioritize your own work, and I’ve gotten “do it all” responses, but ultimately the partners should prioritize and set client expectations. You need time to focus and “be a lawyer” to produce quality work for the ultimate client (your partner is your intermediate client). You must be doing good work or you wouldn’t be inundated. Kudos to you! To maintain that quality work something must give. Unless the partner has dropped the ball (in which case it is really their issue, not yours) and unless there is a firm deadline (like an immovable filing deadline — many can be extended), clients often set wishful deadlines. As a business lawyer, I found it was a lot of hurry up and wait as timelines often slid because of business considerations. If the firm needs more lawyers, they should hire them. Until then, they should work out priorities so you can serve the client properly. Partners may have a “sense” of how long something may take, but it may be unrealistic. And you may identify issues they overlooked. Be the lawyer you were hired to be. Quality does count. Haste can make waste (and lose clients). Do allow yourself a mental break. Exercise (if only a brisk walk around the proverbial block) can do wonders. Communication of feedback can help too. Sometimes, just an acknowledgement of an email (“can do” or “will do” or “will get back to you shortly”) is all a client (or partner or colleague) needs, to know you’ve “got it” and are/will be working on their request (to ease THEIR mind). It can be a demanding profession. Good luck! Well done getting this far! Breathe!

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I should add too, as you are prioritizing, all partners and clients are equal — but some more equal than others. A partner who gives steady work gets a point but a new partner in an area you would like to do more work gets a point too. An influential partner gets an extra point. A “good” (e.g., “cash cow”) client (pays well and on time) gets a point. A troublesome partner or client may get a demerit. A slow pay/no pay client gets a demerit. Know on which side your bread is buttered, as they say.

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You need to find a way to prioritize what’s on your plate and do one thing at a time for at least 45 minutes to an hour without looking at email, then check email and deal with whatever has burst into flames in the meantime. You really can’t multi task and maintain quality of work and sanity. But you do need a strategy for dealing with the never ending stream of “now” requests.

likesmart

I'm miserable and unfocused and unproductive and I want to change my attitude :(

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