A Nasty Habit

I developed a nasty habit in law school.

When I knew there was a goal I had to meet - like exams or a paper or the bar - I would overwork myself for weeks or months to meet the goal. Then crash. 

Telling myself that I could rest when I met it. I could have a break as soon as I got past the thing. I would start taking better care of myself when this deadline was met. I wouldn’t do this to myself again.

I lied.

It continued when I began my legal career.

Fact discovery and depositions. Just put your head down for a few months, and then you can have a break.

Summary judgment. Just put your head down for a few months, and then you can have a break.

Trial. Just put your head down for a few months, and then you can have a break.

You know what my break looked like every time?

A physical break in the way my body functioned. A mental break in the way my brain functioned.

I would hit the deadline, and then I would sleep for days. Or I would get sick. Or both. Either way I was largely non-functional for a bit.

Then I would go right back to it.

Sound familiar?

Here are the things that I had to ask myself:

▫️What signs did I miss that I was getting to a breaking point?

▫️What was it that I did that contributed to the overwork?

▫️Where was I lacking boundaries?

▫️Where did I not ask for help?

▫️Where did I say “yes” when “no” was the better answer? 

▫️Where could I have taken care of myself better?

▫️Where was I creating unnecessary exhaustion, overwhelm, and anxiety with my thinking?

Then with that awareness, I had to decide to intentionally do some things different the next time. And actually do them differently.

Because there’s always going to be a next time. 

To do things differently, you are going to have to be willing to be uncomfortable.

But that pattern of overwork → physical or mental break? Also uncomfortable.

And unnecessary (and often antithetical) to a successful career.

A ❤️ note to you:

If this feels even remotely familiar to you, I can help. Coaching is designed to help you uncover all of the things that are contributing to your overwork/burnout pattern, and then we come up with a plan to fix them. You absolutely don’t have to live in the constant cycle of overdoing it and then breaking. Send me an email (jenn@jenndealcoaching.com) or sign up for a free call with me at jenndealcoaching.as.me/consult. We will talk about where you are, where you want to be, and how coaching can help. 

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