Stress can have a profoundly negative impact on health. Chronic high-stress levels have been linked to lower immune defenses, as well as to an increased risk of heart disease, cancer, and depression.
Stress Management Tips
Stress occurs when you feel as if your available resources are inadequate to the challenge at hand. To restore the balance between your support and the challenges of a profession in the law, keep these tips in mind.
1. Choose meaningful work.
Lawyers, legal assistants, and other legal professionals can find their work very rewarding and fulfilling. Receiving a sense of personal fulfillment from the work you do helps to restore your mental and emotional energies, providing more resources for tough tasks.
Seek out projects and practice areas that you find meaningful. If you need help, talk to a recruiter who can help you mine your professional past for clues as to your preferred work.
2. Ask for help.
Asking for help with a stressful situation doesn’t mean you’re abdicating responsibility for your work. It means that you understand some tasks are better done with an external perspective.
For instance, if you dread going to work, try to determine why. Talk to someone else, like a colleague or supervisor, who may be able to help you change the situation. Or talk to a recruiter who can help you find an employer that doesn’t suffer from the same problems.
3. Guard your time.
In the digital world, it’s easy to work from anywhere – so it’s tempting to think we should work from everywhere. The blurring of the boundary between work and personal time, however, can eat at your energy reserves and cause significant stress.
Instead, set boundaries around your time. Schedule time each day for a restful, fun activity. Schedule vacation time and use it to rest, relax, and play. These times are necessary for your health and your continued ability to do your job well, so treat them as equally important to the time you spend at work or with your family.
Contact Us Today
At Kent Legal, our recruiters help connect job-seekers in the legal profession with some of the best law firms and legal departments in the greater Toronto area. For help finding a great new job or taking the next step on your career path, contact us today.